Instructional Practice

by Beatris

Apr 4, 2011

Hello, I am a student and learning about instructional practices. I was wondering if you could help me with some questions. Ive posted here before and have appreciated all the help recieved from the last questions I posted. Thank you and hope to read the answers soon. Can you give me some advice on how to focus students’ attention at the beginning/opening of a lesson or activity?

What if I have English language learners in my classroom? What strategies can I use to make sure I’m grabbing their attention?

Can you give me some advice on effective ways to end a lesson or provide closure so that students make connections and better remember what they learned?

I’ve heard that closure/closings are often left out because time runs out. Can you give me some possible strategies to help me avoid this problem?

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TeachLikeYoda Hi Beatris,

What exactly do you mean by 'focus attention'? Are you meaning a 'hook' that gets students interested or activates background knowledge? Or do you mean methods of getting students' attentions so that transitions and/or directions run smoothly? Or both?

Also, what are the grade levels of the students? Elementary/Middle/...See More

Apr 5, 2011

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marjoryt Can you give me some advice on how to focus students’ -My syllabus includes a calendar showing what we'll be doing every day. I generally have a "today's menu" written on the board or showing via data projector - what I plan to accomplish. Students know that can ask for more items to be added; I decide if it's appropriate addition or small group ...See MoreCan you give me some advice on how to focus students’ -My syllabus includes a calendar showing what we'll be doing every day. I generally have a "today's menu" written on the board or showing via data projector - what I plan to accomplish. Students know that can ask for more items to be added; I decide if it's appropriate addition or small group discussion. I generally open the action (begin class) by standing up, moving to the front of the room, and saying, "Welcome! Let's begin. As you see on the menu, we're starting with X.. . ." This all happens first - not calling roll, which happens after I get the student involved in a deskwork activity. Don't be afraid to use the same system virtually every day. You'll be more likely to remember it, and the students will know it's time to focus. > What if I have English language learners in my classroom? > What strategies can I use to make sure I’m grabbing their > attention? -My "Welcome! Let's begin" seems to work for me. I've never had specific problems with ESL students, but sometimes with athletes or the "self-medicated" - I'll just say something like, "X - catch up with us!" or "We're moving into note-taking in 1 minute; everyone needs to be ready." > Can you give me some advice on effective ways to end a > lesson or provide closure so that students make connections > and better remember what they learned? -Show them how to generate a "lessons learned" (list of steps or rules, paragraph, example, whatever). Allow them to practice doing this as small groups, remembering to encourage content and doing it themselves. Allow 10 or 15 minutes the first few times for small groups, and have each group post on the board. Evaluate each and help them tweak responses. As the students get better, you can then assign individual assignments and shorter turnaround. Even in college, I provide at least 10 minutes, more for harder topics. Bullet lists seem to be very popular with my students, but I'll have them do webs and create tables too. > I’ve heard that closure/closings are often left out because > time runs out. Can you give me some possible strategies to > help me avoid this problem? -Move quickly between the activities, build discussion time into the lesson plan in addition to closure activities, reduce the time you are talking (teachers eat up more time just repeating themselves and going off topic).

Apr 7, 2011

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Esl Esl students will tune you out if they really can't understand anything, don't let this happen. Use lots of pictures, gestures, keep them involved by occasionaly asking them how do I say this in Spanish? Don't used idioms like "let the cat out of the bag", etc. and define more advanced words as you use them, or restate the sentence in a simpler way...See More

Apr 19, 2011

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