Research shows that teachers need to vary the methods of instruction. This week reflect upon the following questions to determine the quality of your cooperating teacher’s instruction.
Does the teacher:
• Rely too heavily on “tell” forms of instruction?
• Include “show” methods of instruction to demonstrate the meanings of the material being taught?
• Include “do” activities where students apply, or learn, the skills of the lesson?
• Vary instructional methods to ensure meeting the needs of all students?
I look forward to seeing everyone next Tuesday.
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My teacher didnt rely really alot on the whole "telling" forms, she mostly relied on the Do and showing ones. In history its alot easier in my openion to learn by actually seeing history come alive with activities, but they still do some book work to insure that the other types of learners still get to understand the info.
ReplyDeleteMy teacher didnt rely on the telling form either. She always demonstrates what is needed to know before the children start working. I mean she kind of have to because it's a first grade class and children learn better by visually seeing it done before they do it. I remember one project they were doing where they had to cut out little pictures of things such as clothes and food and place them into two categories:Pilgrims/modern! The assignment seemed a little difficult to me for a first grader because they had to already have known what kind of food pilgrims eat and clothes they wear, but the teacher used some examples before they started and they all finished it in a matter of 5 to 10 minutes. Soe of them who didnt understand it would come to me for help or go to the teacher and when she saw that a few of them were struggling on the same thing she worked it out with the whole class or told some of them to work with their partner next to them and see ask them for help. I think that was a good way to use their resources
ReplyDeleteI think my teacher does a pretty good job at meeting all of the aspects above. He uses many hands on activities such as crossword puzzles and word searches. After the kids complete the assignment for homework the previous night before, he has them swith papers with a person around them and get to grading. Since the students peer grade, this helps the kids realize not only which answers are correct but why they are correct as well. He also makes the kids write the number of points they got correct right after they get done grading and has them add up the points at the end, giving them their final grade. This method gives the students the will to strive to do better, knowing they did as good as they could. Therefore making the student feel better about himself, which is the ideal goal for all teachers to get across
ReplyDeleteIan,
ReplyDeleteI really like what you said in your last sentence because I am observing in an English classroom, and you're right; it's all different. These rules all have exceptions and it varies greatly depending on what subject you are teaching. Many methods work great in history, but may not affect anything in science, and vis versa.
The teacher that I am observing really does not "tell" much. She lets her kids experiment, and they have lessons and then practice, practice, practice. I really like this about her because people can tell me how to do something, how to spell something, how to describe something all day long, but until I sit down and practice I will never retain the information. She is always there to help them and correct any mistakes they have, but she has a lot of worksheets to help them practice writing styles and descriptions, and has a lot of quizes to find out how much they study their vocabulary. I love the vocabulary because she has them study the vocabulary from the books that they read, and that introduces them to a lot of words that they never would have known because they are not spoken very often in our society. I tend to hope that knowing these different words will make them more knowledgable and wordly.
ReplyDeleteyes i agree with you dana. i dont fully grasp the concept or what is going on until i do it myself and actually put it into play. practice makes perfect as you said and it holds so true to many different things in our everyday lives
ReplyDeletei think my teacher does a really good job at vary from aspect to aspect during every lesson she is teaching the kids. She hasd this rule that appys to every student "3 before me" which is when the kids have aquestion she has them ask 3 classmates before asking her that question. she told me she does that because the classmate may be able to explain the answer better than she can. She isn't exactly a third grader and cannot explain things to them the way their classmates can. she does alot of different handson and hands off things in the classroom.
ReplyDeletejordan,
ReplyDeletei love the last comment you made. i totaly agrre with you and it is so true!
• Rely too heavily on “tell” forms of instruction? -No my teacher does not.
ReplyDelete• Include “show” methods of instruction to demonstrate the meanings of the material being taught?-Yes my teacher sure does. She uses alot of methods of instruction to demonstrate the meaning of the material.
• Include “do” activities where students apply, or learn, the skills of the lesson?-Yes my teacher would make the students do activities like this every day.
• Vary instructional methods to ensure meeting the needs of all students?-Yes very much so:)!
