Amp Up Your Teaching: Best

Practices for Engaging Classroom

Instruction

Out of the Box – October 25, 2017

Jamel Anderson-Ruff, Eric Lockard, Kristin Morocco, and Pachette Sellers-Dunn
Durham Principal Leadership Academy
Principal Residents
 Gallery Walk

• Chose a quote from around the room.

• Reflect on the back of the quote
> Why did you choose this quote?
> How does it relate to your practice?
> What do you hope to gain from this
session?
Agenda
• Introduction
> Icebreaker
> make appointments
• Anticipatory Set (Kristin)
> Gallery Walk with Quotes
> Check your Students’ Understanding (Pachette)
> Dignifying Errors to Promote Learning (Jamel)
• Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect: Designing Effective
Practice (Jamel)
> Anchor Charts after reading the chapter- jigsaw (Group)
> Review Key Points (Jamel)
• Guiding Your Students Initial Practice (Eric)
> Names and Faces Activity
• Conclusion
> Gallery Walk Sort- technology
 Gallery Walk

• Chose a quote from around the room.

• Reflect on the back of the quote
> Why did you choose this quote?
> How does it relate to your practice?
> What do you hope to gain from this
session?
Anticipatory Set

• Hook into and bring forward students’

past knowledge and experiences
• Facilitate the acquisition of the day’s
learning
• Provide diagnostic information
• Provides prime learning
> review question
> write independently
Clock Buddies

• Write down a clock buddy for the

following times.
> 3:00
> 6:00
> 9:00
> 12:00
 Check for
Understanding
Do Now

Get with your 12:00 clock buddy and write

some techniques you use to check your
students’ understanding while you are
teaching. Place your sticky notes on the
chart paper.
Common Errors Made by Teachers

1. Excessive use of “OK”

2. Asking questions that assume your students

understand

3. Asking students if they “have any questions?”

4. Questioning your students understanding when

they have not been listening
 Four Effective Strategies for
Checking Understanding (Madeline
Hunter)
1. Signal Answers

2. Choral Responses

3. Sample Individual Responses

4. Individual Private Response

Strategy #1: Signal Answers
Strategy: Pose a question or a problem and
have every student signal the answer

● Hand signals that visually represent

answer are most effective.

● Quickly identify students with correct

answer

● Allows teacher to know who needs help

or who doesn’t understand
Strategy 2: Choral Responses

Strategy: Pose a question to the class and get a

choral response from all students

❏ Weak response-more instruction may be

needed
❏ Strong response- readiness to move on
❏ Allows a student that doesn’t know the answer a
chance to learn the correct response
❏ Gives all students a chance to share their
response, not just one student.
Strategy #3: Sample Individual Responses

Strategy: Ask a question to the whole class

E.G. “Why did Germany invade Poland?”

❏ Call on individual students for answers

❏ Able to make inferences by the ability level

of student
Strategy #4: Individual Private Response

Strategy: Pose a question to the students and have them

write a brief response.

❏ Circulate the room to check for understanding

❏ Able to select strong answers to model for rest of class
❏ Provides thorough information from all the students
during the lesson

Examples: Writing Prompt in the middle of a lesson, Exit

Tickets
 Fun Ways to Check for
Understanding
❏ Four Corners
❏ Quiz, Quiz, Trade
❏ Inside, Outside circle
❏ Response Cards
❏ Visual representations

http://www.theteachertoolkit.com/index.php/tool/categ
ory/C7
 Fun Ways to Check for
Understanding using Technology

https://create.kahoot.it/#user/2
0706904-449a-4cda-91bd-2e
7490666fe5/kahoots/created https://www.plickers.com/liveview

