One thing is becoming clearer and clearer to me with each day I teach: the days in which the students learn the most are the days in which I lecture the least.
When I talk less, there is more time for the students to discuss the topic they’re learning.
When I talk less, there is more time for students to think deeply about the topic they’re learning.
When I talk less, there is more time for students to actually do work related to the topic they’re learning.
When I am talking to the whole class, no matter what the topic is, some students already know the material and are bored, other students are not cognitively ready for the material and are lost, and even some of the students for whom the material is at the correct difficulty level are too distracted to learn in that format. (One caveat: this only applies to the times when I am talking to the entire class. The time I spend talking with students one-on-one or in small groups is extremely valuable.)
I suspect the same is true in your classroom, so along with me, consider this challenge: how might you be able to drastically reduce the amount time that you spend talking to your entire class?
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The Ed Buzz
November 23, 2011
This is true with a lot of things
Jen
November 25, 2011
The last two I agree with completely (think deeply, do work). A well-moderated (by you) discussion surely is valuable. However, I’ve seen plenty of student led discussions that…don’t get much done. Which makes sense. It’s hard to talk accurately/informatively about something you are just learning about. Why would I listen/learn more from the kid who sits next me than I would from the teacher? or a book?
Discussion and group “think” seems to me to work best the farther along in a unit you are — that is, the more the kids know, the more they have practiced on their own, the more time they’ve had to assimilate the material so that they have a fighting chance of developing concepts from it.
The whole paragraph beginning “when I am talking to the whole class” applies nearly as well to whole class discussions. If the teacher takes the role of nodding along and encouraging all contributions…the kids who already know the material are driven crazy hearing other kids misconstrue it, the kids who don’t get it at all are adding those misconceptions to their own, etc.
I agree that small group for discussion of any preliminary sort is much better.