Some Ideas about Teaching

A Normal Lesson (1)

The school has a ‘framework for learning’ which controls the way we teach a ‘normal’ lesson.  We have become good at this kind of lesson, and are able to deliver a ‘good’ observed lesson on demand.

According to the framework, such a lesson will go more-or-less like this:

 

Starters:

The teacher is prepared, set out and ready for the pupils.   As they arrive she makes each child feel welcome, and hurries them to settle and begin the pre-starter task – i.e. a short task, from a puzzle to reading a section of textbook.   The emphasis is on the importance and urgency of the work.

Once the class is assembled and settled, the teacher calls for the pupils’ attention, and explains – in terms they will understand – the lesson objectives and ‘success criteria’; these are put on the board for the pupils to refer to during the lesson.

She then moves to a ‘starter’ task which establishes the lesson in the experience of the pupils.

 

Main learning:

Starter task completed, the teacher moves to the main learning of the lesson.   This involves a number of elements, setting a range of learning experiences for the pupils (exposition, group work, individual research etc.) designed to maintain interest, and involving learning inputs from the visual, auditory and kinaesthetic channels.   Through ‘mini-plenaries’ the teacher checks how the pupils are following the lesson, and adjusts the rest of the lesson accordingly.

She uses ‘redirection techniques’ to keep on task any pupils who lose concentration.

 

Work Task:

Every lesson involves the pupils in at least 10 minutes silent, individual work.   The teacher explains the tasks clearly, explaining not only what, but how the pupils will be required to do the work, and what it will look like if they do it properly.   The work tasks are differentiated, perhaps by offering the pupils a range of different tasks.   Once working, the pupils are encouraged to take responsibility for their own work, and to solve for themselves any problems which arise.

 

End of Lesson:

Towards the end of the lesson, the teacher calls the class together for a plenary, investigating what they learned and how they learned it, so she can appropriately plan the next lesson.   Then the pupils clear away before being dismissed in an orderly fashion, on time, as the teacher monitors them into the corridor towards their next lesson.

A Normal Lesson (2)

Starters:

The pupils arrive as the teacher is confronting a naughty pupil from the previous lesson.   He breaks off to warn some of the pupils who are naughty, or who were troublesome last lesson, whilst trying at the same time to get out the materials for this lesson.  

Sometimes the pupils arrive wild and he has to shout to get them settled.   When he has eventually done so, he berates them on their lack of manners and effort, and issues the behaviour objectives for the lesson; indeed the emphasis from the start is on behaviour.   He tells them the content of the lesson and how important it is, but forgets to explain their specific lesson objectives, and the ‘starter’ task is often to re-teach what the pupils ‘learned’ last lesson (since they will have forgotten it by now).   Occasionally he recounts an incident from his own life as the ‘starter’.

 

Main learning:

After this lecture, the ‘teaching’ consists mainly of defining the work task.   Since he has now been speaking for some time, and he is aware that the pupils are getting restless, he cuts corners to get through the explanation.  By this time, many of the pupils have lost concentration and are not listening properly.  

 

Work Task:

The task is an undifferentiated routine exercise designed to keep the pupils busy.   The instruction to start work is followed by an unsettled period, as pupils try to find out from each other what they are supposed to do.   Few of them try to sort out things themselves, and most immediately put up their hand to ask for help; he deals with the sea of hands alternately by refusing to help on the grounds that he has explained that already, or by simply telling them the answers.   It is hard work to establish silence.   As soon as he turns his attention to an individual pupil, the ‘working noise’ behind his back becomes off-task chatter; the temptation is to let it continue.

He uses confrontation to keep on task any pupils who move from chatter to misbehaviour.   From time to time he sends a pupil out, then leaves the classroom to go and talk to them, returning to even more chatter and misbehaviour.

 

End of Lesson:

Although he has been waiting for the lesson to end, the bell still takes him by surprise.   The pupils gather up their stuff as he shouts instructions over the hubbub.   They stream out to disrupt another lesson, leaving him to tidy up the classroom and reprimand the pupils he has kept behind, whilst his next class wait noisily to come into the classroom.  

Afterwards, he complains in the staffroom about how badly the pupils are behaving at the moment.