Imagine you are teaching a class. You have an activity you are really excited about. You know the students will be engaged, you’re sure the activity will work as long as you set it up well, as long as the students know what they need to do, the ins and outs of the activity.
So, you need to set up the activity, but how would you do that? Would you stand at the front of class, get the attention of the learners, and talk them through what they have to do to complete the activity? Would you spend 2-3 minutes explaining everything, so the learners are ready to go? That sounds pretty reasonable to me!
But are there other ways? Might there be different, and potentially more effective, techniques? Let’s think about how we can model more so we can explain less.
Here’s an example of the instructions a teacher gave in a class I observed last year. The class was recorded so I was able to transcribe the teacher’s explanation (with her permission).
Context. A beginner class in a community centre. This was a free class organised by a charity for refugee and asylum seekers. The focus of the class was speaking. Students were sat at tables and there were 10 learners in the class. There was no screen or smart board, but the teacher bought flip chart paper into the room.
Teacher: Good morning, everyone! Today, we are going to do a fun activity called ‘Find Someone Who.’ This activity will help you practice speaking and listening in English, and you’ll also get to know your classmates better.
First, let me explain how it works. I will give each of you a worksheet with a list of questions. Your job is to stand up, walk around the classroom, and ask your classmates these questions. For example, you might ask, ‘Do you like pizza?’ If your classmate says ‘yes,’ you will write their name next to the question. Then, you will ask them a follow-up question, like ‘What is your favourite pizza topping?’ and write down their answer. If they say ‘no’, ask them another question.
After you have asked one question and written down the name and answer, move on to another classmate and ask a different question. Keep going until you have asked all the questions on your worksheet. When you have finished asking all the questions, you can sit down.
OK – here are your worksheets and pens. Remember to stand up and move around the classroom, ask your classmates the questions on your worksheet, write their name if they answer ‘yes’, ask a follow-up question and take notes on their answer, move on to the next question and find another classmate, sit down when you have asked all the questions.
OK, does anyone have any questions before we start? No, then let’s go! Have fun and speak in English as much as you can. I will walk around to help if you need it.
Here’s a reflection on that example.
What do you notice about these instructions? One thing to mention is the echoing – that’s when we repeat, or echo, something we’ve already said. In the example, the teacher echoed the procedure. Generally, it’s best to avoid echoing.
But even without this repetition, these instructions seem really long and complicated to me. In fact, it might take as long to explain the activity as it does to complete it! OK, that might be an exaggeration, but the less time we spend setting up an exercise, the more time the students can spend on it. The less time they spend listening to us, the more time they spend interacting with each other.
How can we avoid long, complex explanations? Some teachers like to use the learners’ L1. That’s one option if you have a monolingual classroom. However, it’s probably best for us all to have a variety of strategies to draw upon, so we don’t have to rely on using the learners’ L1. One useful strategy here is modelling. This is where we demonstrate, rather than explain. Simple, right?!
When I discussed this with the teacher in the example, she immediately saw the benefit of this strategy and suggested three fantastic ways of implementing it in class.
- Pass out the handout. Point to a question. Play the part of two people – the student asking the question and the student answering the question. Change your voice and the direction you are facing to indicate which character you are playing.
- Pass out the handout. Ask a confident student one question from the handout. Pretend to write their name down and notes about the follow-up question. Move onto another student and repeat.
- Prepare a large copy of the handout on flip-chart paper. Point to a question and ask a confident student. Write their information and the answer to the follow-up question on the flip-chart paper. Move onto another student and repeat. Then, pass out the hand-outs and start the activity.
These approaches are a great improvement. They do away with the need for any explanation. Also, as they directly use the information on the handout, they are more concrete, easier to understand and apply.
Number 3 is probably the best of the bunch, because it ensures all the students are paying attention to the model, not distracted with the handout or getting a head start on reading the questions. Of course, if you have access to a smart board or a visualiser, it might be much easier to use that rather than the flip chart paper, but the principle is still the same. By modelling more, you can explain less. This reduces teacher-talk-time and the need for L1. In this example, the instructions have gone from minutes to seconds, and they are easier to understand. Hey, that’s a positive thing all around!
Here are three strategies to help development
- Time how long you spend, and how you go about, giving instructions in class. Try to model in a subsequent class and reflect on any substantive changes.
- Ask a colleague to watch your class and give you feedback on your instructions. Ask the same colleague to come back to a class one week later and do your best to avoid explaining. Did you make any improvement?
- Challenge yourself to avoid explanations for a whole class. Do not explain, but question and model. How easy was it? What did you notice about any changes in the class atmosphere and student interaction? Try it with another class. Did it get easier?
Happy teaching and let me know what you think and how you get on in the comments!
Until next time,
Sam
Great! It might be interesting if you shared a few more modelling examples for different levels in a future.
Hi Kaly, thanks for the comment and the feedback…more examples to come!