Two Simple Thngs

As we progress in the third term, we face the final lap of the academic session. I hope this is a time for doing an analysis of the performance level of each child thus far. This is the term where we can do two significant things before the kids move to the next grade.

First, we need to ensure that we correct any error in understanding our kids might have developed during the course of the year. You cannot allow such misunderstandings to go with them to the next grade. Keep in mind that education and the content of the curriculum is scaffolded and failure to master the content will affect the scheme of the next session. So go back to the results of the C.A.T and the exams, analyze student performance and use your findings to prepare revision exercises once the children are back in school.

Secondly as much as you will teach the content of your present scheme, this is the term where you want your kids to exercise with the material they will face next session.  Allowing the kids to chew some of the coming content will put them in a better frame of mind to wrestle with and effectively assimilate content in the next class. You can do this by simply using terms, giving project work, group work, brain teasers etc. that are reflections of the next class.

I sincerely wish you success this term.

Arrest Attention

Without attention, effective teaching cannot take place, and without effective teaching, learning cannot take place either. This underscores the fact that teachers must find a way to arrest students’ attention for effective lesson delivery. I'm sure you are aware that students day dream. They could be quiet but their minds have wandered off. It is your duty to make sure that this doesn’t happen. You need to find lesson hooks that immediately arrest the attention of your students. Such hooks must have educational relevance to the topic of the day.

 I am a fan of arresting attention because I know that without it, learning cannot take place. I also know that you cannot ask for attention if you don’t know how to arouse it or arrest it. Dear teacher, it is an educational crime to teach without instructional materials. It is also dangerous to continue teaching when you observe that attention is beginning to dwindle. As such you must have a bag of tricks or attention sustainers that you rely on as you go. One of your tricks is an activity planned within your lesson. Or an experiment that involves the students moving from passive attention to active and engaged attention in the task of learning. Arresting attention shouldn’t be a problem if you are intentional. You only need to see your lesson through the eyes of the students. You need to think and act in line with the world of the students. You must be willing to speak their language in order to arrest their attention. When you try the unconventional and sometimes seemingly ridiculous, you will be amazed at how much attention students will give you.

Effective Lesson Transition

Connecting a previous lesson to the next one, allows students to develop a deeper understanding of all subjects. This is lesson transition and a vital tool of effective teachers.

ASSESSMENT

Welcome to a new session and I hope you are ready for the challenges ahead. As the new students arrive in your class, I hope you have done a good assessment of them during the holiday. I assume that you have conducted an academic handover session with the previous class teacher and you have created action plans based on the information from the teacher. This is an invaluable assessment tool and you will really need this information to prepare you for the task ahead. Nevertheless, you cannot totally rely on the contents of the academic handover. Though it shows you the present level of performance of each student, yet I believe that miracles do happen during the holiday and as such you will need to conduct in-moment assessment of the students as they arrive. The PLOP document may fail to capture some holiday improvements or decrease as the case may be.

You must set out to observe them and quickly find out their skill level so as to know how to tailor your lesson. Remember that children don’t learn the same way, at the same rate and our pacing must vary depending on the students we have. So I encourage you to regularly check for understanding as you teach. Don’t wait for till the end of the lesson before you start evaluating student understanding or confusion. To wait till the end is too late. You need to ask questions, check for understanding, observe body language as you teach and use the data derived to improve how you are teaching. If you truly listen, students are always talking even when it is nonverbal. Don’t be too content driven that you ignore the feedback of your students. Always remember that if they don’t learn it, that simply means we haven’t taught it.

Once again I welcome you to a great session and I look forward to working with you as we progress.

Self Polishing

Wow, as the holidays are here I guess it’s time to rest. But I also believe it’s a time for self-polishing. If you have self-evaluated yourself or perhaps your school did a staff appraisal for the ended session, then you know that there are areas you need improvement. Don’t think that you know it all. Nobody does. We all can benefit from a little self-polishing. And now that the students are not in school, I believe you need to spend this period to improve on your craft. Let me give you a few simple things you can do to put yourself in a better teaching position for next session.

Watch Movies. Before you run off to get one of those seasonal movies, you need to realize I am talking about educational movies. Such movies challenge and inspire. Here are a few you can lay your hands on and watch. Gifted hands, Stand and Deliver, Like stars on earth, Mr. Holland's Opus, Coach Carter, and Lean on me. I have watched these movies and I am sure you will learn a lot from them.

