Distributing Student Talk and Work

 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!