CHAPTER FOUR

TEACHING STUDENTS AND MANAGING INSTRUCTION

* First four chapters

* 1. Creating Responsive Learning Environments

* 2. Planning and Organizing Instruction

* 3. Assessing Students for Instruction
* 4. Teaching Students and Managing Instruction

Continuum of Instructional Choices

* Explicit teaching - based on the belief that when learning is complex and difficult,
the teacher must provide extensive support to students and transmit knowledge
that facilitate learning.
* Dialectical or interactive teaching - based on belief that knowledge is a
collaborative enterprise and instruction should include both explicit and implicit
methods.
* Implicit teaching - instructional ideology that assumes students are naturally
active learners who construct new knowledge through linking prior knowledge and
new knowledge

Setting Demands of an Implicit Learning Environment

* Learners must have sufficient prior knowledge to construct new and appropriate
meaning from understanding connections between prior learning and new
information.
* Learners must attend to teacher presentations, teacher–student interactions, and
student–student interactions regarding academics.
* Learners must use cognitive and metacognitive processing to acquire, remember,
and construct new knowledge in a manner that is authentic to their lives.
* Students must be active participants in their own learning.
* Students must engage in group discussions to work in cooperative learning
arrangements.
* To become self-regulated learners, students must recognize their own learning
characteristics, develop their own metacognitive strategies, and maintain a
proactive attitude about learning.
 Research Base for a Continuum of Instructional Choices
* Research conducted across curriculum areas indicates that students of diverse
abilities respond differently to instruction.
* Language - direct, explicit instruction is more effective than milieu learning
during advanced linguistic skill instruction. Milieu learning is more effective
for early vocabulary instruction.
* Reading - with skills close to perceptual input systems (phonological
relationships and vocabulary) the need for explicit instruction is great. As the
skill moves away from perceptual input systems (less specific info such as
inferential comprehension), implicit instruction is more powerful.
* Writing -by the end of primary grades, average-achieving students often
have reached a level of fluency in the mechanics of writing that provides
freedom in getting thoughts on paper. Incidental methods of whole language
and process approaches may be insufficient for students at risk for learning
failure.
* Math - students benefit from instruction that is both explicit and implicit.
Explicit methods such as describing procedures, modeling, and thinking
aloud ensure understanding and practice of mastery. Implicit instruction
such as linking information to prior knowledge, reflecting on learning, and
interactive discourse about concepts can also help.
* Science - advanced strategies focusing on monitoring and facilitating student
thinking (conferencing), supporting print literacy (glossary of terms), and
improving work in small groups resulted in significant learning gains for
students. Teachers need to provide highly structured coaching and
behavioral management techniques for students with mild disabilities.
* Skiing down the hill - the instructor taught explicitly on how to fall,
getting up with skis on, turning, traversing a slope, and how to slow
down. They gave corrective feedback and encouragement. The
techniques allowed the learners to develop the skills naturally.

SYSTEMATIC TEACHING STEPS

* Opening the lesson
* Conducting an interactive presentation
* Explicit modeling
* Guided Practice
* Closing the lesson
* Review
* Preview
* Independent Practice

Using Continuous Teaching Components

* Monitoring Progress and Providing Feedback
* Promoting Generalization
* Fostering Independence

Self-Recording
* Involves counting and recording one’s own behavior, on the assumption that
such actions will influence one’s behavior.
* Provide the rationale. - involves selecting a behavior that needs changing
and discussing how self-recording can be used to change it.
* Demonstrate and model. - a recording form and a method of observation are
selected. Teacher demonstrates self-recording by using the observation
method and recording the results from the form.
* Practice with feedback. - student practices self-recording with prompts and
corrective feedback. As student become more proficient, the teacher reduces
prompt/praise/feedback.

Self-Evaluation
* The component of self-management that teaches the student to judge how well
he or she is doing.
* Provide the rationale - importance of evaluating one’s work is discussed.
Notion that evaluation enables the student to determine whether their
performance is satisfactory is stressed. Helps to determine if more effort is
needed.
* Demonstrate and model - a self-evaluation form is selected. Requires
student to mark digits that correspond to a grade scale of poor progress,
some progress, and good progress. Teacher demonstrates using the form
and the student models the behavior to make sure he/she understands the
process.
* Practice with feedback - student practices self-evaluation with teacher
feedback until proficiency is reached.

