The focus for EDAT 6115 this week was
on how develop effective lessons within the classroom, including direct
instruction. In Chapter 7 Slavin defines what direct instruction is and
describes how to teach a lesson using direct instruction and all of its
components. Slavin also describes the best way to teach transfer of learning.
Slavin helps the reader to identify instructional practices and situations
where discussions are more useful than direct instruction. Slavin helps the
reader understand how knowing how to create effective lessons will inform
intentional teaching for the intentional teacher. (Slavin, 2020)
Analysis
This
chapter begins with a scenario of Ms. Logan who uses all of the aspects of
effective lessons while she incorporates multiple teaching strategies to keep
her students engaged. This teacher used a unit or lesson that lasted over four
different lesson periods where she used direct instruction, discussions,
cooperative learning, and constructivist types of learning where the students
helped to build their own knowledge. (Slavin, 2020)
According
to Slavin (2020), “Direct instruction is used to describe lessons in which
teachers transmit information directly to students, structuring class time to
reach a clearly defined set of objectives as efficiently as possible” (p.166). Slavin
continues on to let us know that this type of instruction is appropriate for
teaching skills or standards that all students must master at the grade level. There
are seven parts to a well-planned direct instruction lesson plan. These parts include
state learning objectives and orient students to the lesson, review
prerequisites, present new material, conduct learning probes, provide
independent practice, assess performance and provide feedback, and provide
distributed practice and review. (Slavin, 2020) Slavin provides a few examples
of a direct instruction lesson plan for different grades and subjects. These
lessons follow what Slavin refers to as a logical sequence. (Slavin, 2020) According
to Slavin, research does show that direct instruction can be beneficial to
students, however the research is not clear on when direct instruction should be
used or implemented. (Slavin, 2020)
Slavin
states that a concept is an idea which can be generalized. Concepts such as
color could be generalized and then transferred to many different objects of
the same color. Slavin uses this concept as a simplistic example but notes that
some concepts are more complicated such as learning about justice. (Slavin,
2020) Some concepts can be learned by seeing examples or learning the
definition of a word. Students need to be able to take these concepts that they
learn in school and transfer them to their real-life and daily interactions.
(Slavin, 2020) Teachers will need to be able to teach students how to apply concepts
to the real world. Students may learn an initial concept in school within the
context of the subject they are learning. However, the teacher will need to use
many examples to show how those concepts can apply to the real world. (Slavin,
2020)
Slavin
teaches us that discussion should be a part of learning and instruction. Some
discussions can open up to where there may not be a right or wrong answer. Some
of the discussion topics could be subjective or controversial, some could be
about difficult and novel concepts, or they could be concerned with affective
objectives. (Slavin, 2020) A whole class discussion “differs from a usual
lesson because the teacher plays a less dominant role” (Slavin, 2020, p. 186). Before
holding a whole-class discussion the teacher must prepare the students with
knowledge of the topic. Students would then be able to participate in a
meaningful way while the teacher is more of a moderator of the discussion. A
small group discussion is different in that the students would work together is
smaller discussions of four to six students. The teacher would still moderate,
however the teacher would move around the room checking in with the groups to
see how the discussions are progressing. Each group may have different topics,
or they could all have the same topics. Again, the teacher would need to
prepare the students in advance with the information needed to have a
productive discussion. (Slavin, 2020)
Slavin
helps us to understand that the intentional teacher would be careful in
selecting the appropriate teaching strategies for each lesson. The teacher
would have a purpose behind the selection of various strategies. The intentional
teacher would plan lessons where they are in alignment with the objectives. The
intentional teacher would follow the seven parts of the direct instruction lesson
plan. The teacher would also provide appropriate times of holding whole-group
and small-group discussions where students can learn cooperatively. (Slavin, 2020)
Reflection
I felt that the concept of direct
instruction hit home for me. I struggled this past school year with moving from
teaching special education where I primarily worked with small groups to
teaching a whole class. I had a model to follow, however it was not as laid out
as the seven steps that Slain introduced. I agree that there needs to be a well-planned
lesson including when I will ask questions. I think even first graders can
learn the concepts of small-group discussions if the concepts are taught well.
One thing that I do feel was done well was transferring concepts to real life.
In my classroom my students picked up
quickly when we would use the technique of “this reminds me of” or “I can
connect this to my life because” when we were reading. We also used those same
strategies with math. I did feel that I lacked the ability to get my students
to stay on track with classroom discussion and small-group or partner talk.
I feel that following the plans laid
out by Slavin will help me be a better teacher because I will be more
intentional in my planning of direct instruction, differentiation, and
discussion groups.
Reference
Slavin,
R. E. (2020). Educational psychology: Theory and practice (13th ed.).
Pearson Education. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B088HBVY4X/ref=kinw_myk_ro_title
No comments:
Post a Comment