Helping Without Talking

Try these help-aids with your students when you don’t have time to stop and chat.

• Redirection. If the student is off-task and/or looks lost, point to the task they should be on.
• Permission. A nod of the head is a good way to tell a student it is okay to ask a question.
• Understanding. Have the students use a signal to indicate where they are with the material. For example, raising one finger means I'm lost, two fingers means I'm catching on and three fingers means I've got it.
• Praise. Use a non-verbal gesture such as thumbs up or a vertical nod of the head when something good happens.

Did you notice the hand gesture in the photo in relation to the text?

Student Feedback: Information That Makes a Difference*

When you are a new instructor with us, you will receive a student feedback packet during the first two terms you teach for Community Learning. What follows is information on how to handle those packets.

1. Conduct the student feedback during your last class session.

2. Present Student Feedback forms to the class and ask for open, honest responses that are to be anonymous. Tell them to supply their contact information if they would like a response from our office.

3. Ask for a volunteer to distribute the forms and collect them when completed.

4. Leave the room while students are completing the feedback forms.

5. Have the volunteer collect the forms and place them in the envelope provided. You may read the surveys for helpful information prior to sealing the envelope.

6. Put them in the mail immediately following the class, using the enclosed envelope (postage prepaid). Please do not ask a student to mail the envelope.

Every attempt is to be made to secure open and honest feedback without pressuring the student.

Your programmer will contact you with a summary of each feedback survey.

After the first two feedback forms are completed, contact your programmer if you would like to pursue addtional feedback.

*Thanks to Rachel and Paul for this post.

Can We Talk?

One element that is often lost in a classroom is the opportunity for the students to interact with one another about a topic. The Socratic method of instruction helps restore the lost element.

An aspect of the method is for the instructor to pose a question with students then given time to discuss it. Students use classroom material, prior knowledge, and facts to bolster their opinions.The instructor steps back and observes the process, but it’s the students who are talking and, therefore, learning.

Studies suggest that students retain what they learn when they talk to each other about the question. They tend to focus on both the similarities and differences in opinions and compare the ideas of others to their own. Thus, they begin to develop their own voice regarding the subject.

Teaching the Correct Level of Material

As previous posts have suggested, having a successful class for both the students and yourself requires a number of classroom management strategies. This suggestion involves making sure your class material is the same as the description in the schedule and that you inform the students as to what will be taught.

For example:

1. If you are teaching a beginning class, confine the content to beginning material.

2. If you are teaching an intermediate class, you might briefly recap relevant beginning material but be sure to teach intermediate material.