https://padlet.com/pachette_se
llers/m198p0ypkb1f
Dignifying Errors to Promote
Learning
The purpose of this section is to
help teachers maximize learning
opportunities during guided
practice.
Essential Questions:
• How does a teacher’s response to
errors impact learning?
• How can a teacher utilize errors to
maximize classroom learning.
Discussion:
• What are some common
responses from teachers to
student errors? (That might not
be the best)
• How could those responses be
restructured for student
success?
Reflection:
• How does a teacher’s response
to errors impact learning?
Making Effective Use of
Erroneous Answers
• Dignify the student’s response by
supplying the question or statement to
which the answer belongs.
• Then, give the student an assist or prompt.
• Finally, hold the students accountable.
> Holding them accountable should be:
> Gentle: “Let’s go over that one more time
so you remember it.”
> Medium: “I’ll check with you tomorrow to
be sure you remember.
> Unmistakable: “You will be accountable for
this on the test.
 Continued
• Dignify despite setbacks.- return to
examples and use the strategies
and language
• Addressing irrelevant answers- If
it’s genuine and not attention
seeking,
> “I’m not quite sure what you are
thinking. Let’s go on and see if it
clears up for you.”
 Impact Upon Learning
Let’s look at the video for ideas.
https://www.teachingchannel.org/vid
eos/students-learn-from-mistakes-c
cssmdc#
● With your 6 o’clock appointment
discuss the following question
and video:
● How can a teacher utilize errors
to maximize classroom learning?
Final Thought:

Maintaining Dignity Enables

Success!
Practice Doesn’t Make Perfect
• The purpose of this Discussion:
section is to help Name some factors that
teachers design you think should be
effective practice for incorporated in
maximum learning. students’ practice to
produce the most
improvement in
cognitive, affective, or
psychomotor
performance.
 Activity
● Meet with your 9
o’clock partner, read
your assigned section
of the text, then create
an anchor chart that
illustrates the ideas
presented in your
section of the text.
(15 min)
● Present your Anchor
Chart.(2 min)
Key Takeaways: Practice Doesn’t
Make Perfect
• Mastery only Begins with
Automaticity
• Use Meaning to Divide Your Content
• Consider Time and Newness of
Learning
• Give Specific Knowledge of Results
• Know Your Objective
• Quality Activities Equal Quality
Learning
Teaching Knowledgeably

Make Learning Permanent

● New learning can easily be
damaged
● Mistakes can have long-lasting
consequences
● An effective instructor minimizes
the chances for errors
● Practice does not make perfect
● Practice makes learning
permanent
● Teachers need to provide
observation and coaching
 Guiding Your Students Initial
Practice
Determine The Level of Guidance
• Guidance must match the type of
learning
• Maximum Level of Guidance
• Reduce the Level of Guidance

With your 3 o’clock partner discuss

the level of guidance needed for
teaching:

6th Grade Math: Probability.

7th Grade Math: Solving two step
equations.
Names and Faces
Activity
Part I
You will have 60
This activity can be found at:

http://static1.squarespace.com/
seconds to study
static/53f2af78e4b0d264691f53f5
/t/54cff3cae4b06a347b9dbc26/142
2914506315/Visual+Spatial+Memor
the pictures. Pay
y+Free+Samples.pdf
attention!
Names and Faces
Activity
Part II ● Study the Names and
Faces again
This activity can be found at:
● Use the sheet provided
http://static1.squarespace.com/
static/53f2af78e4b0d264691f53f5 to draw a line from each
/t/54cff3cae4b06a347b9dbc26/142
2914506315/Visual+Spatial+Memor name to a face
y+Free+Samples.pdf
● We will complete the
first one together
Names and Faces
Activity
Part III
This activity can be found at:
http://static1.squarespace.com/
static/53f2af78e4b0d264691f53f5
/t/54cff3cae4b06a347b9dbc26/142
2914506315/Visual+Spatial+Memor
y+Free+Samples.pdf
● Study the Names and
Faces again
● Use the sheet provided
to write the name of
each male.
● I have provided the
first letter
● We will complete the
first one together
Names and Faces
Activity
Part IV ● Study the Names and
Faces again
This activity can be found at:
● Take out the 1st sheet
http://static1.squarespace.com/
static/53f2af78e4b0d264691f53f5 and complete the sheet
/t/54cff3cae4b06a347b9dbc26/142
2914506315/Visual+Spatial+Memor with the assistance of
y+Free+Samples.pdf
your resources
● We will complete the
first 2 together
Discussion

● Discuss the level of guidance for each part of

the Name and Face Activity (Parts 1-4)
● Why it is important to be able to guide initial
practice with new learning?(Objective)
● How can you intentionally plan for the level of
guidance?
Exit Slip

https://padlet.com/pachette_sellers/m198p0ypkb1f