Focus: Helping students to develop increased interest in learning; developing contexts for understanding a lesson.
EXPLANATION: (Focus and demonstration) Template
(A) Triggered Interest
(Phase I) In the Triggered Interest Phase of lessons, teacher engages students. Together, they develop contexts for understanding connections between students’ experiences and a lesson. For example, teacher warmly welcomes students to the classrooms with an ear out for any information that might be helpful. Teacher includes students’ concerns in the lesson to reflect how students develop knowledge.
to make lesson more relevant and related to students experiences.
A phase of thinking that corresponds to the triggered interest phase of lesson is perceptive thinking. In perceptive thinking, a person connects to occurrences and obtain an appearance (or an uncertain object) that must be clarified;
(1) Activities in the triggered interest phase of a lesson; obtain connections between two factors.
(2) Activities of triggered interest phase of lessons help students understand connections between a lesson and their concerns.
(3) The result of the triggered interest phase of lessons is that students engage subsequent phases of a lesson ( knowledge development) activities.
To Start a lesson, Teacher does (A) and B or C
(A) Teacher instructs students to write the “do now” or intended lesson objective fully. Teacher identifies and engages students in discussing any current events and/or concern with students. The teacher writes students ongoing concerns on the board.
(B) Teacher writes students’ concern on the board, and thus, creates a starting point for connecting students’ interests/concerns that are being discussed with lesson.
(C) The teacher gleans students’ concerns that may be related to lesson, and if possible note students’ ongoing concerns on the board.
(B) Maintained Interest
(Phase II) In the Maintained Interest Phase of lessons, teacher develops an ideal context for learning concepts of a lesson. Teacher guides students and together they reviews and develops contexts for understanding the topic.
The phase of thinking that corresponds to maintained interest phase of lesson is analytic thinking. In analytic thinking, a person identifies elements (instances) characterizing an appearance (or an uncertain object);
(1) Activities in the maintained interest phase of lessons – generate and apply resources to facilitate lesson/learning activities;
(2) Function of activities of the maintained interest phase of lessons – students learn to generate and apply resources to facilitate learning activities.
(3) Result of generating and applying resources to facilitate learning activities.- students obtain the means (resources) that help them understand and facilitate learning activities or tasks.
To Generate Resources for Lesson Teacher does (A) or (B) and then (C)
(A) Teacher asks how students’ ideas and views, written on the board, may be related to one another, and possibly to the topic of the lesson.
(B) Teacher encourages students to look around the classroom or classroom walls and figure out or detect anything that might be related to lesson or means that might help them to more easily engage the lesson.
(C) The teacher explains the order of events; how students are to respond to the teacher’s prompts (when, how, and in what order). Teacher explains rules that facilitate learning of the lesson, or the teacher may also explain the school/class rules and regulations.
(C) Sustained Interest
(Phase III) In the Sustain Interest Phase of lessons; The teacher explains and demonstrates relevant strategies. Teacher explains and models what successful practitioners do when they engage in learning or in addressing and solving problems.
The phase of thinking that corresponds to sustained interest phase of a lesson is synthetic thinking. In synthetic thinking, a person develops and applies rules (formulas or strategies) to simplify activities and/or tasks
(1) Activities in the sustained interest phase of lessons – produce and apply strategies and formulas to simplify tasks;
(2) Function of activities of the sustained interest phase of a lesson – engage students in activities that help to demonstrate relationships among concepts of a lesson; and
(3) Result of relationships among concepts – the Sustained Interest phase of a lesson helps to resolve tasks/problems, obtain the object of tasks.
To simplify a lesson teacher does any one of (A) or (B) and then (C)
(A) The teacher identifies and explains how formula/strategy may be understood or helps to simplify concepts, how formulas and strategies relates to concepts of a lesson.
