I stumbled across a great blog post today from Amanda Dykes in Alabama; “The Upside Down Education Blog”, and she had a simple recipe for cutting the lecture and engaging students:
“The thing is, I DO NOT lecture too much during that time! I try to reach all learners. I do all the below focused on the same piece of content.
I assign quick, short reading passages (We are required to give factual/textual reading because school weakness on standardized test)
Classes usually begin with a short “what if…” or role play writing assignment.
I always show a show a short video clip of the subject matter (this will be more difficult now because Alabama no longer will pay for United Streaming)
I give information on the subject (there is your real lecture)
We always act out 1 or 2 things I’m teaching (a cold front pushing the warm front, etc)
Lastly I always assign them to draw images or diagram, especially in science.”
I love it when we can explain in simple terms how we do what we do. This is a great model.
