Notes to a New Teacher: Instructions are not Instruction

My Dear, 

Most of the time, students don’t know what teachers want them to do. Some are unaccustomed or insecure about tasks that require critical thinking. They are even more unsure about those tasks that have no clear-cut answer. They need to see someone show them how to do what you expect. 

Model, Model, Model! You provide the epitome of a proficient performance: the standard to be imitated.

In your class, I asked students to evaluate the performance of groups who were presenting their ideas about how the dramatic vocabulary terms were connected. I had to think aloud to show students how one forms those thoughts. And one time was not sufficient. 

• Emilio’s group shared the example that “plot” and “theme” are connected because the character goes through many scenes in the plot to deliver the central message of the play. This was an excellent answer because the students honed in on the author’s purpose for using the plot as a tool to deliver his message. The answer went beyond stating that a plot is this kind of thing while pointing out a contrast that the theme is another kind of thing. The answer focused on an understanding on how the plot is used as a tool.

• Mary’s group pointed out that “dialogue” and “script” were connected because the dialogue in the script advances the plot. The audience experiences the plot through what the characters have to say. They then made a connection to a specific example of how this works in Julias Caesar. Their answer was correct and insightful because the students brought in a third dramatic term to add depth to their answer. They also had a specific example to illustrate their point.

• Frankie’s group connected “aside” and “conflict” to say that the asides can help foreshadow and upcoming conflict. This answer was correct and also quite satisfying because students demonstrated a connection to a third literary term and homed in on the reason a playwright uses an aside. This insight is a very helpful tool for how readers can comprehend a play as they are reading or viewing a performance.

I had to model my cognitive approach to making the connection to “monologue” and “dramatic effect”.  ELAR is not a set of content that can be defined easily. Everything we do is about a cognitive thinking process. The teacher, as a more proficient peer, must model the invisible in-head actions.

It’s not enough to say, “Explain the connection between these two terms.” That’s called “giving instructions” and has absolutely nothing to do with “instruction.”  There are several ways to give instruction through modeling: 

1. Prepare the sample before you start class. Write what you are going to say on a piece of paper. When it is time to model, have that paper out of sight. Write what you have written on the document camera and explain aloud how you came up with those ideas. (repeat this for EACH class. Don’t simply project what you wrote in first period.
2. Think aloud and compose without prior preparation. This helps you recreate the struggle and steps that you have to go through to figure out what to say. Kids need to know how you edit, evaluate, and come up with the ideas that you will use.
3. After you model (fresh for each class), you will  probably have an example from a previous class that is an excellent model of an effective performance. Project the student’s paper and explain, “In second period, Frankie did something brilliant. Read his example and tell me what is effective about this response.” Or “In third period, Maddie started out with this example that wasn’t quite right. She revised her thinking to go deeper. Why is her second attempt such an improvement from the first?” 

With Love, 

Your Advocate