RUNNING HEAD: THE TRINITY 1

The Trinity

Chris Kasnot

Arizona State University

10/10/20

RDG 323-73086
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Planning and designing instruction to promote engagement, literacy, and discipline

specific skills is the holy trinity of education that teachers should always be striving for. Easier

said than done right? Much of this module was focused on a different holy trinity to help us

create this learning environment: differentiation, motivation, and assessment. One of my favorite

differentiated instruction techniques that encapsulates this entire trinity is called The Football.

First, it allows a bit of whole class instruction where the lesson of the day is introduced. Second,

the class is divided into groups according to readiness, interest, learning style, or any other

method that the teacher feels appropriate for the lesson/activity. Then the teacher patrols the

class performing mini-formatives; spot checking students, answering questions, asking questions

to keep inquiry alive, keeping students on task if needed, etc. Finally, the class is brought back

together at the end of the day for a summarization, Q/A, or other formative assessment technique

to solidify the lesson’s major concepts (Wormeli, 2007).

I have seen this technique in action in my clinical rotations to much success. This is an

easy form of differentiation which allows the teacher to quickly assess and sort the students into

effective groups where students can help each other learn. It has also been noted in past classes

that students respond well and remain engaged when learning activities are broken up into bite

sized chunks. I would also like to stress the importance of coming back together at the end of the

lesson for a wrap-up, which I see as critical to retention and understanding of discipline specific

literacy. Too often I have seen teachers just leave a lesson hanging at the end of the day, with

many students struggling to see the overall importance or make personal connections. While on

the outside, sacrificing limited class time on rehashing the day’s lesson may seem like a waste.

However, if students are unable to connect any of the material, then the entire lesson was wasted.
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Students also tend to be much more motivated when working in peer groups than sitting

in their desks taking notes, and by paring students of varying ability, the whole class improves.

This is noted in Ryan’s meta-analysis of peer groups in adolescent development where she states

that evidence shows that “students with high-achieving [peers] showed greater increases in

achievement over time” (Ryan, 2000, p. 104). She continues by noting that “These […] peer

groups, varying in size from two to seven students (average size = 2.3), were found to be

important for students’ engagement in learning activities” (Ryan, p. 104). Furthermore Ryan

“found that the peer group was influential regarding changes in students’ intrinsic value for

school (i.e., liking and enjoying) as well as achievement (i.e., report card grades)” (Ryan, p.

104).

As you probably have guessed/observed by now dear reader, I am a huge proponent of

discussion based learning, socio-behavioral analysis, and peer led classroom management. A

quiet classroom is a boring classroom and how can we expect 12-18 year olds to remain engaged

to Ben Stein droning on and on in an endless lecture about macroeconomics? There is no

discipline specific literacy and barely even any content literacy being absorbed if no one wants to

be there. By having students focus on peer relations and working together, we have a much better

shot at keeping their attention and focusing it on the tasks we set in front of them.
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References:

Ryan, A. M. (2000). Peer Groups as a Context for the Socialization of Adolescents’ Motivation,

Engagement, and Achievement in School. EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGIST, 35(2), 101–111.

Wormeli, R. (2007). Differentiation at the Secondary Level. Adolescent Literacy In Perspective.

February, 2007.