All assignments are due 12/5!!!
Assignment #10: Complete the 4 part assignment format as you read, reflect, and respond to Chapter 10: Cues, Questions and Advance Organizers.
Remember: Although your course packet asks you to post to blog for parts A, B, C, and D…we are asking that you only post part C and D. We’re trying to make the blog easier to read and more user- friendly. Thanks!
A. Self Assessment of Current Beliefs and Practices: This component asks you to reflect on how and why you currently use the instructional strategy of Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers in your classroom. The intent of this is to activate your prior knowledge of your strategy use so that you can make comparisons as you read the chapter. Below are the questions to help you complete your self-assessment.
• What is your purpose of using cues and questions in your classroom?
• Study the research results in Figure 10.1 for "Cues and Questions." In your experience, what makes some experiences with cues and questions better than others?
B. Read & Reflect “Research & Theory”: This portion of the assignment asks you to read chapter 10 and reflect briefly on your thinking after reading the “Research and Theory” section for Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers. You may want to consider the point below in your reflection.
• Many teachers who are aware of the research on the use of "wait time" will confess that they do not use it often enough. What do you think are some of the reasons that might explain why teachers do not use this strategy systematically and effectively?
C. Practice: Choose one of the specific “classroom practice” strategies or techniques shared in this chapter to try out with your students (If you are not currently teaching, you may share how you would use this strategy in your classroom). Please post a brief reflection of how this went to the posting labeled Week Ten: Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers. Click on the “comment” link below.
D. Final Strategy Reflection: Use the following sequence of questions/prompts to reflect on what you’ve learned about both the strategies presented in the chapter and what you’ve learned about yourself as both a teacher and a learner. Please post your brief reflection to the posting labeled Week Ten: Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers by clicking on the “comment” link below.
How has the information you read in this chapter on Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers effected your thinking about teaching and learning? What have you learned about yourself as a teacher and learner? Use the following questions to assist you in writing a brief strategy reflection:
• Research confirms that advance organizers are powerful when they help students focus on what is important, not on what might be unusual. All the different types of advance organizers described in this chapter, however, require up-front planning on the part of the teacher. How would you respond to a teacher who complains that there just isn't time to prepare the organizers?
• What will you do to improve the effect of using cues, questions, and advance organizers in your classroom? – Will you make changes?
• How might you monitor the effects of cues, questions, and advance organizers on student learning?
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2 comments:
Assignment #10
Cues, Questions, and Advance Organizers
By Ryan King
C) In the course of teaching kids to solve math problems, I find myself giving both verbal and nonverbal cues all day. When a student is trying to solve an equation and can’t remember the next step, I’ll prompt with a question that will lead them toward their next move. As I teach at the whiteboard, I’ll often indicate to the students where they should be focusing their attention as they try to understand what I’m explaining. Over and over throughout my day, I encourage students to answer their own questions by dropping hints that will direct their focus to the appropriate process. I hadn’t ever planned on using a cue to directly recall students’ prior knowledge as an introduction into finding quadratic functions, but I was struck at the similarities the students drew last time I taught the course. This year, I used a cue and some wait time to let students create a mental bridge back to a previous concept. Once they understood how we would eventually solve a problem, since they already new that process, the students were able to start picturing how the new material would mesh with what they already knew. As a result, the students were able to grasp the new process at a much faster rate than my class did last year.
D) Any teacher that complains about having to frontload their preparation will also complain about there not being enough class time to cover all required materials. My explanation would be simple You can spend time preparing upfront so your students learn it the first time and you can move on, or you can spend the same amount of time preparing and then preparing again because your students didn’t understand the first time. Plus, you just lost at least one class period. I need to improve my use of wait time, because I have a bad habit of letting students respond to my prompts without giving other students enough time to think through the process. Personally, I find it much easier to wait after a student makes a response, because other students are not as eager to shout out the answer once one has been provided. I think that to monitor how effective your cues and questions are, a teacher needs to be mindful of the types of cues that they are giving. If you are consistently giving the same cues to the same students, is there any progress being made? On the other hand, if you provide students with different cues as they progress through different concepts, you are probably encouraging their learning by giving them helpful hints to be successful.
The best teachers always know how to connect "The new to the known"...and this is what you strive to do for your students. I've enjoyed reading your responses..as well as learning some more about math along the way :) Thanks for taking our course and I did submit your name and grade of "A" into TINT.
Thanks - Jackie & Mary
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