Problem Solving
By Mike Hasley | October 6, 2008
I have to answer this question:
Why should teachers use problem solving in their classrooms?
What would your answer be?
Click the “Comment” link below to leave a comment.
Topics: 21st Century Skills, Best Practices, Discussion, PBL | 15 Comments »
Quality Questioning|Wait Time
By Mike Hasley | October 1, 2008
When my first daughter was born, we used a pacifier. And I remember how we had about 20 of them and each time one fell on the floor we gave her a fresh one, washed off the “dirty” one, boiled it, dried it, microwaved it, wiped it with a sterilized cloth, and then threw it away. By the time our second daughter was born, I think we were digging those old ones out of the trash and sticking them in her mouth.
Point being, despite knowing what the “right thing” to do is, we often get comfortable with what’s going on and just move at lightening speed, forgetting some essentials.
Wait Time I is one of those essentials. Every teacher knows you’re supposed to give students time to think before you as the teacher give the answer. However, without periodic reminding, this often isn’t done and students never get a chance to think and respond to the teacher or each other.
This year, we’ve been reminded about Wait Time I and II and will receive more training on this later in the year. Mr. Rodriquez has an observation form for this and many teachers have told me, or from what I’ve heard, are having success with Wait Time I in the classroom. We still have improvements to make though.
Another area that does with this is Wait Time II, which may be a new concept. This means you as the teacher pause a few seconds AFTER the student’s response to in hopes that they will either add to their own thoughts or another student will chime in with a response.
Hopefully, this will put the students in the middle of the discussion rather than the teacher. One way you can facilitate this is by creating a Discussion Board in SchoolSpace where students can answer a question the night before in detail, and then you can have a follow up discussion in class where you focus on using Wait Time I and Wait Time II. Since each student will have already answered the question and responded to another student, this should be easy for you, the teacher, to facilitate Wait Time I and II.
If you’ve had success with this in your class, or have any questions, click on the comment tab below. Remember, “Students learn best when they ask and answer their own questions!”
Topics: Discussion, Henrico HS, Quality Questioning | 2 Comments »
New Teacher Quiz
By Mike Hasley | September 25, 2008
This is a 6 question quiz to determine where you are with technology integration. It’s not a scientific survey.
Please let me know when you’ve taken the quiz via emial.
Topics: New Teachers, TIPc | No Comments »
What 3 Things?
By Mike Hasley | September 23, 2008
So every year we get a lot of new teachers at our school. It’s always a mix of new to teaching and veterans new to Henrico High School.
I want to create a study group for each of these two groups and I’m trying to think about what topics are the most important for these two groups.
Here are some suggestions:
- Classroom Management
- Technology Integration
- Test writing
- Balanced Assessment
- Quality Questioning
- Other ideas?
And what about for veterans new to a school? Should their list be different?
Please fill out the form below to give me some suggestions, thanks!
Topics: Discussion, New Teachers | No Comments »