EduLeader Newsletter , October 2019
Last night, as I was sitting in
our family room, I saw my ten-year old son sitting on the couch eating a plate
of rice, watching the Qatari soccer league on TV, and playing on his virtual Real
Madrid team on his iPad app, Dream League. My motherly reaction was to order
him to put his plate on the kitchen table and to turn off either the TV or the
iPad. His immediate response was that he wanted to both play and watch! Then it
hit me. This kid can multitask, and he was comfortable doing several things at
once. I recalled how in the many classes I attend, I often observe teachers
doing all the work at the board while students are left bored in their desks
expected to follow up on what the teacher was doing. In the post-observation
conferences with teachers, I often give feedback on the amount of teacher
talk time TTT in comparison to the student talk time STT. Also, I
discuss with teachers the options for distributing student work and allowing
them freedom to do things at their pace and preferences.
In classroom settings, it is
common to see the teacher controlling the activities; when the activity starts,
when it ends and how it is done. While this might be required at times, the
control over students’ work is taken to extremes when the class is expected to
sit and follow what is going on on the board the length of the teaching period;
first the input session and then the modeling of application, followed by a
student applying on the board. Up till now, all is good and logical. But when
it comes to the worksheet or workbook activities, many times, it is expected
that the students remain attentive and the teacher works out the activities
item by item on the board with the presence of one student at the board (or
none). Then students copy the correct answers off the board.
While teachers have been
exposed to the concept of cooperative learning and varying classroom
interaction, control over classroom happenings is highly practiced. The shift from
teacher-controlled practices to distributed interaction is still not evident
enough in classroom practices and teachers are not always to blame. This could
be due to many factors, one being that the teachers themselves went through a
teacher-controlled mode of instruction as students. Another could be that the
teachers have not witnessed distributed interaction enough and have not been
given enough opportunities to practice it during their pre and during service
training to gain automaticity in practicing it. Whatever the case is, instructional
leaders need to intervene, provide feedback and equip teachers with the
appropriate practices. In addition, they need to allow teachers to reflect on
their practices and come up with their own judgment on what works best for
them.
Some of the practices and
structures that can be introduced in classroom settings to enhance distributed
work:
- ·
Think-pair-share
- ·
Talking to a face/shoulder partner about their
work
- ·
Peer editing
- ·
Providing oral/written feedback to a partner
- ·
Students dividing tasks among each other and
assigning roles
- ·
Using a discussion mat to reach a final consent on
a topic
- ·
Buddy journal writing
- ·
Conducting gallery walks and asking questions
- ·
Flipping the classroom
In
this regard, I suggest Kagan’s book: Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures for
cooperative learning structures that have been proven effective.
The activities are endless, and
the shift to allow students freedom is necessary. It allows students to work at
their own pace which benefits the fast achievers because they will be able to
do more and those who need additional support because the task design allows
them the time to get the extra support they need. The teacher will also have
ample time to observe and collect information about class dynamics, which
serves as basis for formative evaluation on which she/he can plan to improve
student learning. Further, when work is distributed, it is expected that
discipline problems decrease because all are engaged rather than controlled.
And if my son can play a soccer
game and watch another simultaneously, why should I use my motherly authority
to stop it and have him work at a pace I am comfortable with! But, for sure, no
eating on the couch is allowed, and the use of the iPad is limited to one hour
per day!
