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?

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.

Four More Classroom Management Startegies

Giving praise to your students can be a great way to have the students feel good about themselves and reduce classroom management issues. Following are four tried-and-true strategies that are easy to implement.

1. Praise should be specific and linked to behaviors that you want to encourage.
2. Praise needs to be tailored the individual.
3. Praise can be meaningless if you have no other positive, personal interactions with a student.
4. Some students need praise for small acts that others might take for granted.

Classroom Management Strategies With a High Priority

With a new session beginning, it is a good time to mention some basic classroom management strategies.

• Use nametags or the equivalence to call students by their names.
• Do not compare people and classes.
• Set realistic expectations for the class.
• Never ignore or ridicule questions.
• Try not to help too much.
• Do not focus on mistakes.
• Resist having a favorite student.
• Manage your frustration.

Active Listening in Classroom, Part II

Last week’s post covered the first two aspects of active listening. Following are the three others.

3. Provide feedback. Our personal filters, assumptions, judgments, and beliefs can distort what we hear. As a listener, your role is to understand what is being said. This may require you to reflect what is being said and ask questions. Reflect what has been said by paraphrasing. “What I’m hearing is…” and “Sounds like you are saying…” are great ways to reflect back. Ask questions to clarify certain points. “What do you mean when you say…” “Is this what you mean?” Summarize the speaker’s comments periodically.

4. Defer judgment. Interrupting is a waste of time. It frustrates the speaker and limits full understanding of the message. Allow the speaker to finish. Don’t interrupt with counter-arguments.

5. Respond Appropriately. Active listening is a model for respect and understanding. You are gaining information and perspective. You add nothing by attacking the speaker or otherwise putting him or her down. Be candid, open, and honest in your response. Assert your opinions respectfully. Treat the other person as he or she would want to be treated.

Active Listening in the Classroom, Part I

Being an active listener can greatly improve the classroom atmosphere, if for no other reason than the students know you are working to understand them. The following are the first two suggestions from a total of five that are discussed in an article from Mind Tools. If you are new to the concept of active listening, they can be difficult to accomplish. As always, the key is to practice, practice, practice…. Next week's post will contain the remaining three suggestions.

1. Pay attention. Give the speaker your undivided attention and acknowledge the message. Recognize that what is not said also speaks loudly.
   *Look at the speaker directly.
   *Put aside distracting thoughts. Don’t mentally prepare a rebuttal!
   *Avoid being distracted by environmental factors.
   *“Listen” to the speaker’s body language.
   *Refrain from side conversations when listening in a group setting.
   
2. Show that you are listening. Use your own body language and gestures to convey your attention.
   *Nod occasionally.
   *Smile and use other facial expressions.
   *Note your posture and make sure it is open and inviting.
   *Encourage the speaker to continue with small verbal comments like yes, and uh huh.

Getting Ready for the Winter Session

In order to be ready for a new session and its classes, I review a check list of activities that help set the tone for the classes. The list is shown below. Give it a try.

• Contact the students before the class begins and offer suggestions on materials they will need to bring, location of the classroom, parking issues, etc.


• Greet the student at the classroom door and introduce yourself.


• Provide materials for making table tents or name tags to help others know their classmates.


• Inform the students about break times, restroom locations, cell phone etiquette, etc.


• Conduct an ice breaker to help people feel comfortable.


• Start the class on time.


• Give an overview of the class.


• Provide frequent breaks during the meeting.


• Encourage participation.


• Conclude the class on time

Five More Teaching Tips

The following five teaching tips build upon the ten teaching tips posts of May 21 and May 28, 2008.

1. Build relationships with the students. Talk to them about their hobbies, interests, activities, etc.

2. Relate their hobbies/interests/activities to class content. As a result, they can connect more easily with the subject matter.

3. Ask questions regarding a student’s response. Attempt to determine what the student had in mind when responding to classroom material.

4. Be fair. Being fair in this context means everyone receives what they need.

5. Be organized. Not only does it make the class progress smoothly, it usually helps the students learn the material.

Want to Try Twitter?

Everyone seems to be talking about Twitter. We have even made reference to it in this blog back on January 20, 2009. You may recall that it is often referred to as micro-blogging. The "micro" part is derived from being limited to 140 characters.

If you have decided to give it a try, whether for classroom or business use, you will want to read an article titled, "The Four Stages of a Typical Twitter User."

According to the article’s author, Jason Hiner, once you make it to the fourth stage, you will be a convert. Read all of what he has to say by clicking here.

Mysteries of the Whiteboard

In response to last week’s post, we received several questions:

• What happened to the blackboard?
• Where is the chalk?
• What is the white thing in the front of the room and why does it have faint markings on it?

Take heart, it is merely the March of Progress. The blackboard has been replaced by the whiteboard because of a need to reduce dust in multimedia classrooms with their computers, data projector, DVD player, etc. The chalk has been replaced by erasable marker pen, the instrument used to write on the whiteboard. The shadows on the whiteboard are from those who previously used a marker on the whiteboard.

The Community Learning Teacher Video (CLTV) shown below offers suggestions on using the whiteboard more efficiently.

Applying the Three Principles of Memory

Last week’s post prompted people to ask for examples of how to bring the three principles, repeated below, into the classroom. The strategies I use are shown in italics.

1. Memories are formed as the residue of thought. Help the students think about the material by clearly drawing their attention to what is important.

My approach has been to provide the students with a printed outline that focuses only on the most important elements of the meeting. Minor points, anecdotes, examples, etc. are not on the outline.

