Effective Teaching

Being Positive

2011-11-28T00:34:00.001-08:00

Recently, after going through a personal identity crisis, I had been searching high and low for a meaning of our purpose being alive.

In the Stop Workplace Drama:

The author explained that when we are lost in fog, we need to ask “Who we are” and “What we are committed to”.

In the Energy Bus:

One story told by the Author brought me the eureka moment:

A man goes to a village and visits a wise man and says, “I feel like there are two dogs inside me. One dog is this positive, loving, kind, and gentle dog and then I have this angry, mean-spirited, and negative dog and they fight all the time. I don’t know which is going to win.” The wise man thinks for a moment and he says, “I know which is going to win. The one you feed the most, so feed the positive dog.” This is very true of the spiritual battle.

While we think, we need to differentiate between thoughts that need us to address to (real problems to be solved) and negative thoughts. Once we are consciously making an effort to cut out the negativity and to think positively more frequently, while we solve problems.

And when we make any decisions, we need to review them based on “Who we are” and “What we are committed to”.

Yes!

How to confront undesirable behaviour?

2011-10-27T01:22:00.001-07:00

As teachers, we constantly need to ensure that our students are learning the correct values but on the other hand we were taught not to judge a person based just on his/her behaviours.

However, if a person did something wrong once, twice and over again - that behaviour would become a habit. With one bad habit, the person picked up another and then another, soon these bad habits would form the person’s character.

How should we approach behavioural issues?

According to Kerry Patterson in the book: Crucial confrontation …, there is a systematic approach – think CPR.

C: The first time you encounter the bad behaviour, talk about the Content. Eg “You were late from class and missed the important part of the lesson. …”
P: The next time, talk about Pattern. Pattern issues acknowledge that problems have histories and histories make a difference. Eg “This is the second time you were late from class. You agreed it would not happen again and I am concerned that I cannot count on you to keep your promise. …”
R: Future occurrences of the problem have an impact on Relationships. The focus is now on us. The attention has shifted from disappointing performance to the effect on the relationship. “Ah Meng, I don’t like how this is affecting how our relationship as teacher and student. I am afraid that I may not be able to trust you to follow through on your commitments. …”

By communicating the correct issue and not going back to the same content over and over again, the authors believe that our performance will improve.

Let us give it a try!

Keeping the classroom clean and tidy

2011-10-05T20:53:00.001-07:00

This is one area that new inexperienced teachers tend NOT to focus on. However, personally as part of my routine, I put high emphasis in getting students to be involved in keeping their classrooms clean and tidy. Regularly, I would also set good examples by going into the class slightly earlier to tidy the class up before the students arrive.

According to Malcolm Gladwell “Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference”, he listed “three rules of epidemics”:

The law of the Few
The stickiness factor
The power of context: Human behaviour is sensitive to and strongly influenced by its environment.

On the topic of “the power of context”, Malcolm brought out the NYC’s Broken Windows Theory, which states that monitoring and maintaining urban environments in well-ordered condition may prevent further vandalism as well as escalating into more serious crime.

Applying the power of context into the classroom context, the little thing of “keeping the classroom clean and tidy” may actually have a greater impact on the overall vandalism or major crime rate in school.

Personally, I would involved the students in maintaining the classroom so that they themselves have a sense of ownership and by doing so would give them more motivation NOT to litter in class.

It is little things that count (provided the fundamentals are already taken care of).

Attributes of Great teachers

2011-07-26T19:15:00.001-07:00

Being teachers, we teach and get feedback to improve ourselves.

Recently, I decided to poll my ex-students to find out the most important attributes students nowadays are looking for in Great teachers.

The question is “Which one of the following attributes is most important to be GREAT teachers?”

The results are listed below:

The two attributes that stand out from the rest are “Are passionate or committed to improve student learning” and “Get to know their students individually”.

If we do not have the time to be the best teacher, at least try to improve on these two attributes.

For now, let’s ponder a little longer on these two attributes for a while. I will blog about them in another blog/s.

Using ICT technology to improve learning for students that are weaker academically or with poor attendance

2011-02-15T00:59:00.001-08:00

While I was teaching IT and Games related modules, I had the following problems managing the learning progress of students, especially for the academically weaker students and students with poor attendance rate:

1. For many lessons, there many steps to perform using the software program in order to complete a task. The weaker students would not be able to follow the same pace as the rest and I need to repeat the steps again for them, sometime more than once.

2. For most of the practical lessons, they were not stand alone topics and it was not possible for students not to complete the previous lesson, before they moved on to the current lesson. For the students with poor attendance, they would not be able to follow the subsequent lessons when they returned to class after their absentee.

