Making teaching proactive

On Your Feet

Teachers must make an effort to involve students more in classroom ,writes Felicity Gibson

How many times have you seen teachers hurrying to their classes, clutching multiple folders, books and supplies? These teachers come with additional work when students finish the portions within the classroom during the allocated time; they enhance their teaching with enthusiasm and extra work which is fun. Then there is the teacher who wanders in late to class – with very little equipment except her chalk or marker.
She relies solely on the text book and has not prepared herself until she sits before the class. After the greeting she will rely on the board and will spend time sitting in front of the children either writing in her folder or making the children work. The buzzword here is ‘sit.’ The taboo word for teachers, as teachers never sit! They never ever sit behind a desk because it creates a barrier between themselves and the students. Good teachers walk, and move 90% of the time. They stand still when they talk, so the impact of their words is not lost. They half turn when they are writing on the board and never keep their back to the students. They explain expectations and demand eye contact with their students. They command their learning environment and gain the respect of their students who love to learn what they are teaching.

Organization of the classroom and maintaining the flow of activities improves the quality of teaching and increases instructional time. Class room time is a valued commodity and student attention and performance needs to be planned and expected. A teacher can increase learning time in two ways. First they look for additional time for instructional activities; second they look for ways to increase the impact of the learning activities themselves. Strategies which increase student attention provide instruction at the appropriate pace and level. This decreases the number of errors students make - they actively involve students in the learning process.

The key to good teaching is establishing and maintaining classroom schedules. The schedule needs to be flexible enough to provide the right amount of time for students who work quickly and also for those who require additional time to finish activities. Adhering to schedules is not always easy. Often interruptions seem to compete with instruction time. The teacher needs to make a great effort to maintain the schedule and provide allocated time for instructional activities which reflect the planned priorities. Activities like attendance, permission slips, and clearing-up activities can easily compete with instructional time. Teachers need to spend time developing a plan for handling these non-instructional activities.

Using complete lesson plans to set-up and deliver instruction has many advantages. It allows the teacher to prepare the lesson before it starts, and assemble needed materials and supplies so that the lesson is not interrupted. The lesson should be delivered step-by-step and thereby improve the flow of the instructional activities. The supplementary material for activities needs to be ready and handy. It provides a transparent picture, to the student, of the teacher’s objectives. The lesson plan should provide a convenient method to record student response or progress.

Managing materials can take a significant amount of time. Strategies for making the distribution of materials more efficient include: preparation of materials ahead of time, develop places for storage of frequently used materials, establish practice procedures for handing out and picking up learning materials and student papers. The development of supplementary materials and back up materials should be available for activities that finish early or are ineffective. Monitor how instructional time is used.

Use an observation chart to monitor how you stay on schedule and start learning activities. Ask yourself how well you use time during a learning activity. Ask questions like:

- Did I start on time?
- Did I stop the activities on time?
- Did I have the necessary materials?
- Was I completely familiar with the materials?
- How well did students stay on task?
- Did I finish the lesson in the allotted time?

It is important to identify students who are using time wisely and provide them with recognition and rewards. The emphasis should not be on catching students who are misbehaving but those who are working well. It is important to praise students more frequently when new procedures, routines or activities are being learned.

Planning and organization of instruction prior to the lesson is the key ingredient in effective use of instructional time.

- Accommodate different rates of task completion by having relevant supplemental work ready for students who finish activities early.
- Supplementary activities should not be busy work, but should be independent work related to the individual student’s needs and capabilities.
- Minimize open ended discussions when this is not the direct objective of the lesson.
- Do not waste time talking about discipline problems. Discipline should be dealt with as quickly as possible in a manner that provides the least attention possible.
- Eliminate social interruptions and unscheduled discussion of personal items such as sports or movies during academic time. Be systematic and consistent in how learning activities are delivered.
Indeed, it is all a balancing act as you walk the classroom, trying to involve your students in your subject as deeply as possible.