Self-Reinforcement
* A technique for self-management that involves the student reviewing his or her
progress to determine whether reinforcement has been earned.
* Provide the rationale - teaching the importance of earning reinforcement by
helping students identify appropriate reinforcers. Rationale establishes
standards of performance for earning the reinforcements and when/how
student is to be rewarded.
* Demonstrate and model - teacher uses mock data, recording sheets, and
reinforcement menu to demonstrate self-reinforcement. Teacher tells
student when reinforcement criteria are met and selects reward. Student
performs that behavior with teacher feedback until the student understands.
* Practice with feedback - student practices self-reinforcement by using self-
 recording and self-evaluation. Students are encouraged to give praise
subvocally when selecting reinforcers. Teacher provides corrective/positive
feedback until the student is proficient.

Using Questions
* Asking questions during presentations and follow-up discussions is a key part of
the teaching process.
* Questions are used to:
* involve the student
* promote learning
* monitor student progress and adjust instruction
* manage the flow of the lesson
* Convergent Questions:
* Convergent questions are direct or closed questions and begin with verbs
such as define, describe, identify, summarize, paraphrase, or rephrase.

* Divergent Questions:
* Divergent questions are open-ended questions with several correct
responses (e.g., “What role do you think sports play in building self-
discipline?”). These questions require higher level cognitive responses than
convergent questions and begin with verbs such as relate, distinguish,
differentiate, formulate, compose, produce, justify, or decide.

Classroom Management
* CLASSROOM TONE:

* Do I strive to maintain good physical health?

* Do I strive to maintain good emotional health?
* Do I treat students with respect?
* Do I enjoy teaching?
* Do I behave confidently (e.g., in walking and talking)?
* Do I have a positive attitude toward students and peers?
* Do I accept the challenge of educating all learners?
* Do I change my position when a compelling reason exists to do so?
* Am I happy?
* Am I effective at helping students learn?
* Do I listen to students and peers well?
* Do I have a sense of humor?
 Classroom Rules

* Guidelines:
* Select the minimum number of rules - 4 to 6 rules, always try your best,
raise hand to say something, work quietly, respect and be polite, etc.
* State the rules positively. - a positively stated rule automatically excludes
any misbehavior and includes many desired behaviors. Positively stated rules
provide non threatening, assertive expectations
* Determine consistent consequences for rule fulfillment or infraction. - to
ensure understanding, positive and negative consequences for
following/breaking rules should be described explicitly to all students. Rules
and their consequences should be applied in an equitable manager Tailor
rules to individual classroom goals and to individual teaching styles. -
encourage students to work independently and allow a certain level of noise
during seatwork.
* Include school rules within class rules. - reminds students that school rules
apply in the classroom.
* Display a set of the rules where the students and the teacher easily can see
it. - posted rules provide a visual reminder to students about how to act
appropriately, and teacher can refer to a specific rule when reminding a
student about the expected behavior.

Classroom Management
Teaching Behavioral Expectations for Rules and Classroom Routines 
* Use an advance organizer.
* Describe the behavioral expectations.
* SLANT mnemonic is useful:
* S—Sit up straight.
* L—Lean forward in your desk.
* A—Act interested.
* N—Nod occasionally to signal understanding.
* T—Track the teacher with your eyes. 

* Demonstrate the behavioral expectations.

* Conduct guided practice with feedback.
* Conduct independent practice with feedback.
* Maintain behavioral expectations.

Engaging Students
Managing instruction and students’ behavior in the classroom
 * communicating expectations
* engaging interactions
* instructing for engagement

Communicating Expectations
* Establish a positive, expectant, and orderly classroom environment.
* Maintain a positive classroom environment through enthusiasm, encouragement,
and a positive disposition.
* Establish rules that involve respect for others.
* Clearly state what behaviors are expected and what behaviors are not tolerated.
* Introduce and discuss rules, procedures, and consequences for following rules
and breaking rules.
* Post rules, discuss rules, and provide rationale for rules.
* Establish classroom routines and procedures to promote flow of activities.
* Hold students accountable for work and keep records of progress.
* Communicate expectations and provide structure for learning (e.g., instructional
groupings, prescriptive seatwork, accessible materials, and support for working).