The problem led on to bigger problem in student motivation and management: after not able to follow the lessons, these students lose their interest in the module, turned up later for lessons and may subsequently led to frequent/long absenteeism.

Analyzing the factors that were within my control and evolved my solutions based on tried methods as shared by other teachers on a few teachers network website, I started to blog my lessons with step-by-step tutorials and to make the tutorials interesting, I have embedded images, online slides, pdf files and videos.

During lessons, students that were not able to follow the same pace conducted in class, they were able to refer to these blogs on their own pace to complete the lessons. For students that were absent from previous lessons, I would able to give them an initial briefing of what they have missed out and they would be able to catch up on their own, using these blogs. If students still not able to follow after using these blogs, I would revise the blogs to include additional instructions or mini-steps.

As a reflection, I feel that my efforts in using the blogs are beneficial to the academically weaker students as well as the poor attendance students: (1) students were more motivated as they were able to perform regardless of their speed and speed of the class; (2) students were trying to find their own answers to their queries via these blogs, they became more independent learners; (3) as the teacher, I had more time to focus on the extremely weak ones (about 1-2 students per class) to help them with their unusual problems encountered due to their misunderstanding of the steps.

Summary of blogs created:

Blog	Highlights
http://tpitvb.blogspot.com/	- Online Tutorials
http://tpitwad.blogspot.com/	- Videos Tutorials
http://mpgddgld.blogspot.com/	- Videos Tutorials
http://mpgddspf.blogspot.com/	- Online Tutorials
http://mpgddmgd.blogspot.com/	- Embedded pdf Tutorials - Online solution to problems

Lesson Planning

2010-04-14T06:38:00.001-07:00

Lesson planning is a special skill that is learned in much the same way as other skills. It is one thing to take a ready-made lesson plans and adapt to our needs. It is another thing to have the skill to develop our own lesson plans. Acquiring this skill is far more valuable than being able to use lesson plans developed by others. It takes thinking (thinking more about student engagement & student learning and less on the content delivery) and practice to hone this skill.

Think of lesson plan as a way of effective communication. Lesson plans help teachers to organize content, materials and methods of delivery. Like other skills, we get better by thinking of ways to improve our teaching and lesson planning based on feedback from the students and other teachers.

Effective lesson plans communicate, students are engaged and they learn.

Step 1: Think of what the students need to learn, what they must be able to do after the lesson.

Step 2: Think of what the students already learnt, how to use their prior knowledge and lead them to the new topic.

Step 3: Think of the methods to be used to engage the student and assist them to learn the new topic

Step 4: Think of at least one way to evaluate the learning outcomes of the students.

Engaged Conversation as a Learning tool

2009-07-09T20:58:00.001-07:00

My reflections after reading “Investing in Your Life: Your Biggest Investment Opportunities are Not Necessarily Financial”:

Yes, I have missed it all – being one that is very obsessed with efficiency, I have in the past view conversation as very superficial and tried my best not to be too personal or engaged. But after reading the buy-in portion of the book, I GOT IT and realized how much learning opportunities I have missed by being NOT in engaged mode during conversations with others. To my surprises, just by putting effort to be engaged during one of my conversation with a Security Officer for a private building, I learnt at least one to two things I have never known before from that conversation!

A good start but let me continue this learning journey.

Road to Damascus

2009-03-02T18:51:00.001-08:00

Have you ever have such a moment - a frank feedback from your spouse or colleagues on a blind spot that is very obvious to everyone else around you but definitely not visible to yourself? Yes, this rare moment is similar to "Road to Damascus", one that may be hurting but gives you the opportunity to grow drastically.

Building TRUST as a Teacher

2008-06-20T01:38:00.001-07:00

Reference: Stephen M.R. Covey "THE SPEED OF TRUST - the one thing that changes everything"

How to inspire trust with our students?

First, start by building our own credibility - the 4 CORES:

Integrity => Intent => Capability => Results

Then, consistently behave in a trust-building manners with our students:

#1 Talk straight

#2 Demonstrate respect

#3 Create transparency

#4 Right wrongs

#5 Show Loyalty

#6 Deliver results

#7 Get better

#8 Confront reality

#9 Clarify expectations

#10 Practice accountability

#11 Listen first

#12 Keep commitments

#13 Extend trust

Try them and start right away!

