Though most teachers are on winter break, they will probably
start lesson planning next week:).
After all, assisting students in re-acclimating themselves to class
routines and learning as quickly as possible benefits teachers as well as
students. With an attentive highly
engaged student population, teachers will be in a better position to reap the
benefits of their creative lessons. As
students' self-confidence builds, they retain more. With higher retention rates, grades improve
and that leads to a drop in the D/F rate of ELLs as well as long-term ELLs
(many of whom struggle academically in mainstream classes).
Here is an excellent recap of very effective approaches to empower
students (all students) to become active participants in lesson
activities. NONE of them are new of
course, but they serve as a reminder of the need for teachers to "keep a
finger on the pulse" of student learning.
Please note that the HOW-TO Suggestions are NOT new:)
1. Engage/Observe. Keep a checklist (short and simple--take a
roster and use CHECKS and MINUSES on student progress). For students who struggle, quickly note what
the difficulty is and set time aside within class to help that one while the
rest of the class is engaged with the assigned academic task on their own.
2. Feedback Give and
Take. The more constructive detailed
feedback a teacher can provide, the more accessible the lesson content will
be. Make it a point to interact with
every student. This can be doing via
small group learning activities or on an individual basis. Keep in mind that interaction with students
in small groups might be a more effective way to have more time with students
as opposed to one-on-one contact.
However, find an approach that is the most effective for you. I use a mixture of the two.
3. Confer
Frequently. Set aside time at least once
a week to talk with students on an individual basis on their progress. Document, document, document! Such information is crucial in planning more
effective lessons and assessment tools.
4. Design Unit
Assessments. With Common Core, such
assessments are already in place.
However, teachers can still design unit assessments as PRE-Common Core
assessments. The results from such tools
will assist teacher in identifying areas of weakness and strengths for
students. With such data in hand, the
teacher can fine-tune lessons to address those weaknesses thereby building
student self-confidence for taking the formal unit assessment.
5. Teach Self-Evaluation.
For students to truly benefit from assessments, they need to be able to
see where they erred and know why. For a
teacher to return test papers without giving them time to discover why the
grade or score they received was correct is doing little for the students. Until they understand on their own why their
choices were incorrect, they are doomed to repeat the mistakes. To motivate, why not allow time in class to
have them do just that and to make sure that they are not just copying, use a
randomizer to select students to explain why the choices to an answer are
wrong.
Happy New Year from all of us to you and your students! Yes, 2014 offers everyone a fresh start both
teachers and students:)
Denise, Marnie, and Cheryl
Follow us on TWITTER @ell_teacherpros.
Follow us on PINTEREST dmcyberteacher OR Denise Stewart.
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