Professional development, or training for teachers, is much like teaching a group of students. It is important to think about the different types of learners and incorporate instructional strategies that meet their needs as well as help everyone understand the content that is being taught. One strategy that can be used is reciprocal teaching and another is think-pair-share. Both strategies encourage participants to engage in discussions with their peers to help further understand the material being taught or discussed. There are times that both students and teachers alike learn better from each other than they do from direct instruction.
Reciprocal teaching can improve reading comprehension. Group participants each have a job; the summarizer, the questioner, the clarifier, and the predictor. This allows participants to take turns leading the discussion and actively engage in the content. Participants start by reading the passage and highlighting or taking notes that help prepare them for their part in the discussion. The summarizer will then highlight key points that are important for understanding the passage. The questioner will then ask questions that may be unclear or help make connections to other content. The clarifier will then help answer questions that were asked. Finally, the predictor will then make predictions about what will happen next in the passage (Anonymous, n.d.). According to McCallum (2014), “Reciprocal teaching is inclusive and enables teachers to use evidence gained through the reciprocal conversations to continually adjust and target teaching to meet the needs of diverse students” (p. 32).
Below is a video showing an example of this strategy being used in a classroom.
Another strategy that is great to use is think-pair-share. Using this strategy, participants will work together to either solve a problem or answer questions about a lecture, whole group discussion, or a passage. Think-pair-share can help participants engage with the content and better understand what is being taught. Participants spend some time thinking about a topic on their own and also spend time discussing it with a partner; this can help expand their learning and sometimes even help them better understand when discussing it with a peer (Kerley et. al., n.d.). According to Yusef et. al. (2018), “Students taught using Think-Pair-Share strategy performed better than those taught using traditional (lecture) strategy” (p. 57). I have used think-pair-share many times when teaching students. We will discuss a topic and I usually ask them a question to think about on their own for a short amount of time and then have them turn and talk to a neighbor and compare their thoughts.
References
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Mallory, thank you for the information you shared in your blog post. I frequently used the think-pair-share strategy when teaching algebra, as it aligned well with the mathematical practices I wanted my students to engage in, particularly the practice of constructing viable arguments and critiquing the reasoning of others (Charles A. Dana Center, n.d.).
ReplyDeleteThe think-pair-share strategy fosters learner-centered, knowledge-centered, and assessment-centered environments. This strategy exemplifies the point made by Brown and Green (2024) in our course text, where they stated that the four types of learning environments are not mutually exclusive. Think-pair-share encourages students to share their knowledge, skills, and beliefs, creating a learner-centered environment. It also helps students understand and connect new information to what they already know, promoting a knowledge-centered environment. Finally, think-pair-share can serve as a formative assessment, allowing instructors to use insights from student conversations to address misconceptions and differentiate instruction for specific students, thus supporting an assessment-centered environment. I certainly appreciate a strategy that offers such a high return of valuable information.
References
Brown, A. H., & Green, T. D. (2024). Essentials of instructional design: Connecting fundamental principles with process and practice (5th ed.). Routledge.
Charles A. Dana Center. (n.d.). Mathematical practice standards. The Univeristy of Texas at Austin. Retrieved July 25, 2024, from https://www.insidemathematics.org/common-core-resources/mathematical-practice-standards
The Think-Pair-Share process reminds me of See one, Do one, Teach one. This process requires observing a new skill, practicing it, and then teaching it. This approach has helped me learn a lot from a technical aspect. Observing a colleague demonstrate a complex procedure provides a clear understanding of the task I can practice through hands-on experience. Additionally, having the opportunity to teach others the skill creates helps me understand the process better. As Brown et al. have stated, the more practice you have, the better you become at a task (2024). Active engagement enables learners to enhance their abilities in a specific skill and retain it. The most important part of any instructional activity is to gain knowledge, skills, or insight (Brown et al., 2024).
ReplyDeleteBrown, A. H., & Green, T. D. (2024). Essentials of instructional design: Connecting fundamental principles with process and practice (5th ed.). Routledge
Tomeka Jones