Improving Attendance in School

2007-03-22T20:23:00.000-07:00

* good attendance is a basic pre-requisite of raising achievement
=> improvements in standards of education at school can be achieved only if children are attending regularly
* there a wide range of factors which affect attendance, but also that the diverse nature of schools has to be taken into account when tackling the issue of attendance
* Each school has its own characteristic pattern of attendance which is dependent on the nature of the school community and the school itself. To improve attendance schools must understand their existing pattern of attendance and the reason for it
* Key points for consideration in attempting to improve attendance:
› A developing and appropriate curriculum.
› Support mechanisms for teachers in dealing with disruptive students.
› Strategies for monitoring post registration truancy are monitored and reviewed.
› Attendance and punctuality are given a high profile throughout the school.
› Issues of attendance and punctuality are incorporated into the whole school merit system.
› All staff share responsibility for attendance matters.
› Attendance recording systems are constantly reviewed.
› The school partnership with the education welfare system is based around focussed meetings.
› Clear school policies on attendance and punctuality are developed and communicated to students and parents.

Reference:
Improving attendance at Leek High School.

The First Day of Class

2006-12-18T17:38:00.000-08:00

What can we do on the first day and what should we do?

1. Involved the students quickly - self introduction, small group discussions
2. Identify the importance of the module
3. Set expectations
4. Establish rapport
5. Reveal something about yourself
6. Establish your credibility
7. Establish the "climate" for the class
8. Provide administrative information
9. Introduce the subject matter

" Remember that it is imperative that you do on the first day whatever it is you want the class to do the rest of the semester. If you want them to discuss, discuss on the first day. If you want them to work in small groups, find something for them to do in small groups on the first day."

Reference:
http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/firstday.htm

Strategies to improve retention and performance

2006-12-13T08:17:00.000-08:00

Although the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act is only applicable in US, some of the strategies compiled in year 2005 are also suitable for us back in Singapore, in order to reduce attrition and to better prepare the students for the future in a dynamic work environment.

http://www.chse.org/qkey9/qkey9.pdf

"Increasing the Rigor of the curriculum", "Increasing the Relevance of the Curriculum": we did these during the first review. Now that the level is more difficult, we will need strategies to help the weaker students that are trying to cope.

"Improving Student Relationships and Personalization":
- Encourage caring and supportive relationships between teachers and students
- Provide opportunities for youth service and leadership

Practical example "Des Moines Public School"
- added common planning time for teachers, implemented a scheduling model to provide struggling students with extra time and support

Practical example "First Thing First" (a framework for school reform, has one goal: to help students at all academic levels gain the skills to succeed in post-secondary education and good jobs )
- Objectives: 1. Strengthening relationships among students and adults, 2. Improving engagement, alignment and rigor of teaching and learning in every classroom, every day, 3. Allocating all resources – budget, staff, time and space – to achieve the first two goals.
- Strategies: ..., a Family Advocate System and instructional improvement.

Making Your Teaching Creative and Interesting

2006-12-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

Creative teaching often a result of a teacher’s conscious planning, it is also the consequence of what author refer to as situated invention—a teacher drawing on his/her existing professional knowledge and improvising it to meet the demands of an unforeseen situation

From author's observations:
- there are some teachers who continually try to be creative (either in their lesson plans or in the flow of dialogues during the lesson), and others who recalled situations during lessons when an idea (e.g. a powerful metaphor, a insightful question, a novel example) sprang to their minds and translated this into productive communication to the students
- sometimes when an idea cannot be developed in situ, it is later reflected and elaborated on, and subsequently developed and used as a teaching/learning resource for future lessons
- sadly, some teachers give little thought to make their teaching interesting; their focus is simply on relating the subject content to stated learning outcomes. Further, many teachers are more preoccupied with covering the content rather than making the learning process interesting for the students. As one teacher commented, “the content must be covered”.

What teachers do that result in students perceiving them as ‘interesting’?

Making teaching interesting—which really means making learning meaningful for the students—is a continual challenge for teachers.

Some teachers continually look for ways to make their teaching interesting through either systematically planned lessons or situated inventions as doing so is consistent with their values and beliefs.

The following are some ways in which teachers can make their teaching interesting for students:
* Communicate in a clear, concise, engaging and friendly manner with the aim of achieve rapport with students
* Imbue students with positive beliefs about self and learning
* Enhance student’s psychological states
* Make learning meaningful for the students
* Engage students in challenging activities with achievable goals
* Use stories and metaphors to create emotional anchors
* Use relevant real world examples to sustain students’ interest
* Use humor constructively (and respectfully!)
* Use varied (be very selective!) audio-video materials to engage senses

Other ways to make teaching materials more interesting and how to make them suit your students better
1. Think of activities that can make the class more active
2. Set the goal for the activities. Notify the students what the goals of the activities are
3. Don't use the material just for fun
4. Pre-activity and post-activity teaching is necessary
5. Be consistent with the previous and the following lessons
6. Make the material as communicative as possible (note: "Communicative" doesn't only mean exchanging oral messages)
:
:

Reference:
http://cdtl.nus.edu.sg/link/Jul2004/tm3.htm
http://www.cieej.or.jp/toefl/mailmagazine/mm43/SELHi_appendix1.pdf

Developing Questioning Skills and Checklist

2006-11-29T00:51:00.000-08:00

Questions should play a central role in the learning process.
As such, we need to plan our questions carefully, by thinking through possible questions which would guide our students towards further investigation and a deeper understanding of the concepts being stressed.

