Observations on Classroom Teaching

This week I taught three sample lessons at an elementary school: 5th grade, Inferences; 3rd grade, Main Idea and Supporting Details in Expository text; and kindergarten, Words beginning with the “S” sound. After finishing each of the lessons, I had teachers come up to me and say various positive comments such as: “This was the most helpful example of Explicit Direct Instruction practices I have ever seen. I wish I could observe more.”

Another teacher in 5th grade said to me, “I now know how to TAPPLE [a DataWORKS Checking for Understanding strategy] effectively and to include cognitive strategies so students remember.”

When I walked out of the third grade class, several students walked past me saying, “Mr. Federico, that was a fun class. I never learned so much.” Other students said that “we were so busy that we didn’t have time to be bored.” One student asked me if I could come back and teach again because “I asked a lot of good questions”.

One teacher told me that when I randomly selected an English Learner student to answer a question, she was amazed that he answered his first ever question in English.  Previously, he was so shy that he only whispered his answers in Spanish to the aide.  When he was selected a second time, he also answered correctly in English.

I received a very supportive email from Daria Hall of the Educational Trust in Washington D.C. about the presentation I did at EdTrust-West Conference. Here’s a quote from her email.

John, I had the opportunity to see your presentation on instructional strategies for English language Learners at the Ed Trust-West conference a couple of weeks ago. It was by far the most specific, practical presentation I’ve ever seen on the topic, and according to their evaluations, the rest of the session attendees agreed with that assessment. Almost everyone in the session gave it the highest possible marks, and said they would put the practices you shared to use right away.

Thank you, Daria.

I presented at the Education Trust-West conference in San Francisco, California. My presentation was titled “How to Implement English Learner Strategies in the Classroom.” I met with Kati Haycock, the head of the Education Trust in Washington DC. Here is a picture of us.

 I talk with Kati Haycock from the Educational Trust

Much of this conference focused on data analyzing the achievement gap between English learners and minority groups versus white students. During my presentation, I addressed what effective English Learner strategies look like when implemented in the classroom so English Learners learn more. Some attendees stated that my presentation was one of the best of the conference.

I am ready for my presentation on “How to Implement English Learner

Strategies in the Classroom.”

I went to Strathmore Elementary School to observe teachers teach research-based Explicit Direct Instruction lessons. The lessons were outstanding. All teachers were implementing, and the lessons included lots of student engagement, checking for Understanding, and student interaction. I sat in the back of the classroom with the school administrators pointing out the strategies the teachers were using and where to mark them on our observation form. The administrators said that due to our whispering DURING the lessons while filling out the forms I had taken their understanding of Explicit Direct Instruction to a new level. They stated that it was very important to discuss the practices while they were happening rather than to discuss them after the lesson is over.

The principal at a school described her challenges in getting all teachers to implement research-based Explicit Direct Instruction lesson design and lesson delivery strategies. She stated that some of the resistant-to-school-reform teachers had left or were leaving. Having these distracting teachers leave improved the school, she said, and now other teachers are engaged with implementing staff development and improving the effectiveness of their classroom practices.

I went to a school to provide classroom coaching for teachers in implementing Explicit Direct Instruction. One of the teachers was sick so I had an unscheduled hour. I asked the school’s academic coach to accompany me on some unannounced 5 minute walkthroughs. We were surprised to see almost no implementation of instructional practices from recent staff development during the unannounced observations. This underscores the difficulty implementing research based practices in the classroom. Some teachers are able to use the practices when scheduled for observations but are not using them when no one is watching. One of the hard things about school reform is changing adult behavior.

I observed an elementary school lesson. During feedback after the lesson, I told the teacher that she needed more student interaction including interspersing more Checking for Understanding questions and pair shares between students. The principal, who accompanied me, said that the teacher had talked for 24 minutes before asking a Checking for Understanding question. Good lessons have lots of student-to-teacher and student-to-student interaction. I have measured teachers that average a student interaction every minute. During a lesson I taught recently, I had teachers count the number of student interactions I used. I had 57 student interactions during a 35 minute lesson. With a high number of student interactions, discipline problems evaporate, students are more engaged, pay attention more, and learn more.