Description
The focus of the readings and discussions for EDAT 6115 this week were on the concept of creating an effective lesson and the discussion question of how would the level of preparation and participation change depending on the format of the class lesson set for that day. Teachers have to be ready for anything that a class may throw at them. Being able to create an effective lesson can lead to not only great learning but it can control classroom management and distractions. Within a lesson and day to day instruction teachers must be prepared, flexible and ready to make sure that all students are learning to the best of their ability. When teachers are able to acquire these methods their teaching goes from just talking to an education.
Analysis
Chapter 7
Slavin argues that an effective lesson can take a teacher from talking to being an educator. An effective lesson incorporates multiple teaching methods from the basic to the advanced in order for all students to grasp the concepts, skills and content knowledge (Slavin, 2012). Within the chapter Slavin outlines some crucial and important teaching methods that have been known to allow for the greatest impact on student learning. The first teaching method that Slavin discusses is direct instruction. He defines is as a teacher transcribing information directly to the student (Slavin, 2012). Direct instruction is a foundation of a lesson. It provides the basic knowledge and learning objectives, or what the students should know or be able to do at the end of a lesson (Slavin, pp. 188, 2012). A study done by the National Science Foundation for Education Psychology research illustrated that teachers who used direction as a teaching method have an “increase in their students' meta-cognition, motivation, learning, and preparation for future learning as well as the development of better self-efficacy skill sets” (Zepeda, C. D., Richey, J. E, Ronevich, P., Nokes-Malach, T. J., 2015). Not only do students receive the knowledge from the lesson but through direct instruction from an educator students start to develop a sense of self education. They understand that the information they are being given needs to be applied to their future educational goals and career.
After the teacher develops the direction instruction of a lesson there are multiple parts that need to fill in for the lesson to run smoothly. Slavin argues that an effective needs to be clear, set specific expectation and incorporate different learning simulations for students who may have a different learning style than others such as visual and hands on (Slavin, 2012). Throughout the lesson teachers need to make sure that their students are grasping the knowledge being taught. By using checking for understandings, question probes and summarizing assessments teachers can get an idea of how their students are retain the information. This can allow for differentiated lessons, reteaching or advancement within the lesson.
I have always argued against schools that require very detailed lesson plans from their teachers. Page after page of detailed instruction, assessments, differentiation, openers, summarizers and so on just for a hour class period. My best teaching and instruction lessons have come from me being able to change the lesson completely in an instant because I see that my students are not interested or just not understanding the material. I argue that a detailed lesson and an effective lesson are two very different things. Details sometimes take away from great teaching and can lead to unfocused and uninformed students. Slavin argues that effective lessons are the foundations for a teacher's craft and that an effective lesson ,which uses many different teaching methods, allows educators to have the greatest impact on student learning (Slavin, 2012). An effective lesson is derived from many parts that are put together in order to gain students attention, hold it, allow for different learning styles and finally the learning of concepts, knowledge or skills. According to Kaufman and Scott effective teaching and lessons can create a “student-centered model of teaching”. This can cause a shift from a traditional school setting and could allow a teacher to become a facilitator of education and learning instead of simply giving out information or a skill to a group of students (Kaufman and Scott, 2016). Furthermore, Swartz and Parks argue that an effective lesson and a prepared teacher allow for the development and fostering of higher order thinking skills as well as critical thinking, creative and an educational discipline that can help students further on in their educational careers (Swartz and Parks, 1994).
When teachers are prepared with an effective lesson a classroom become more than just four walls. It becomes an environment where students do not realize they are learning or developing necessary skills they will need for the future. Lessons and teaching are ever changing and teachers need to be prepared to change on a dime if they see a lesson is not working. Depending on what type of teaching is going on such as direct instruction where there is little student participation and a lot of teacher involvement to small group instruction where there is a lot of student involvement and little teacher guidance, teacher preparedness and participation is ever changing depending on the lesson that is in place for that particular instruction day.
Reflection
These concepts were definitely not new to me. I have implemented many of these teaching methods into my everyday lessons. Direct instruction is a huge tool for me because I am a history teacher. I do understand how to use them within a classroom environment, however I did not understand how to use them at a level that the chapter describes as well as how to have the greatest impact on my students. I did not realize the deeper effect that these skills could provide for students. I feel that these concepts can be used a great deal within a classroom to showcase to students why it is important to learn the material and skills being taught, but also to make other aspects like preparation, classroom participation and classroom management easier for me. Within the context of my classroom I can use these concepts to make the biggest impact on the my development of my lessons so that the content information and concepts are better organized. By using multiple teaching methods within my lessons I can make sure that all of my learners have a chance to gain the information. There are some positives and negatives to the concepts. Positives are having effective lesson plans make me a better educator and my students better learners. Negatives are the time constraints to create an effective lessons. Many veteran teachers still need skills to develop these lessons and as fast as education changes it could be hard to stay up to date so that I do not fall behind with my learning.
Reference
Slavin,
R. E. (2012). Educational psychology: a foundation for teaching.
Educational psychology: Theory and
practice. Chapter 7: The effective lesson. Boston, MA: Pearson Education.
Kaufman,
N. J., & Scott, C. (2016). Innovation in Higher Education: Lessons Learned
from Creating a Faculty Fellowship Program. Journal Of Law, Medicine &
Ethics, 4497-106 10p. doi:10.1177/1073110516644239
Swartz,
R. J., & Parks, S. (1994). Infusing critical and creative thinking into
content instruction: A lesson design handbook for the elementary grades.
Pacific Grove, CA: Critical Thinking Press & Software.
Zepeda,
C. D., Richey, J. E., Ronevich, P., & Nokes-Malach, T. J. (2015). Direct
instruction of metacognition benefits adolescent science learning, transfer,
and motivation: an in vivo study. Journal Of Educational Psychology, 107(4),
954-970.
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