#184 Tools and Tips for Teachers: Episode 8 (with Ollie Lovell and Zach Groshell)
Dec 12, 2023
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Zach Groschel and Ollie Lovell join Craig to discuss the importance of standardizing entry routines in schools and the obstacles to understanding that teachers may face. The conversation also explores effective coaching, clear expectations, and the value of mass practice and discriminating contrast in interleaving.
Standardizing entry and exit routines in schools can contribute to better classroom management and focused learning.
Holding high standards in education requires clear expectations, effective coaching, and ongoing support.
Interleaving, when used effectively, can enhance learning by promoting discriminative contrast and improving students' ability to distinguish between similar concepts or problems.
Deep dives
Obstacles to Understanding: A checklist for effective explanations
1. Kids not listening
2. Lack of prerequisite knowledge
3. Poor explanation
4. Extraneous load
5. Not breaking things down
6. Unreliable check for understanding
7. Ineffective response to check
8. No opportunity to embed and consolidate
9. No opportunity to retrieve
10. [Additional obstacle] (if any)
Shifts for Gradual Release
These shifts suggest moving from teacher-centered instruction to student-centered instruction. Starting with heavily prompted tasks and gradually shifting to tasks that require independent problem solving. These shifts include emphasizing the learner's role as a source of information, transitioning from out loud to in their head problem solving, moving from mass practice to distributed practice, shifting from immediate feedback to delayed feedback, transitioning from heavily prompted to unprompted tasks, and moving from simplified contexts to complex contexts.
The Value of Self-Explanation
Self-explanation is a powerful way to promote meaningful learning for students. It allows them to connect new knowledge to their personal experiences and unique prior knowledge, which can lead to more accurate and robust learning. Self-explanation offers an opportunity for students to make connections that the teacher may not anticipate and to create secure and individualized connections. While the effectiveness of self-explanation and its timing could depend on various factors, it can be a valuable strategy to help students develop deeper and more meaningful understanding of the content.
The Benefits of Interleaving
Interleaving, when used effectively, can promote discriminative contrast and improve learning. By switching between similar concepts or problems, students are prompted to notice differences, compare, and contrast, which enhances their ability to distinguish between topics. While the timing and balance of interleaving can be crucial for success, exposing students to mixed practice problems with discriminative contrast can help them develop a deeper understanding of the concepts and transfer their knowledge to various contexts. The intentional use of interleaving can provide opportunities for students to practice, retrieve, and apply their knowledge in a way that supports long-term retention and comprehension.
The Benefits of Delayed Self-Explanation
Delayed self-explanation in education is more effective than immediate self-explanation. Copying down worked examples without understanding them is not effective, but revisiting them at the end of the lesson and attempting to explain them leads to better conceptual understanding.
The Role of Surprises in Self-Explanation
Surprises and counterintuitive results can enhance self-explanation. When students are surprised by a phenomenon or outcome, they are motivated to explain it in order to reconcile their previous expectations. Counterintuitive results tend to lead to more successful self-explanations than predictable outcomes.
In this episode, Craig, Ollie, and special guest Zach Groschel discuss various topics related to education. They start by introducing themselves and discussing their current locations. Then, they dive into the importance of standardizing entry and exit routines in schools. They also explore the concept of relentless precision in holding high standards and the obstacles to understanding that teachers may face. Overall, the conversation highlights the need for clear expectations, effective coaching, and ongoing support in education. The conversation covers obstacles to understanding, effective explanations, checking for listening, refining the list, gradual release of responsibility, six direct instruction shifts, and self-explanation. The conversation explores the pre-test effect, the value of mass practice, the importance of discriminative contrast in interleaving, and the role of similarity in interleaving. You can access the show notes here: mrbartonmaths.com/blog/tools-and-tips-for-teachers-8
Time-stamps:
Standardizing classroom entry and rewards for students. (8:45)
Classroom management strategies for quiet and focused learning. (13:06)
Implementing a new behavior system in a school. (16:55)
Implementing a behavior change initiative in schools. (22:56)
Improving school standards through coaching and precision. (26:07)
Holding high standards in schools. (30:42)
Sustaining high standards in teaching and coaching. (36:18)
Coaching in education, obstacles to understanding. (41:03)
Obstacles to understanding in teaching. (44:50)
Clear explanations in teaching. (49:57)
Teaching strategies and checklists for effective explanations. (55:30)
Gradual release of scaffolding in teaching. (1:02:22)
Teaching strategies for language learning. (1:07:30)
Gradual release of responsibility in teaching. (1:12:21)
Teaching strategies and frameworks. (1:16:09)
Self-explanation in education. (1:19:37)
Self-explanation in teaching and learning. (1:23:42)
Self-explanation in teaching and learning. (1:28:28)
Pre-testing and interleaving in math education. (1:32:42)
Motivating students through math education. (1:37:42)
Interleaving and spaced practice in learning. (1:41:05)
Teaching math concepts through spaced repetition and interleaving. (1:48:32)
Interleaving and practice strategies in education. (1:51:49)
Teaching, learning, and poetry. (1:57:31)
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