Are teachers born, or made?While the debate has raged for decades, most people agree that effective teaching can result from natural artistry as well as focused training. How is class time organized and what is academic learning time?A teacher's organization of classroom time influences student achievement. Allocated time is the amount of time a teacher schedules for a particular subject. Engaged time is the amount of allocated time during which the students are actually on task with the subject matter. Academic learning time is engaged time with a high success rate. What classroom management skills foster academic achievement?With good planning, teachers can arrange the classroom to minimize disturbances and establish efficient principles of instruction. Good classroom management can lead to high student achievement. Establishing reasonable rules or standards that are not excessive in number usually means instruction can then proceed smoothly. Even the physical setup of the classroom can help or hinder student achievement. Skills that are necessary for maintaining a well-managed classroom include group alerting, withitness, overlapping, use of the principle of least intervention, and the creation of smooth transitions. What are the roles of teachers and students in the pedagogical cycle? The pedagogical cycle consists of four stages: (1) structure, (2) question, (3) respond, and (4) react.While the student's role is primarily responding, teachers typically are accountable for structuring, questioning, and reacting. How can teachers set a stage for learning?Clear structure gives students a framework understanding what they are expected to learn. Effective teachers introduce the topic and outline the lesson's direction. Most cycles of instruction begin by connecting prior learning to current objectives. Motivating students with a transition to the lesson and then keeping the content clear will help students remain engaged. Effective teachers offer meaningful examples, give accurate directions, display enthusiasm, and present a brief closure to the lesson. What questioning strategies increase student achievement?Questioning is at the very foundation of effective teaching. Bloom's taxonomy provides a useful classification of questions from the lowest level (knowledge) to the highest level (evaluation). Teachers rely most heavily on lower-order questions. While lower-order questions are well-suited for some goals, higher-order questions are associated with higher-order thinking and should also be an important part of classroom instruction. In fact, who is asked the questions is often an indication of teacher expectation. All students should participate and teachers should carefully consider who will be asked to answer questions. Effective teachers use intentional strategies to allocate questions fairly. Teachers need to remember to wait three to five seconds after asking a question (wait time 1) and before reacting to a student answer (wait time 2). Increasing wait time is surprisingly effective in raising the student level of participation (both quality and quantity). Teachers also need to be thoughtful in how they react to student comments. Teachers can offer praise, acceptance, remediation, or criticism in responding to the student. Research indicates that teachers use acceptance more than all the other reactions combined, a sign that their reactions may lack precision and perhaps their questions may not be challenging students. How can teachers best tap into the variety of student learning stylesEffective teachers provide variety in both content and activity. From discussions and debates to simulations and spot quizzes, teachers increase academic success by responding to the different learning styles in the class. What are the prevailing models of instruction?Four models of instruction that can lead to high student achievement include (1) direct teaching, (2) cooperative learning, (3) mastery learning, and (4) problem-based learning. The principles of direct teaching include daily review, presentation of new material in a clear manner, guided practice, teacher feedback, independent practice, and weekly and monthly reviews. In a cooperative learning classroom, students work in small groups and appraisals often reflect the entire group's performance. Mastery learning programs involve specific objectives that must be met, as indicated by assessment. Typically, students work at their own pace, going on to new material only when mastery of previous work has been demonstrated. Teachers often play a central role in content and skill mastery. Problem-based learning stimulates students to explore authentic issues. Individually and in small groups, students cross traditional subject boundaries as they investigate real-life problems and demonstrate what they have learned. What are the future directions of effective teaching researchThe best of today's educators are reflective about their practice. They continually question what they did and how it worked as they take strategic steps to be effective teachers. Differential instruction responds to individual student differences, unlike the popular model of standardized instruction and testing. Deep teaching promotes meaningful academic development around essential content, teaching less material in greater depth. The prior knowledge a student brings to the lesson must be connected with information gained. As learning can be social, teacher expertise can steer the classroom toward a sense of community. Looping and block scheduling increase the time that students and teachers can work together. |