Engaging Interactions
* Use task-specific and descriptive praise.
* Use a hierarchy of reinforcers to adapt to level of student maturity (e.g., food,
objects, tokens, points, praise, activity, or sense of mastery).
* Maintain a 3:1 ratio of teacher attention to positive classroom events versus
negative classroom events.
* Provide positive reinforcement for appropriate behavior or effort, successful task
completion, and the learning of new or difficult material.
* Gradually shift reinforcement from appropriate behavior to learning
accomplishments.
* Provide students with verbal reminders to follow rules.
* Use nonverbal signals when feasible to direct students in a manner that does not
disrupt the class.
* Deliver specific praise contingently.
* Engage in frequent positive and supportive interactions.
* Reinforce student accomplishments.
* Frequently scan the classroom.
* Arrange the classroom to facilitate smooth transitions and ease of student
monitoring.

Instructing for Engagement

* Ensure that students have the ability or skills to acquire the targeted content or
perform the strategy or procedure being taught.
* Correct student behavior in a way that helps students understand the
appropriate behavior for the situation.
 * Instruct students to understand and follow rules through demonstrating,
modeling, giving examples and nonexamples, reinforcing students for following
rules, correcting students for not following rules, and applying consequences for
students who break rules.
* Foster self-management in students through self-monitoring, self-recording, and
self-evaluating.
* Provide explicit instruction in classroom routines.
* Provide more teacher-led instruction than independent work.
* Use metaphors, anecdotes, and concrete examples to help students connect new
content with their existing knowledge.
* Circulate throughout the classroom to check the accuracy of work and progress
of students.
* Engage students in talk about their own thinking.
* ASK STUDENTS TO INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER AND COLLABORATE ON
PROBLEM-SOLVING TASKS.

Accommodating Students with Learning Problems in General Education Classrooms

Accommodations Involving Materials
* Use of audio recording - the use of audio recording is a great aid in
overcoming problems using certain materials with students who have a
reading disability. Directions, stories, and specific lessons can be recorded
and the student can replay audio to clarify understanding of directions or
concepts. Students can also read the words silently as they are listening to
the audio.
* Clarify or simplify written directions - some directions can be overwhelming
to some students. Teacher can underline or highlight the significant parts of
the directions.
* Present small amount of work - teachers can tear pages from workbooks and
materials to present small assignments to student who are anxious about the
amount of work. Teacher can also reduce the amount of work when it
appears redundant. Teacher can divide a worksheet into sections and have
the student only complete one section at a time.
* Block out extraneous stimuli - use a blank sheet of paper to cover up
sections of the page not being worked on so they don’t get distracted. They
can use line markers to help with reading and windows can be used to show
individual math problems.
* Highlight essential information - teacher can mark important information if
student finds this part of reading difficult.
* Locate place in consumable material - in workbooks the student can make a
diagonal cut along the lower right hand corner of the pages they have
completed. This will make it easy for the student and teacher to locate the
next page that needs to be corrected or worked on.
* Provide additional practice activities - some materials don’t have enough
practice activities. Teachers can supplement material with practice activities.
 (instructional games, self-correcting materials, computer programs,
worksheets)
* Provide glossary in content areas - the specific language of the content areas
require careful reading. Students often benefit from a glossary of content-
related terms.
* Develop reading guides - reading guides provide the student with a road
map of what is written and features periodic questions to help the student
focus on relevant content. It helps the reader understand main ideas and out
the numerous details related to the main ideas.