To Kayla Mitchum: I really really like the method your teacher uses the "3 before me" because I had teachers that did that for me too and it helped me alot and got me comfortable with asking my fellow students for help. Some teachers would hate having the class communicate at all none the less help each other with their work but I think it helps out alot.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher i have observed does constantly teach with the same methods. She does teach the same class 3 times a day. She uses the smart board to do notes, to teach the new material, then every monday gives a problem of the week. However, she does switch up what they get for problems of the week, and after learning the new material she will either give a worksheet or assign book work. Personally, I think there could be a different way to intrigue kids with learning, and remembering the newly learned knowledge. I think by teaching with different methods, and different techniques students would learn with more interest.
ReplyDeletemy teacher does not usually rely on the "tell" forms. she mostly does the show. she actually told me that she does this because she has found that most of her class are visual learners so it will accomadate more of the class. she has very few non visual learners. I like that she does this, but i think that she should do it both ways so that it is working for all of the childrens needs.
ReplyDeleteKayla: i like how your teacher has the "3 before me" method. i think that is very smart because it is true, some of the other kids might be able to explain it in a better form for a child to understand better. also, the children will not be asking her the same question 5 times
ReplyDeleteThe teacher I am observing is an art teacher. She is always able to "show" the the students rather than tell. Generally, she has an example of the finished project and makes a project step by step as the children make their craft. The teacher will vary instruction if students struggle or fly through a project. If the student does really well, she will allow them to make decide if they would like to expand on their project, make another, or create their own craft. She also has many arts and craft books handy, such as oragami and how-to-draw, that the children are free to use once they finish a project and the rest of the class isn't ready to move on. If a child is struggling, she will ask them what they think they can do, and she let's them.
ReplyDeleteThe "3 before me" approach that Kayla's teacher uses is one similar that my teacher uses. My teacher allows students to help each other as long as they don't get too loud. She also prefers that after her initial instruction for students to ask one another about the assignment's directions because otherwise, she is bombarded with the same questions over and over again.
ReplyDeleteMy teacher uses the "tell" form a lot. He uses the smart board pretty well to use the "show" method. On occasion they get a hand out for the "do" method. He mainly sticks with the "tell" form during the class.
ReplyDeleteLiz, My teacher also lets the students work together on their handouts. I feel this is good because the Students work together.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I liked about my host teacher was his varied instructional style. While he would lecture, and ask questions to involve the students, he also made sure to show vidoes to better illustrate the material he was covering.
ReplyDeleteKayla,
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that while the 3 before me approach sounds good in theory, I don't think it would work to well in practice. My problems with it are three-fold.
1) Students don't have all the answers. A lot of problems can come up if the students only ask their friends, what if they get the wrong information and then accept it as the correct information and don't go to the teacher? Then, of course, there are those students who are socially awkward and either don't have friends in the class or are too shy to ask.
2) By telling them to ask their classmates the teacher could be seen to be saying "I don't have time to help you/your problems aren't important enough for me to spend my time/don't approach me to answers" That's never a good message to send out regardless of the kids ages.
3) If are 3rd grade teacher can't relate to 3rd graders he/she shouldn't be teaching 3rd graders. Period. That's why I'm going into high school instead of middle or elementary school, I believe that I'd have a hard time relating to kids so young.
Because I am observing in a Kindergarten classroom, my teacher uses varying instruction. My teacher switches between tell and do instruction because it is more easily understood for the younger learner and the 2 different types of learners, both visual and auditory than just using one at a time.
ReplyDeletemike
ReplyDeleteMy teacher has the students in groups, always in groups because she believes that they will learn the same amount from them as they will from her. I thought that was an interesting concept, and it is much like what you are saying
Also, my teacher has a smart board where she uses the show method, but she will walk the students through step by step for the do method which is technically combining two methods into one haha
ReplyDeleteMy host teacher was very hands-on and open with instruction; however, I felt that some of the instructions given were sometimes a bit over the top for exceptional learners. I feel that the teacher somewhat just "did" the work or had someone else do, the work for the exceptional learner. I don't think that that's good bc it isn't building character for the exceptional learner and it isn't setting a good example for the other students.
ReplyDeleteThe teacher did, however, do very well with one-on-one instruction with the students when they were having difficulty on something.
Every student learns differently and when the teacher puts into my way of learning i get it but when they put it into another way i comprehend but i might not nessecaraly learn it.
ReplyDeletemy teacher relied on all forms equally. she had various activites that used all of them. for tell she would have a writing assignment. for do and show she would have something hands on.
ReplyDeletemichelle my teacher did the same thing when i was observing the children moved from station to station doing differnt activities one would be hands on and the next one would be verbal. i thought that was a neat way to do it.
ReplyDelete