Direct instruction is not my thing. I discovered that this morning when trying to work through a set of notes to a class of near-comatose students yesterday morning during first period. It’s very clear to me now that without feedback from the students, I feel lost.
Which might be how they’re feeling, too, but no one is brave enough to say anything. But see, I don’t know, because no one wanted to talk with me.
As I think about how things went, I think it might have been interesting to stop for a minute and actually share this feeling of being lost with the students, and explain to them that if they don’t tell me whether they are understanding or have questions, I just have to guess. And since that’s pretty random, I’d rather not. So maybe next time I’ll give that a try.
Fifth period was a different story, however. They’re definitely much more talkative than first period, so I got lots of feedback. The trouble was that all that extra information wound up misleading me. I didn’t realize this until I had time to reflect, but because so many students were volunteering answers, they made it difficult for me to remember that there were likely several students who were struggling. As a result, I wound up going through the material more quickly than I needed to. Fortunately, we’re covering this material over the course of four days, so the second day’s task will give me a chance to make sure everyone gets a second chance at the material.
Learning to Teach 
Robin said,
November 30, 2010 at 1:17 pm
1st period is always like that.