The Proof Is In The Pudding: Connect With A Kid
In the 1980s, the
movie Teachers was released. One of the characters was called
"Ditto," because each class period, each student in his class would pick
up a ditto (handout) go quietly to his/her seat and complete it during the class
period while the teacher read the newspaper. At the end of the period, each of
the students would file past the teacher's desk placing his/her completed ditto
into a basket never interacting with the teacher who was still reading his
newspaper. On one particular day, the teacher has a heart attack and dies
behind his newspaper, but no one notices. Class period after class period, each student picks up his/her ditto, completes it, files past the corpse without
noticing the deceased teacher until the end of the day. Today's teachers
do not know the joy of having fingers indelibly stained purple or the ecstasy
one attaines by sniffing fresh dittos. The ditto is dead, but is it
really? Today's dittos are mindless activities on laptops, and I-Pads
while the teacher sits at her desk with her I-Pad or laptop staring blankly at a macaroni-and-cheese
recipe on Pinterest or emailing her friends. Ditto really is not
dead.
Ironically we call this a connected
classroom, but it is anything but connected.
Students are staring into their laps smiling as their nimble thumbs tap
text messages on their I-Phones hidden beneath their desks while their teacher shops on
Amazon on her computer. There is no
human interaction, so just like the character, Ditto, on Teachers, this teacher could die behind her monitor screen and
class after class could wander in, pick up an I-Pad from the workstation complete his/her assignment, return their I-Pad and leave without noticing. Yet our
schools are accredited based on how well they are connected to technology.
Thirty years ago, a parent once
said to me that one day teachers will be replaced by computers. I am afraid that may be true if teachers
continue to use computers in this way.
We will continue to see more K-12 on-line schools and teaching as a
profession will disappear. That is
unfortunate, because students learn so much more and enjoy learning when
teachers engage them in real human interaction.
Computers are a tool that when used well enhance learning. They should not replace discussions, problem
solving and positive emotions that only occurs when one human being (a teacher) engages another (the
student).
In the early 1980s Madeline
Hunter created, “ Models of Mastery Learning” https://www.csun.edu/~sch_educ/eed/holle/PACT/planning/Lesson%20Planning.pdf
where she identified the steps of teaching:
First, the teacher should use Anticipatory
Set: getting the students attention
and motivating them to want to learn more.
Second, the teacher should have a clear Objective, a statement that communicates what the child will learn
or be able to do at the end of the lesson.
Third, the teacher should have an Instructional
Input. A clearly stated plan of how the teacher will deliver the
learning to the student. Fourth, the
teacher should Model the Learning; thus, providing an example for the students to
see and understand what they must do to accomplish the objective. Fifth, the teacher should check for understanding. This is an informal method of assessing if
the students understanding of what information they are to learn and how they are
going to present it to the class. Sixth the teacher should provide Guided Practice. This means the teacher engages the student and
together they create the learning. Research
shows that for struggling learners to be successful the Guided Practice segment of their learning should be longer to
ensure that they have mastered the skill before proceeding to the final
step. Last, but not Least, is Independent Practice. During this segment of learning, the
student demonstrates that he has mastered the skill by performing on his
own. Madeline Hunter’s research shows
that the struggling learners require more interaction (Guided Practice) and
less time working independently. If teachers us Madeline Hunter's lesson design, teachers are engaging with students for 5/6 of the total teaching time. Students are working independently for only 1/6 of the time.That means teachers, turn off your electronic device, get off your bottom dollar and teach (a verb which mean you have to do something) these kids. When students
are given I-Pads and a disengaged instructor, they are being cheated out of
their education.
Madeline Hunter’s design still
works well in our twenty-first century learning model. All teachers need to
recognize that computers are tools, not teachers. Wander about the room, sit down with students
while they are writing and give them more Guided
Practice to improve their writing. This
certainly beats writing comments on essays late at night and watching students
wad them into balls and throw them near (but not in) the garbage can. By doing this a higher number of your
students will be successful.
The proof is in the pudding is
an adage that means you shouldn’t evaluate the quality of a meal until the
final course, the pudding, is eaten.
Likewise we can’t judge the quality of an education until these students
become productive, happy citizens. The end
of year test is not the pudding, only the end of another course. Nevertheless, our past experience should tell
us that for students to truley flourish, they need human interaction, not just
computers. Connect with a kid.
