How to Help At-Risk Students Learn Out Loud – And Still Keep a Handle on Your Classroom By Alex KajitaniRecently, I had the opportunity to visit one of our state’s lowest performing schools. Located in a high-poverty neighborhood, with a high percentage of minority students and test scores in the gutter, the school has all of the stereotypical low-performing attributes. Except one. There are relatively no behavior or discipline problems, according to school staff. As I toured from classroom to classroom, I had to agree. The students seemed very well-behaved, and the teachers seemed to have their procedures and routines down to a science. As bells rang, the students moved through the halls with grace and ease. “I don’t get it,” one faculty member said to me, “We teach hard all day, but this is never reflected in our test scores.” As I continued to observe classrooms, I realized that the teachers absolutely were teaching. And that was the problem. The teachers spent so much time teaching, there was very little time left to devote to the students’ learning. And by this, I mean, I did not see time devoted to discussion and interaction between teachers and students, or between students and their peers. The students’ only learning option was to absorb lectures. How many of us learn best this way? We Can’t Fear Student Participation
With the rise of the internet, social media and video recording capabilities on every machine we can fit into our pockets, today’s student are social beings by necessity. They are constantly talking, texting and giving their opinions. However, in schools, they are often asked to put this aside and be quiet – in order to “let the teacher teach.” We often force students into roles where they are expected to be quiet for an hour or more at a time, and then we expect them to remember everything we just said. As teachers, we are often afraid that letting the students talk means risking giving up control of the classroom, and we fear that it will become difficult to reclaim that control in the middle of class. In their book, Checking for Understanding, Fisher and Frey report: “In classrooms where there are increased numbers of students living in poverty, teachers talk more and students talk less (Lingard, Hayes, and Mills, 2003). In addition, there is an increased focus on basic skills in these classrooms and less attention to critical and creative thinking” (Stipek, 2004). These authors also report that “English language learners in many classrooms are asked easier questions or no questions at all” (Guan Eng Ho, 2005; Rothenberg & Fisher, 2007). Giving into this fear of the “messiness” that may ensue when we engage At-Promise students in interactive conversations is a disservice to them. Forgetting that English language learners likely have more advanced creative thinking abilities than may come through in their English speaking or writing is, too. To ensure that our At-Promise students learn the information we present to them, we need to give them time to interact with the information, including discussing, questioning and even arguing and flubbing it. It’s OK if it gets messy, and it does not have to mean chaos.
Win-Win Strategies to Get Students Talking
This month, I offer three strategies to help get At-Promise students engaging with and discussing the curriculum they are learning – while allowing teachers to keep control of the classroom. Strategy 1: THINK-PAIR-SHARE Developed by University of Maryland professor Frank Lyman, this strategy encourages students to do exactly what the name suggests. Here’s how it works.
Think. The teacher begins by provoking the students to think about a concept or idea, or can provide a specific question or prompt. The teacher then gives the students a minute to think in silence. The students can also jot down notes about their thoughts as well.
One minute of “think” time is usually plenty; as anything over a minute risks losing the momentum toward the desired outcome. Giving this wait time also eliminates eager students shouting out their answers, which often become the only answer that the rest of the students then give. It also decreases the chances of a student “hiding” at their desk in hopes that they will not be called upon.
Pair. Next, the teacher prompts the students to turn to a partner(s) to discuss their individual thoughts (or written notes). It is very important that the teacher be visible during this time, either by circulating the room, or sitting in on conversations that the teacher predicts may be unfocused. The teacher can also add urgency to the conversations by putting a time limit on them (i.e., “You have one minute to discuss your thoughts with your partner…”). In addition, it is helpful to have the students know who their partner is in advance of beginning this process. This helps the students stay focused on the conversation at hand, and eliminates the potential for one student to sit alone quietly while the rest of the class engages in conversation.
As students share their answers, they do so in a situation that is much safer than saying it aloud for the first time in front of the entire class. Should they find that their answer is completely off base, they can quickly make the adjustment, and have a better answer by the time the entire class discusses it. However, more often than not, the students find that their answer is in-line with what their partner was thinking, giving them confidence to move into the “share” phase.
Share. After discussing their thoughts with their partner, the teacher then calls for pairs to share their discussion with the entire class. There are several options for having students share aloud, including:
• Simply calling on those who offer to share.
• Calling on all groups in a “round robin” format.
• Calling on individual students. A deeper step is to ask an individual student to share only what their partner talked about. This insures not only that the students were talking to one another, but that they were listening to each other as well.