Accommodations Involving Interactive Instruction

* Use explicit teaching procedures. - I do, We do, You do. (present target skill, guide
practice, correct errors/provide feedback, prepare for independent work → monitor
independent practice, review new skills)
* Repeat directions. - break down directions into subsets, simplify directions by
showing one portion at a time, be sure students understand the words and are
comprehending the meaning.
* Maintain daily routines. - many students with learning problems need structure
of daily routine to know and do what is expected.
* Provide a copy of lecture notes. - teacher can give a copy of lecture notes to
students who have difficulty taking notes
* Provide students with a graphic organizer. - outline chart, blank web can be
given to fill in during presentations. Helps students listen for key information and
see relationships among concepts and related info.
* Use step-by-step instruction. - new or difficult info can be presented in small
steps. This helps students with limited prior knowledge who need explicit or part-
to-whole instruction.
* Combine verbal and visual information. - verbal info can be provided with visual
displays
* Write key points or words on the chalkboard. - prior to presentation, teacher can
write new vocab words and key points on chalkboard or an overhead
transparency.
* Use balanced presentations and activities. - an effort should be made to balance
oral presentations with visual info and participatory activities. Should be balance
between large-group, small-group, and individual activities.
* Use mnemonic instruction. - can be used to help students remember key info or
steps in a learning strategy
* In a review of the literature, Wolgemuth, Cobb, and Alwell (2008) strongly
support the use of mnemonic strategies for students with disabilities across
settings. 
* Emphasize daily review. - daily reviews of previous learning can help students
connect new info with prior knowledge.
 Accommodations Involving Student Performance
* Change response mode. - response mode can be changed to underlining,
selecting from multiple choices, sorting or marking. Students can be given extra
space for writing answers on worksheets or can be allowed to respond on
individual chalkboards.
* Provide an outline of the lecture. - outline enables some students to follow
lessons successfully and make appropriate notes. An outline helps students to see
organization of material and ask timely questions.
* Encourage use of graphic organizers. - involves organizing material into visual
format.
* Place students close to the teacher. - students with attention problems can be
seated close to teacher, chalkboard, or work area and away from distractions.
* Encourage use of assignment books or calendars. - students can use calendars o
record assignment due dates, list activities, record test dates, and schedule
timelines for schoolwork. Students should also record homework assignments.
* Reduce copying activities. - student copying activities can be minimized by
including info or activity on handouts or worksheets.
* Have students turn lined paper vertically for math. - lined paper can be turned
vertically to help keep numbers in the appropriate column while computing math
problems.
* Use cues to denote important items. - asterisks or bullets can denote questions
or activities that count heavily in evaluation. Helps students spend time
appropriately during tests/assignments
* Design hierarchical worksheets. - teachers can design worksheets with problems
arranged from easiest to hardest.
* Allow use of instructional aids. - students can be provided with letter and number
strips to help them write correctly. Number lines, counters, and calculators help
students compute once they understand the math operations.
* Display work samples. - samples of completed assignments can be displayed to
help students realize expectations and plan accordingly.
* Use peer-mediated learning. - teachers can pair peers of different ability levels to
review their notes, study, read aloud, read directions, or word problems in math,
write stories, or conduct lab experiments.
* Encourage note sharing. - students can use carbon paper or a notebook
computer to take notes and then share them with absentees and students with
learning problems. Help students who have difficulty taking notes to concentrate
on presentation.
* Use flexible work times. - students who work slowly can be given additional time
to complete written assignments.
 * Provide additional practice. - students require different amounts of practice to
master skills. Many students with learning problems need additional practice to
learn at fluency level.
* Use assignment substitutions or adjustments. - students can be allowed to
complete projects instead of oral reports or vice versa. Tests can be given in an
oral or written format.

Selecting Curriculum
Material Selection Factors
* Curriculum Materials Should Promote Best Instructional Practices
* Curriculum Materials Should Foster Learner Understanding  
* Curriculum Materials Should Guide the Assessment of Relevant Prior Knowledge  
  
Selecting Curriculum
Material Selection Factors (cont’d)
* Curriculum Materials Should Guide Mastery Learning
* Curriculum Materials Should Promote Generalization  
* Curriculum Materials Should Provide Guidelines for Learner Diversity 
 
Guidelines for Designing a Curriculum
* Introduce information cumulatively.
* Build retention.
* Separate confusing elements and terminology.
* Make learning more meaningful by stressing relationships.
* Reduce processing demands.
* Require faster responses

Planning Units and Lessons

* Planning Units
* Planning Lessons
* Step 1: Introduce the lesson
* Step 2: Describe and model the skill or strategy
* Step 3: Use scaffolding to guide practice and interactive discourse
* Step 4: Conduct independent practice to mastery
* Step 5: Provide feedback
* Step 6: Teach generalization and transfer

Post Instructional Activities

*“Everyone needs opportunities for self-renewal, but those responsible for
developing other human beings need them most of all. Thinking deeply about
what we are doing leads us to ask better questions, break out of fruitless routines,
make unexpected connections, and experiment with fresh ideas.” (Brandt, 1991, p.
3)

Teacher Reflection and Collaboration

* Teacher journal writing: (Smyth, 1989)
* What do I do? (Elicits description of practice.)
* What does this mean? (Elicits principles of instruction.)
* How did I come to be this way? (Elicits awareness beyond the classroom and
situates practices in a broader cultural milieu.)
* How might I do things differently? (Elicits action.)
* Collaborative questions can foster reflection:
* Will curriculum-based assessment allow teachers to assess the progress of
students in a manner that provides insight into effective instructional
activities and learner differences?
* How can teachers more effectively involve parents in school activities?
* How can teachers effectively combine elements of whole language
instruction with phonological awareness instruction to improve reading
instruction?