(B) The teacher defines and explains relevant formula/strategy and how they relate to the topic. In reading, for example, teacher defines (1) predict, (2) summarize, (3) simplify, (4) question, (5) clarify, (6) breaking a long word into syllables and sounding them out, etc.
(C) The teacher explains and models how successful learners/practitioners use strategy(s) when they learn or solve problems. For example, how a practitioner would summarize a story? Or, what would a practitioner do to predict or summarize a story?
(D) Personal Interest
(Phase IV) In the Personal Interest Phase of lessons, teacher guides students to engage and spend the time on the preferred task related to the lesson. Teacher lets students know that he or she is available and ready to help any student when needed.
The phase of thinking that corresponds to the personal interest phase of a lesson is private thinking. In private thinking, a person engages and develops ones unique capacities and skills. Students engage in learning to learn independently
(1) Activities of the personal interest phase of lessons – students engage in self-initiated and self-directed activities and/or tasks. Students utilize various technologies, and develop new creative approaches to addressing learning tasks.
(2) Function and benefits of activities of personal interest phase of lessons – students develop increased autonomy. Students learn to identify and develop personal and unique skills (Dewey, 1934 and Wittgenstein, 1927).
(3) Result of relationships among concepts – Students develop increased understanding of their personal uniqueness. They engage in learning to develop their unique skills and strategies. Students develop increased understanding of their individual and personal uniqueness.
To help students develop personal skills teacher does any one of (A) or (B) and then (C)
(A) Teacher provides students with learning tools such as computers, Thinking Maps and/or Graphic Organizers and encourages students to utilize the tools in developing, presenting, explaining, and simplifying their concepts.
(B) Teacher reduces direct interaction with the students; the teacher may be actively involved but not directly engaged with students. Teacher encourage students to engage in autonomous activities, and to improve the knowledge that they acquired during the lesson.
(C) Teacher walks around the classroom, making sure every student is on task and doing whatever and however student has chosen to do.
(E) Shared Interest
(Phase IV) In the Shared Interest Phase of lessons: teacher guides students to engage in group learning activities. Teacher lets students know that he or she is available for consultation and ready to help the groups when needed.
The phase of thinking that corresponds to the shared interest phase of a lesson is public thinking. In public thinking, a group engages and develops its unique activities, capacities and skills. The students in each group engage in learning to work together.
(1) Activities in the shared interest phase of lessons; students engage in group initiated activities. Students works together to generate and facilitate their group activities. Students learn to engage one another to develop improved relationships among themselves, creating an ideal environment where students learn from one another, develop shared experiences (Dewey, 1934).
(2) Function of activities of the maintained interest phase of lessons – engage and help students to develop increased understanding of the needs for rules, laws, and shared experience. They make and modify rules and laws that guide their group interactions and/or experiences, and they start to understand the operations of a democracy.
(4) Result of characterizing an appearance – Students engage in shared learning tasks, learn to interact well with one another under shared rules. They learn to comply with rules when they interact with others. They learn how to value and accept one another (Wittgenstein, 1927).
To help students develop shared experiences (A) or (B) and then (C)
(A) Teacher guides students in their preparations to form and organize their groups and group activities. Teacher guides students to identify right and wrong procedures as students organize their groups, group and activities until the groups are formed.
(B) Teacher encourages students to support one another; to recall and share knowledge that they achieved during the lesson. Students recall and share knowledge achieved during a lesson and help one another to consolidate their achievements.
(C) Teacher walks around the classroom, making sure that every group is on task and engaged in doing what the groups have chosen to do. Teacher guides and encourages students to interact with one another in their activities, and to utilize available resources like computers, Thinking Maps and Graphic Organizers to explain, and simplify their concepts.
Assessment and Evaluation of Students Within an Ongoing Lesson
By using differentiated questioning methods, teacher continually assesses and evaluates students as teacher deliver the instructions; the teacher collects data regarding student challenges and performances, and teachers may or not emphasizes activities of the phases of a lesson to reflect the challenges presented.