Note: Add to the depth of the learning by recording key points on the overhead or white board. This also provides a running record that the students can access later to reinforce their learning. Strategy 2: THREE QUESTIONS More popularly referred to by my students as “Interrogator,” this strategy is designed to get students to break from the traditional “pre-canned questions” format that are often used in interviewing, and truly listen to their partner’s response before moving on the next question. In addition, it also forces students who are answering the questions to speak in a way that gives their partner enough depth and content to construct a new question. Here’s how it works: Part I: Student A asks her partner, Student B, 3 questions. The first question is provided by the teacher (as students develop this skill, they can create their own first question). The second question is then asked by Student A, but must build upon the answer received from the first question. Student A then asks a third question, based on her partner’s answer to their second question. Student A may ONLY ask questions. Student B must provide ONLY answers, and must speak in full sentences. Part II: Student B asks the questions, starting with the first one (teacher provided). The rigor of conversation can be increased by not allowing Student B to ask the same questions that they were asked for the second and third question. Here’s an example of how this conversation might look in an 11th grade English class that is discussing Walden: Student A: (Teacher prompted) What does it mean when Thoreau says, “I would rather sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself, than be crowded on a velvet cushion”? Student B: I think it means that that it is better to have something that is cheap all to yourself, than to share something expensive with a lot of other people. Student A: Have you ever had had something that was cheap all to yourself? Student B: When I was younger, my brother got a new bike, and I got his old one. Nobody asked me to try the old bike, but everyone wanted to try my brother’s new bike. Student A: If you had the choice, would you rather have had the old bike or the new bike? Student B: Actually, my brother left the new bike at the park, and somebody took it. So I guess Thoreau is right!
Strategy 3: RECORD IT!
By demanding that our students put their Smart Phones away (while rolling our eyes), we are actually neglecting an extremely valuable tool to help our students speak, especially our English language learners. We are also missing an opportunity to “meet students where they live” and help them engage with technology in an educational way. With most electronic gadgets containing the ability to record voice these days, having the students read or speak into their recording device helps them to practice communicating in a way that is private and non-threatening. Here are three activities that the students can do: • With many classrooms now having a set of iPods available to them, students can easily record themselves reading a passage, and listen to it at their convenience, as many times as necessary. They can then make adjustments to their reading, re-record themselves, and hear the difference. Also consider pairing up a weak speaker with a strong one, in order for the weaker speaker to hear the same passage read by a strong voice. • When the teacher asks a question, students record themselves speaking the answer. When called upon, a reluctant speaker can simple hit “play” for their partner, or for the class to hear their pre-recorded response. • Consider extending this activity by using a computer application, such as “Sonic Pics” (available at http://www.sonicpics.com/) to have students record their voice over photographs, in order to create a narrated slide show. These apps are extremely easy to use, highly engaging for the students, and very effective. An added benefit is that since students are recording their every word, they are much more likely to stick to the academic content that the teacher insists on! Let Them Learn Out Loud While reading and writing are incredibly important to the success of our students, for many, the ability to speak well will help them not only achieve in school, but throughout their lives. According to Harvey MacKay, author of the book, Swim with the Sharks, “The number one skill most lacking in business today is public speaking – the ability to present oneself.” For our At-Promise students, the ability to learn hinges on their ability to speak their minds and process their thoughts aloud. The ability to speak well allows them to present themselves in a confident manner in the world, and gives them the potential to truly achieve the “promise” that we hold for them. As teachers of At-Promise students, we must have the courage to stop “teaching at them” for hours on end, and make the space for them to learn out loud, from their own voices and from one another. Alex Kajitani is the 2009 California Teacher of the Year, and a Top-4 Finalist for National Teacher of the Year. Seeking a way to connect with his at-promise students, he began to combine hip-hop music with math lessons to engage students and "make math cool"; this was so successful it led him to create two CDs and a workbook (available at http://www.mathraps.com/). Now known around the country as "The Rappin' Mathematician," he has been featured on The CBS Evening News with Katie Couric, and speaks to groups nationwide about teaching and education. His new book, How to Rock Middle School Math, is due out later this year. Alex is currently a Teacher on Special Assignment with the Escondido Union School District in Escondido, CA. Find more stories, strategies and inspiration at http://www.AlexKajitani.com/. References Frey, N., and Fisher, D. (2007). Checking for Understanding: Formative Assessment Techniques for Your Classroom, 21. Guan Eng Ho, D. (2005). Why do teachers ask the questions they ask? RELC Journal, 36, 297-310. Lingard, B., Hayes, D., & Milles, M. (2003). Teachers and productive pedagogies; Contextualising, conceptualizing, utilizing. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 11, 399-424. Rothenberg, C., & Fisher, D., (2007). Teaching English language learners: A differentiated approach. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merill/Prentice Hall. Stipek, D. (2004). Teaching practices in kindergarten and first grade: Different strokes for different folks. Early Childhood Research Quarterly, 19, 374-390. |
