Friends,
Last week, I approached a class lesson with what I thought was a 'great' approach. I provided students with the instructional materials, broke students into groups, requested they discuss the information together, ask each other questions, and then report out with unresolved questions. As a final activity, they were to reflect on what they had learned and what questions they still had. I have used this type of instructional strategy in the past, often with success. However, this week, it fell flat.
Have you ever had experiences like this? If so, what do you do to 'revive' the lesson? How do you approach instruction when a lesson is not going the way you intended? I'd love to hear your strategies and approaches.
Sincerely,
Kathy Tracey
@Kathy_Tracey
Comments
I love this post, Kathy! My first question would be, what was the content, who were you teaching, and what levels? I find that lessons sometimes flop just based on not meeting learning styles and personalities of the class. I found myself re-"tweaking" a lesson about 5 times a few weeks ago based on the class personality, skill level, and social comfort.
I agree with Ashly that when a plan doesn't work, more information needs to be gathered about the student (s). There are many reasons why a good plan goes flat, and it often has nothing to do with the plan; it has to do with the students.
All of us have experienced teaching a group of students who, for some reason, as a whole, simply don't relate to the content we offer, no matter how fantastic it is! Sometimes, the opposite is true, and everything we do connects. It's just the nature of what we do.
My two cents contribute to the practice of finding out what happened, focusing on the students themselves. Get out of the topic and implement an engaging activity that involves them as a community. Then go back and, maybe, redesign. Instead of reviving the lesson, it sounds like students need to be revived. It may be that they just couldn't express what they learned whereas they learned a great deal. Who knows?! Sometimes we can't control what happens. Sometimes, we offer bait that is taken... I would say, dig deeper, not into the lesson but into the learners. Leecy
I agree with Leecy and Ashley that it may be a difference within the students, but I think it's also important to back up and think about the larger context:
1) How long has this class been together? A group activity like this may not be comfortable if there are a lot of new students in your class (or if you are new to them). Maybe the activity is so routine to you that you forgot to scaffold it or explain it properly for students who aren't familiar with it.
2) On the other hand, have you been using the same technique a lot recently? Are you on day 119 of this topic? Sometimes a good lesson doesn't work because the students are done with the topic or tired of the same routine.
3) Who was present and who was absent? It's amazing how one or two people can change the dynamic of the class. When the clown and the counselor are both absent, the class may well feel flat even if everyone else is behaving fairly typically.
4) What was the general mood of the class before you started teaching? Some days (particularly after holidays or during heat waves, which could apply to you here) students are just more mellow than usual. It might be a good time for individual or pair work rather than large group discussion. If I walk in at the beginning of class and everyone has their heads down on the tables, I know it's going to be a different kind of day than if they're all chatting with each other.
5) How does your topic relate to the general climate of the country? It can take more care to do a Civil Rights lesson if there was just a police shooting in your city. A lesson on checks and balances has a different flavor if your class are ardent Trump supporters or detractors.
Friends,
Thank you for the feedback and ideas. Each class and group of students is different. I found that ending the lesson with admitting that the lesson didn't go as planned and that the student feedback was perhaps the most important part of the process. When students can see the intended goal, and the teacher fully admit that the plan didn't go as intended, and how instruction will be modified for future lessons is a really empowering experience for the learner. (Maybe not the intended outcome intended, but an extremely important one none the less.)
I guess I needed to be reminded that sometimes letting students know that even teachers don't always 'get it right' is a very important and powerful experience.
Kathy Tracey