Teachers have largely been asking the wrong questions!
We have been focusing primarily on questions regarding the specific information students possessed rather than questions to promote learning.

Aims of questions

to test a student's preparation (Find out if students did their homework.)
to arouse interest (Bring them into the lesson by motivating them.)
to develop insights (Cause them to see new relationships.)
to strengthen learning (Review and summarize what is taught.)
to stimulate critical thinking (Develop a questioning attitude.)
to test achievement of objectives (Check to see if what has been taught "sank in".)

General Questioning Criteria

Distribute questions among students
Use several levels of questions (Knowledge [factual,description,probing], Comprehensive, Application, etc)
Encourage students to give lengthy answers
Allow students time to think (at least 5 seconds)
Asked clear, coherent questions
Encourage student-to-student interaction
Asked questions that cannot be answered with only a "yes" or "no
Use probing questions effectively

Reference
http://www.utexas.edu/academic/cte/sourcebook/questioning.html
http://www.utexas.edu/academic/cte/sourcebook/form5.pdf

Stages of Discipline

2006-11-28T23:30:00.000-08:00

You may be concerned about covering the material in the book or getting to all the objectives, but what do you teach?
Learning discipline is just like learning anything else. Your students aren't always going to get it right the first time. So, you find yourself "picking up the pieces". You help them some more, and when you think they are ready you give another try.

Stages of Discipline
There are many experts telling us how to handle discipline problems in our classrooms, yet these experts do not always agree.
Lawrence Kohlberg studied stages of moral and ethical reasoning in youngsters. In his research, everyone regardless of culture, race or sex, goes through these stages. The rate varies from person to person. As such, we will have to deal with discipline in our classroom at different levels.

1. The Power Stage: "Might makes right"
Behaviors: refuse to follow directions, defiant and require a tremendous amount of our attention.
Age: Newborn till age of five years old. But if a child is not taught a higher stage far beyond age of five, the parent then tells that she can no longer control her child.
Actions to take: Assertive teachers with a constant eye on these students can keep them in line. (Turn your back on them and they are out of control)

2. The Reward/Punishment Stage: " What's in it for me?"
Behaviors: having an individualistic morality and can be very self-centered.
Age: By nine years old.
Actions to take: Give rewards for good behaviors and punish for undesirable ones. Constant supervision.

3. The Mutual Interpersonal Stage: "How can I please you?"
Behaviors: care about what others think about them and want you to like them
Age: By junior high school.
Actions to take: Give gentle reminders.

4. The Social Order Stage: "I behave because it is the right thing to do."
Behaviors: have a sense of right and wrong and rarely get into trouble.
Age: After junior high school.
Actions to take: Plan cooperative learning activities for them to work in groups.

Working through stages
- identify the stage at which a student is functioning
- set goals with the student to work towards the next stage
- if the student is still not ready for the next stage, continue to work with the student on the current stage
* it is important to remember that for many reasons, any child is fully capable of regressing every now and then. When you really get to know your students and are used to them functioning at a stage, it is important to look for a reason when one of your student regresses ("externalize the problem"). Whatever the cause, it is worth taking the time to talk with the student and see what's going on.

Reference
http://www.honorlevel.com/stages.xml

Instructors should maintain a very thin veil between themselves and their classes. Instructor must be authority figure. This is not contradict to "approachable and friendliness". Too many instructors try to be buddy-buddy to win favorable feedback at the expense of teaching. Discipline must always be maintained.

Reference:
http://www.utexas.edu/academic/cte/sourcebook/teaching2.pdf

Teaching Do's

2006-11-28T20:12:00.000-08:00

The list can be organized into 3 sections - before, during and after the lesson.

