Issue 147: Aug 29, 2011 Connections Newsletter

How to Actively Involve your Studetns During Instruction

Jennifer Partrick
Oct 24, 2011

How do you ensure that all students are actively involved during instruction?

According to Lehr, Johnson, Bremer, Cosio, and Thompson (2004), "every nine seconds we lose a student to dropping out." Bridgeland, Dilulio, and Morrison (2004), noted that "the number one reason-cited by the dropouts themselves-is boredom." Certo, Cauley, Moxley, and Chafin (2008) noted that "they (high school students) preferred instructional strategies as ones that were hands-on, and that contained opportunities for debate and discussion." These are sobering statistics and one that all educators should consider. We must think about how we can better engage students in the academic process; what we can do to improve teaching and learning. Himmele and Himmele (2011), suggest Total Participation Techniques which also happens to be the title of their current book. Total Participation Techniques are strategies that, "allow for all students to demonstrate, at the same time, active participation and cognitive engagement in the topic being studied (p. 7)." Teachers have called these techniques different things but the point to keep in mind is that teachers must use an assortment of strategies that allow all students to be simultaneously engaged. Quick Writes, Think, Pair, Share, Thumbs Up, K-W-L's, Numbered Heads, Ticket-Out-The-Door are examples of well-known strategies that teachers use during instruction. Below are some other strategies that you can add to your toolbox as suggested by Himmele and Himmele (2011).

Ranking (p. 43)

In this strategy, students are asked to analyze components of concepts they have learned and then rank them according to a set of criteria they determine as they manipulate the information. For example, imagine that students have learned about the causes of the American Revolution. You will list the events that led up to the American Revolution and have students rank them according to their order of importance. You could also list descriptive words/descriptive language found in a passage and have students rank them according to depth or intensity.

True/Not True Hold-Ups (p. 53)

Many of you may have used this strategy before. However, what follows is a variation on this strategy. In this strategy, True with Modifications, and Unable to Determine based on Information Learned is added to True/Not True. Students are given a sheet of paper and it is divided into four quadrants. Students write True in one quadrant, Not True in another quadrant, True with Modifications in another quadrant, and Unable to Determine in the last quadrant. Give students a prompt and they respond to the prompt by showing which quadrant they believe is True, Not True, etc. What is interesting about the additional choices are that few things in life are black and white, and the additional choices gives room for discussions regarding issues that are not black and white. Create prompts that lead to a rich discussion; that could be done in groups or as a class. Consider the following prompt: Is it ever a good thing to lie? A rich discussion could easily follow such a prompts. Students first discuss with partner or group, responses are shown, and the further discussion follows.

Three 3's in a Row (p.62)

With this strategy, create nine questions based on concepts students have learned. These questions are then typed three to a row on a nine square grid.Students then walk around the room asking their peers to answer only one question at a time. The students who ask the question, write the answers. Make sure that students write their own answers. Students repeat this process three times so that by the end of the session, each student has spoken with 3 other students. The answers are then discussed as a class. Remember that the key to this activity is the type of questions that you create. Yes and no questions do nothing to prompt discussion or deep thought. Create questions that require students to compare and contrast, show causal relationships, synthesize, evaluate, and analyze information.

As you plan your lessons, try to make sure to include opportunities for students to be actively involved in the learning process. You don't want to lose any student, and certainly not because of boredom.

References:

Bridgeland, J.M., Dilulio, J.J. Jr., & Morrison, K. B. (2006). The silent epidemic: Perspectives of high school dropouts. Washington, DC: Civic Enterprises. Cited in Himmele & Himmele 2011, p. 5.

Certo, J. L., Cauley, K. M., Moxley, K. D., & Chafin, C. (2008, April/May). An argument for authenticity: Adolesents' perspectives on standards-based reform. The High School Journal, 91(4), 26-39. Cited in Himmele & Himmele 2011, p. 5.

Himmele, P., & Himmele, W. (2011) Total Participation Techniques. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Lehr, C. A., Johnson, D. R., Bremer, C. D., Cosio, A., & Thompson, M. (2004). Essential Tools: Increasing rates of school completion. Minneapolis, MN: National Center on Secondary Education and Transition. Retrieved July 18, 2011 from http://www.ecs.org/html/Document.asp?chouseid = 6649. Cited in Himmele & Himmele 2011, p. 4