Teaching the Best Practice Way

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Teaching the Best Practice Way

• Nancy M. Doda, Ph.D.
• Teacher to Teacher,
• ndoda_at_teacher-to-teacher.com
• www.teacher-to-teacher.com

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Our Learning

• What is Best Practice?
• Why is small group work so critical to successful
  learning?
• What practices can we use to get started?

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BEST PRACTICE

• More attention to the affective needs and the
  varying cognitive styles of individual students
• More attention to the quality of relationships
• More active, hands-on learning co-operative,
  collaborative activity
• More acceptance of the noise and movement
• More reading of whole, original, real books and
  nonfiction materials
• More deep study of a smaller number of carefully
  chosen topics
• More emphasis on higher-order thinking
• More responsibility and choice for students

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1946

• Its not this.

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Through the Cracks
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Why Collaboration Matters?

• Collaboration inspires,supports better thinking.
  and helps with retention of learning.
• Young Adolescents are highly social.
• Social Anxiety Deters Learning.
• Mature living demands social savvy.

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We Need to Know You Care
Middle school students are little kids in big
bodies. They need patience, understanding, and
they need somebody who will push them. Above
all, they need to feel that someone cares.
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In my school I dont really feel safe. Its not
because the teachers arent nice. They are. Its
because they dont see how mean some kids are.
They talk about you. Leave you out. You can
feel them when they watch you and I cant hardly
think when I have to face them.
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Cliques Are Cruel

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Community
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1 Make it Safe

• Create a Classroom Community

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Make It Safe Create A Community

• Check-In Ritual
• Rain Dance
• Heart Maps
• Multiple Intelligences
• Constitutions

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Make It Safe Attitudes That Work

• Everyone has to be known well.
• Stereotypes have to be dispelled.
• Cliques have to be disrupted.
• New social norms need to be created.
• The goal of becoming a caring community must be
  explicit.

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Heart Map

• Tell your story.
• Share your story.
• Share someone elses story.

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Sample Class Vision

• OUR WATERSHED CHARACTERISTICS
• CARING CAUTION COOPERATION COURAGE
  CREATIVITY FRIENDSHIP
• RESPONSIBILITY

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Share Your Mantra

• None of us is as smart as all of us
• We are not here to see through one another. We
  are here to see each other through.
• Everyone of us faces challenges in learning, but
  everyone of us can succeed.
• I value you. I have faith in you. I am eager to
  help you learn.
• I know we can do it together.

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2 Start Small

• Grow your Groupwork

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Clock Appointments
Name
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Steady Starters

• Clock Appointments
• Four Corners
• Circle of Knowledge
• Structural Indexing
• Write Around

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Clock Appointment Time
3-2-1
3- Big Ideas to Remember 2-Details that are
Important 1- Connection I Can Make
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Circle of Knowledge

• Form teams of 4-5 students.
• Each team has a large sheet of chart paper and
  each student has a different colored marker.
• The teacher poses a brainstorming prompt to the
  class. (Pre post assessment)
• Students take turns contributing responses to the
  prompt.
• Students should note their name by their
  contributions.
• There is a set time limit depending on the
  complexity of the prompt.
• The teacher acts as the facilitator of the whole
  class discussion as teams offer their responses.
  The teacher will record the answers on the board
  or chart paper.

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Create AnticipationAnswer True or False

• Before You Read
• ___The brain is like a sponge.
• ___If students work hard, it is wise to give them
  the last few minutes of class for free time.
• ___With age, our memory diminishes.
• ___Emotions can interfere with learning.

• After You Read
• ___The brain is like a sponge.
• ___If students work hard, it is wise to give them
  the last few minutes of class for free time.
• ___With age, our memory diminishes.
• ___Emotions can interfere with learning.

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Four Corners
Agree, Strongly Agree, Disagree and Strongly
Disagree

• History is best taught in chronological order.
• Most students need to tightly regulated if they
  are to be productive.
• Every child wants to learn.
• Students need to learn facts before they can
  understand larger concepts.
• Degree of family support should not be the
  determining factor in student school success.

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Structural Indexing
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Structural IndexingTry It!
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More Methods

• Discovery Stations
• Jigsaw
• Literature Circles
• Gallery Walk

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PROJECT JIGSAW
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Literature Circle Roles

• Discussion Director
• Connector
• Illustrator
• Passage Master
• Summarizer

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3 Design for Success

• Structure, Routines, Processes

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Planning for Success

• Anticipate Middle School Students Are Novice
  Collaborators
• Structure Plan for division of group labor with
  care and needed protocols
• Organize Have enough materials on hand, plan for
  timing, and for individual accountability
• Reflect Continuously assess group work and
  progress with students
• Evolve Start slowly and expand with your
  students.

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