teach to peers

last week i had the chance to present a 20 minute lesson to my peers about a technique for teaching. the technique was one that i think it is great - it's called thresholding. it requires teachers to greet their students at the door with a handshake or high five, call them by name and even ask them a question or give them a prompt for the upcoming lesson.

while many people don't like teaching to peers because they think it's tough or embarrassing, i really like it. i think i like it because it's easier. it's easier because you don't have to spell everything out to people who are self-motivated, listen well and can take instruction by filling in any gaps on it themselves. which is the exact reason that teaching high school is so much tougher. what seems obvious and like it shouldn't have to be explained, has to be.

when you're breaking into groups, you have to have a plan for how you're going to get the students to do that. because as much as "turn and work in a group of people around you" sound pretty straightforward, if you give high schoolers that command, prepare yourself for an ensuing mess.

in EPS we've talked about board time - how long is your back facing the classroom. what mayhem might break out while your back is turned? a LOT can happen in a matter of seconds when you are not looking. better options might be to give a hand out, have the material written on the board in advance or to use a powerpoint or graphic organizer to present the material.

one thing i did during my lesson was to organize the lesson for myself, and for the students, by giving a map using cue words on the board. i wrote these words before the lesson started, and then referred to them as i was teaching, sometimes more vaguely than overtly, and returned to them at the end of the lesson.

while the students did groupwork, i walked around the classroom and observed their discussion, giving them warnings about how much time they have left. i prompted them to skip to the last few questions if they hadn't gotten there yet.

it's always interesting to receive feedback. people don't like to say what's tough to others, and i can't say i really enjoy it either. but it's necessary and important if we're to improve as teachers. that's one thing our professor pointed out to us that day when i was teaching. "i like your hair", "you look cute", "you did a great job", etc just don't suffice as constructive feedback on anything of importance with respect to the lesson.

that's one reason why setting a target is important. it helps the person teaching as well as the person collecting data and providing feedback. i used to disregard the importance of targets ("whatever" *rolls eyes*) but i've been humbled into realizing that i'm not a good teacher yet and that i need constructive feedback if i'm to grow. and i have to be pro-active about seeking improvement in the areas that need to grow and change.

that's another reason why we need to think through every area of our lesson plan, as we've been beaten over the head for the past two years. although elements of teaching may come naturally, there are a lot of things that have to be thought through first and that require purposeful action in order to gain improvement.