Internet. There’s a lot you can learn on the internet. You will be amazed at the array of educational information on YouTube and Google. Just type any area you wish to improve and you will find more than enough information to help you.

Computer Literacy. I hope you are computer literate. If not, this is the time to get adequate expertise. Find a place to learn or someone to teach you the basics. You need to really improve in this area.

Books. I am aware that getting educational books to buy and read may not be as easy but if you are truly desirous you will find. Take a look at your school library for a start. And if you have any of my books for teachers, maybe you have to reread it. I am sure you will find something worthwhile in them.

 Videos.  If you recorded any of your class sessions, it’s time to watch and re-watch to see what you did well and what went wrong.

EVALUATION

As the session rounds up and we evaluate students on their level of competence, I believe it’s time we do the same on our teaching ability. Note as I continue that the result of the student performance is a direct reflection of your overall performance throughout the session. You cannot claim to be a good teacher and your students are failing. It doesn’t make any sense. So I will encourage you to engage yourself in reflective teaching. This means looking back at how you have taught. What went well and what you did poorly.

Think of the high moments and the lows during the academic year. Think on what you did to create the aesthetic moments and make the use of a journal to document your thoughts. Please be honest as you know that your school leadership is doing the same on you.

 Self-evaluation isn’t something you wait for the end of the academic session to do. It’s something that must be a part of your teaching practice and it must be something you do weekly. In my book TEACHERS THAT TEACH, I encouraged you to do a SWOT analysis on your teaching. Do this and use the outcome to prepare yourself better for the coming session. Seek help on how to improve in areas you are weak. Please don’t allow ignorant arrogance to affect you. All of us can use some help in some areas of our lesson delivery. No one is perfect

CLASS MANAGEMENT

Nothing drags your lesson delivery backwards as much as a loss of class control. The funny thing is that class control isn’t just about students keeping quiet and looking at you. Effective class control is more about setting and enforcing class culture rules, academic and behavioral routines and procedures of expectations. When you are successful at class management, your lesson delivery will go smoothly and students will be involved in the work of class. They will pay attention and will absorb everything you say like a sponge. Let me share with you one of my many tricks at setting a great class culture that makes teaching easy and learning possible.

DO-NOW
Students should never have to ask themselves ‘what am i suppossed to be doing?' when they enter your classroom, nor should they be able to claim not to know what they should be doing. Being clear with students about what to be working on and eliminating the excuses that lead to distraction- are the rationale for d-now, a short activity that you have written on the board or is waiting at their desk before they enter. They should be able to complete it without any assistance from you and the activity should preview the day’s lesson. A do-now must be consistent and must be in written form. You will eradicate the absence of mind, noise making at class entry and set the tone for a high academic expectation as soon as students set their feet in your class daily.

STRONG VOICE

I have observed in my years of teaching that some teachers have IT. They enter a classroom and are easily in command. Students who moments before seemed beyond the appeal of reason suddenly take their seats to await instructions from teachers that have IT. It’s hard to say what IT is and why some teachers have it and most don’t.  The IT factor seem to have nothing to do with your academic qualification. There are five concrete things that ‘IT’ teachers constantly use to signal their authority. These techniques can be summed up in one word, STRONG VOICE. Before you get it twisted, strong voice isn’t about shouting at the top of your voice and it isn’t something that belongs to the male teachers. Strong voice is broken into five basic techniques that any teacher can and must learn to develop the IT factor. I am only going to share with you just one of these techniques. I encourage you to apply it in your next class.

Ø  Economy of Language

Fewer words are stronger than more. When you need your direction followed, use the words that best focus students on what is most important, and no more. Don’t dilute urgent issues with things that can wait. Avoid initiating distractions and excess words. When you need to be all business, be clear and crisp. And then stop talking. Say what you want done with the minimum amount of words. Don’t say much and don’t say more until your directive is followed. Teachers that have it regularly rely on this technique and guess what, I do too and it works always.

Smith Talks on effective teaching

Teachers

In a completely rational society, the best of us would aspire to be teachers and the rest of us would have to settle for something less, because passing civilization from one generation to the next ought to be the highest honor and highest responsibility anyone could have.