2. Memories are inaccessible, mostly due to missing or ambiguous cues. Provide cues (mnemonics, images, associations, etc.) and use them in class to help students connect with the important elements.

I offer a number of cues that have helped me develop memories related to the material. For example, a typical workflow process used in editing digital photos is to Rotate, Crop, Overall fixes, Individual fixes, Sharpen, Save. The mnemonics for the process is Real Crazy Or Insane Some Say.

3. People tend to think their learning is more complete than it really is. Students can confuse familiar with the material for actually knowing it (italics added). Encourage the over- studying of important parts.

It has often been said that the best way to learn something (over-study) was to teach it. Thus, I suggest that the students go home and teach the meeting’s topics to someone. When they can teach it without the “errrs,” “umms”, pauses, etc., they have over-studied!

Share some strategies you use with us.

Helping our Students Remember Class Material

Puzzled why students cannot remember the steps necessary to complete a task?

Insight can be found in an article by Daniel T. Willingham where he discusses the issue from a cognitive psychology point of view. The article is full of ideas, examples, and suggestions on how we, as community learning instructors, can help our students.

The author’s position is that to remember something, one must have a memory of it. Further, he suggests there are three principles of memory. Helping the student develop those memories is the thrust of the following.

1. Memories are formed as the residue of thought. Help the students think about the class by clearly drawing their attention to what is important.

2. Memories are inaccessible, mostly due to missing or ambiguous cues. Provide cues (mnemonics, images, associations, etc.) and use them in class to help students connect with the important elements.

3. People tend to think their learning is more complete than it really is. Students can confuse familiar with the material for actually knowing it (italics added). Encourage the over- studying of important parts.

Sharing the Sidebar

Annoyed by the whispered conversations that occur between two students during the lecture/discussion/Q&A?

For me, the annoyance derives not from being the center of attention, but rather that the conversation causes the chatting people to miss part of the class activity while interfering with their neighbors’ participation. No matter how I would intervene in the distracting behavior, I would feel awkward, sometimes like I had a major ego problem, sometimes creating a me-against-them situation, etc.

A nifty solution to this vexing problem was demonstrated when I recently attended a conference held on campus. The key note speaker was explaining how sharing information helped make the class a more rewarding experience. He pointed out that whispered conversations, which he called a "sidebar,” between two individuals were also a rich source of information that should be shared with the class. Being a valuable source, the "sidebar" group would be required to share their conversation with the class.

The first time two individuals put their heads together in a “sidebar,” the speaker stopped his discussion and ask the whisperers to share their “sidebar.” It was the last time anyone in the room had a whispered conversation!

Three PowerPoint 2007 Tips

Ready to move your PowerPoint presentations into the 21st century? Here are three ways to leave that pre-Millenium slide show behind.

1. Apply the 10, 20, 30 rule.
No more than 10 slides.

No more than 20 words per slide.
Use at least a 30 point font size.

But, you say, “My information is more than the 10 and 20.”

Not to worry—give the audience a break every ten slides by providing music (PowerPoint 2007 comes with at least two sound clips.), having them take a short stand up break, fiddling with the program while profusely apologizing, etc.

2. Use animation sparingly, if at all. Although fun to put in the presentation while sitting at your desk, it can create a zombie-like reaction in an audience who must sit through things that are dissolving, zooming around the screen, flashing on and off, etc. if you must have animation, strive for no more than two per slide and use the same one(s) throughout.

3. Move beyond bullets (dots, squares, numbers, etc.) in your list. This can be done by employing Microsoft PowerPoint 2007s Smart Art. It is found by clicking the Insert tab. The following Smart Art example is one where its color scheme can be changed, an image can be inserted into the circle, and text placed in the rectangle.

Have a PowerPoint tip you would like to share? Contact Paul Stennett by clicking here.

Five Tips for Homework Assignments

Teaching a class that involves homework?

Suggestions for helping the students with the assignments are found in a recent Inside the School Update that contained an article titled “Posting Homework Online” by Diane Trim. The following points are particularly relevant to community learning students.

1. Post assignments on the Internet. This can be accomplished using social media such as a blog.*


2. Assignments are easily retrieved when on the Internet. If a student misses a meeting, they can obtain the homework themselves and not fall behind.


3. Posting the assignments also serves as a reminder. Our adult students lead busy lives and often appreciate being reminded.


4. When writing the assignments, use a common/generic word processing program. Not everyone has the latest version of all programs.


5. Keep the assignments brief. This results in a small file size, allowing for a quick download. Those with a dial-up modem will appreciate it.

*More information on social media and blogs will be forth coming.

Another Opportunity for Teaching Adults

This Saturday is another free session of the Teaching Adults class. Meet the current group of new instructors, discover the latest in department information, and teaching tips while sharing your teaching knowledge and expertise.

Please join us:

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Boyle Education Center Room 151

9 a.m. to Noon.

More Teaching Tips: Stay Neutral, Active, Clear, and Play

With the new school year starting, try these tips:
1. Stay neutral on content. Your job is to pass on information but not be so attached to it that if anyone challenges it (not you) you don’t become confrontational.
2. Listen actively. Look people in the eye, use attentive body language and paraphrase what they are saying. They will return the favor when you are talking.
3. Paraphrase to be clear. Restate what you have just shared in a different way. This can clear up the looks of a “deer in the headlights” that you can get every now and then.
4. Play Ping-Pong. Picture yourself standing up front with a Ping Pong paddle in one hand. If someone asks a question or makes a comment, redirect it by sending it back to someone else to answer or build on. This helps the students not be solely dependent on you. They have a lot of knowledge and experience to share, take advantage of it.