Rabin takes over next class after my model lesson

These special 10th grade English classes provided an excellent opportunity for the expat Indian teachers to put into practives the instructional and classroom management techniques I'd taught and modeled.

Short, direction instruction, followed by an activity which provided students with an opportunity to process the information taught.

Checking for understanding...





Continually moving throughout the classroom to monitor and assist the students.



The first thing I do in these reflective conversations, is to ask the teacher to tell me, step-by-step, each of the activities of the lesson. 

Then I ask they when they, as the teacher felt frustrated, unsure, or anxious?  When were the students the most engaged?  Finally what would they do differently?

These after the lesson reflective chats have helped the teachers not only process what they did, their feelings about it, but more importantly to learn from the experience.



Another day, another demonstration lesson

Class begins with my greeting the students as they enter the classroom..... getting a pulse on what might lay in store for the next 45 minutes.

Objectives are written on the board.

Students are on task, engaged in the assignment.



For this listening activity, students first listened only as I described a scene.... only after I finished my description, could they pick up a pencil and start to draw..... Here's what I described to them......

There's a house in the middle of the paper.
Two trees on the left of the house and one on the right.
Five mountains behind the house.
The house has one door and two windows.
Six clouds in the sky.
Four birds in the sky.
The sun is on the left hand side.
A river begins in the first mountain on the right,
It flows down in front of the house.
There are three fish in the river.
A cat sits in front of the house.



After the lesson, I met with the teachers to reflect. 

A couple weeks of demonstration or model lessons by Mr. T



Following the two weeks of professional development workshops I provided the teachers at Meynaa School, the administration asked if I would conduct some model classes.  The idea being for me demonstrate, in a classroom environment, the instructional strategies I'd taught and for the teachers to observe me teaching.



After providing new information through direct instruction, students, in pairs, participate in the "Think-Pair-Share" activity where they reteach each other the lesson I just taught. 

While students are busy teaching each other, I can move around the classroom and check for understanding to see if they got what I taught.



Sometimes, a little proximity by the teacher helps keeps students focused and on task.




As I taught the model lesson, the English teachers (back far left) observed my teaching.  Then after each model lesson, we'd meet and reflect on the lesson.



Changes I've made on the island....

Recently, I gave up wearing my hat..... in exchange for the shade provided by....

My new bright red umbrella!

Now this change did not come about because of the rain.... since the rains had not yet started when I actually bought the umbrella.....

rather... I got the umbrella for...



The sun!  An umbrella I've learned, provides a lot more shade than a hat.

Added bonus, the umbrella does not mess up my hair by disturbing the gel I now use.

But then.... I'm not a vain person, so who cares!



Differentiation - What's it all about? How do I do it in my classroom?

At one time, a teacher could teach a subject to a whole class.  Now, rather than teaching a subject to a whole class,  teachers teach individual students. 

 Differentiation is about how a teacher modifies their lesson plans, so as to regularly and continually meet the individual learning needs of each and every student in their classroom. 



The learning objective for the secondary teachers was to understand and practice how to differentiate by lesson objective.  In other words to write different lesson objectives, to meet the different needs of different students -  lesson objectives written by:

Thinking skill - the verb used in the objective
Content - what the students will learn
Resource - where the students will get the information
Product - what the students will create



The workshop objective for the primary school teachers was to learn how to differentiate instruction by:

readiness
interest
learning style



First the teachers wrote their own definition for differentiation and shared this with their table group.  Mr. T then facilitated a whole class discussion on the term.

The primary school teachers were given grade level lesson plans to review, using a handout Mr. T had created.  At each grade level, the lesson plan was differentiated by readiness, interest, and learning style.

When the teachers completed the handout, they discussed which form of differentiation might work best in their classrooms.

Mr. T modeled for the secondary teachers, a way of writing their lesson objectives by changing the verb.  In this example, the Unit Mr. T was teaching was "early humans."  The topic within this Unit Mr. T decided to teach was "tools used to survive." Mr. T showed three objectives, based on ability levels:

Students will be able to list three tools early humans used to survive.

Students will be able to compare and contrast the three tools early humans used to survive.

Students will be able to create a new tool early humans could have used to help them survive.

By changing the verb, the objective becomes more and more complex, therein differentiating based on ability grouping.



The basis for Mr. T's lesson was Blooms Taxonomy which he shared with the teachers.  At each level, the verbs change, so the objective becomes more complex, requiring higher order of reasoning.  For example, verbs that could be used in a lesson objective at each of Blooms' six levels could include:

Remembering:  list, define, recall
Understanding: classify, describe, paraphrase
Applying:  choose, illustrate, solve
Analyzing: contrast, examine, distinguish
Evaluating: appraise, judge, value
Creating: assemble, design, formulate



Following his having modeled how to differentiate by objective, Mr. T randomly gave teachers (small groups of two to three) a Unit word written on a piece of paper.  Unit words included, for example, Global Warming, Maldives, Economics, etc.

Teachers were then asked to select a topic within that Unit, and write a lesson plan objective for each of the six levels within Blooms Taxonomy.

At the end of the mini demo lesson, Mr. T used the "thumbs up and thumbs down" with the class to check for understanding - to make sure the directions were clear to everyone.



Teachers were given a specific amount of time to develop their six lesson plan objectives, using the Blooms verbs.

With the local Maldivian secondary teachers (a class of 14 teachers so only 5 groups), Mr. T had each group present to all the teachers, their lesson plan.... talking about each of the six objectives and explaining how at each subsequent level, the objective becaming more complex.

Here Mr. Hamad, the Deputy Principal at the school, explains his group's unit topic of democracy.



Teachers were divided into groups to work together on the assignment of designing lesson objectives, using the six levels of Blooms Taxonomy.



The secondary expatriot teacher workshop group was large, with 23 participating.  Rather than having each group share to the whole class, Mr. T had the small groups present to each other.  Each group was given a specific amount of time, using a timer, to present.  Then, when the buzzer went off, Mr. T asked the small groups to go in search of a different group to make their presentation to.

This procedure allowed the small groups to present their six part lesson objectives three times, and for them to hear the six part lesson plans of three other groups.

An added bonus..... teachers had been sitting at their tables a long time working on a difficult topic.... differentiation.... so this sharing out by small groups, got them standing up and moving about!



A brief reflection on the session, brought this part of the workshop to a productive end.



Eyes on Me!



Rules and procedures are important in the classroom.  They provide students with the structures they want and need to learn.

Here is a fantastic classroom procedure, which helps the teacher quickly gain students' attention, therein maximizing on task behavior as well as instructional time.


The phrase "Eyes on Me" when stated by the teacher, means students are to stop immediately what they are doing and focus their attention on the teacher.

Having gained the students' attention, the teacher can now check for understanding, provide additional directions, reteach a concept if necessary..... the lesson continues to flow with little to no wasted time.

Three simple words..... yet very powerful when used in the classroom!



What am I?



There were times in the Meynaa School workshops, when I just wanted the teachers to sit back and have fun..... thinking!



Every dawn begins with me.
At dust I'll be the first you see.
And daybreak couldn't come without
What midday centers all about.
Daises grow from me I'm told
And when I come, I end all cold,
But in the sun I won't be found,
Yet still, each day I'll be around.


What am I?