Before lesson
1. Be prepared
- going through the lesson plans (the one before, current and the one after for continuity)
- administration stuff such as photocopying the handouts/ test papers
- consolidate the students' progress (e.g. missed accountable assignments, attendance rate, etc => for FEEDBACK portion during the lesson)
- prepare a list of questions (Refer to questioning skills)

2. Know your material
- going through the materials
- exploring the Internet for interesting/ recent happenings to spice up the lesson
- think through for some possible questions and prepare their answers

3. Use audio/visual aids - prepare/enhance the PowerPoint slides, spice up using graphics/ photographs/ animations

4. Be organized - with the inputs from 1, 2 & 3, make sure the final flow is a smooth flow and not jumping around

During the lesson
1. Be organized
- Show them the module schedule and where the class is currently
- Show them the agenda for the day (Objectives, lesson proper, break, discussion, feedback, etc)
- (for the first few lessons) Show them the required textbook, assessment scheme and passing requirements + discuss with them an agreed class norms (attendance, lateness, attire, break time, etc)

2. Make the class comfortable
- physical: "Can everyone see and hear?"
- mental: "Feel Free to ask question at any time."

3. State the objectives (with continuity)
- remind them the previous lessons
- tell them what will be covered in this lessons
- inform them what will be covered in the next lessons

4. Show enthusiasm
- be enthusiasm about your subject
- be enthusiasm about teaching

5. Answer questions
{Never answer any question until you've asked the class "how would you answer that question ...?"}
- (know the answer) answer the questions and ask the student if you have answered the questions that was asked
- (don't know the answer) defer answering and take down the question

6. Establish rapport (subjective!)
- be kind and sensitive toward students
- treat them with respect like adults

7. Provide feedback
- show them their progress (missed accountable assignments, marks, attendance rate, etc)

8. Be flexible
- adjust your lesson plans to accommodate immediate needs of the students

9. Maintain control
- keep personality conflicts, domineering students or other classroom problems under control

(Added) 10. Ask many questions
- Technique: Capture attention, ask question once (never repeat except for large classes), pause for 5 seconds and name a student to answer the question
- Ask both simple and exacting (requiring more effort) questions
- Stimulate critical thinking by asking "To what extend ...", "How?", "Under what circumstances?" , "Why?" and "Compare ..."
- Avoid asking "Does anyone know ...?" and "Who can tell us ...?"
- Encourage other students to comment on the answers > start the crossfire by asking "what's your opinion of that answer ...?"
- Tactfully curb aggressive students (No student domination should prevail).
(Refer to questioning skills)

After the lesson
1. Answer questions
- check the answer for deferred questions

2. Evaluate progress
- mark assignment/quiz and consolidate the progress for each student

Reference:
http://www.utexas.edu/academic/cte/sourcebook/teaching2.pdf
http://www.utexas.edu/academic/cte/sourcebook/questioning.html

Characteristics of Effective Teachers

2006-11-28T19:13:00.000-08:00

Five components that are perceived by students as effective teaching

1. Analytic/Synthetic Approach
- Discusses more recent developments in related fields
- Gives references for more interesting and involved points
- Presents origins of ideas and concepts

2. Organization/ Clarity
- Is well prepared
- States objectives for each lesson session
- Summarizes major points

3. Instructor - Group Interaction
- Encourages class discussion
- Invites students to share their knowledge and experiences

4. Instructor - Individual Student Interaction
- Is friendly toward students
- Relates to students as individuals
- Recognizes and greets students out of class
- Respect students as persons

5. Dynamism/ Enthusiasm
- Seems to enjoy teaching
- Varies the speed and tone of his/her voice
- Has a sense of humor

Characteristics of effective teachers most often mentioned
- Competent, subject mastery
- Well prepared, orderly
- Related to life
- Approachable
- Concerns for students' progress
- Has a sense of humor
- Warm
- Effective use of teaching aids

Characteristics of GREAT teachers
- Non verbal behavior such as

Uses gestures frequently
Walk around as they talk
Extensive use of eye-contact

- Provide a warm classroom climate

Students free to interrupt at any time
Spontaneous introduction of humor

- Interact with the students

Give immediate response to student question or answer
Provide corrective feedback
Use probing questions
Praise correct answers with an observation based on the answer (i.e. explanation of why the answer is correct)

- Have command of their classes (Refer to another blog entry on "classroom management")
- Use humor
- Use variety of instructional strategies

A Checklist for Good Teaching
- Get feedback via
..... Non accountable Quizzes
..... Discussions with students
..... Class tests
..... Non verbal messages:

Drop in attendance
Students sleeping
Students reading newspaper

- Provides feedback to the students (E.g. progress, missed assignments, attendance, etc)
- Flexible
- Motivating
- Clear and well-organized

=> Checklist of teaching skills

Reference:
http://www.utexas.edu/academic/cte/sourcebook/