Pre-teaching really is a game changer. An excellent area of education to shine a light on, particularly in Maths, where the building blocks of learning are integral to securely moving onto application or the next layer of understanding.
My recent post on the effective use of additional adults in the classroom (for those educators who are lucky enough to have them) goes nicely with your ideas. Shared here, in case of interest:
Great stuff! Using additional adults is not a strength of mine. Something to work on. I sometimes feel like there are so many adults in schools who are either busy checking boxes or aren't sure how to help because everyone feels too busy to slow down and collaborate...a huge untapped resource in many places. Your ideas are a great place to start, good food for thought!
Thanks for this article. I think you make a really good point about how boosting confidence going into a lesson can help. Also, I had no idea about the PowerSchool feature you mentioned in the comments. Maybe we could get that to work for a flex block. Might share this with a colleague.
Yea I mostly hate PowerSchool but this feature is nice. It's called "Adaptive Scheduler," not sure how complicated it is to add on if you don't have it already.
My practical question is when do you do the pre-teaching? In regular math class or do you find some time outside? I think it’s the ideal intervention but I always found it hard to fit it in.
At my school we have a once-a-week study hall where I can pull students (there is a PowerSchool add-on that lets us actually change student schedules and makes it easy logistically). I'm supervising ~15 students but I can work with a few students in the back of the room.
If you don't have a time like that I think it's probably not worth it to try and do this during math class. It could still be something you recommend for special education services or a tutoring program if that's relevant, though I've had trouble getting other people on board with preteaching.
Every class has a culture, it varies period by period as the kids trundle in and out. Sometimes it's strong, sometimes it's weak, and sometimes things hang in the balance. In those situations, there's a Tipping Point that can be achieved with Pre Teaching the way you describe. You may "just" be flipping 3 kids for Period 4 math, but those 3 "win you the election" - the class has a positive vibe for all 20 kids now.
You should buy a Cameo. Get someone famous with young people to say "HEY PERIOD 2 MATH WITH MR. DYLAN, it's TIME TO SHAPE UP." Could be funny.
Pre-teaching really is a game changer. An excellent area of education to shine a light on, particularly in Maths, where the building blocks of learning are integral to securely moving onto application or the next layer of understanding.
My recent post on the effective use of additional adults in the classroom (for those educators who are lucky enough to have them) goes nicely with your ideas. Shared here, in case of interest:
https://open.substack.com/pub/lauraspargo/p/additional-adults-in-the-classroom?r=4cvlkw&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Great stuff! Using additional adults is not a strength of mine. Something to work on. I sometimes feel like there are so many adults in schools who are either busy checking boxes or aren't sure how to help because everyone feels too busy to slow down and collaborate...a huge untapped resource in many places. Your ideas are a great place to start, good food for thought!
Thanks for this article. I think you make a really good point about how boosting confidence going into a lesson can help. Also, I had no idea about the PowerSchool feature you mentioned in the comments. Maybe we could get that to work for a flex block. Might share this with a colleague.
Yea I mostly hate PowerSchool but this feature is nice. It's called "Adaptive Scheduler," not sure how complicated it is to add on if you don't have it already.
My practical question is when do you do the pre-teaching? In regular math class or do you find some time outside? I think it’s the ideal intervention but I always found it hard to fit it in.
At my school we have a once-a-week study hall where I can pull students (there is a PowerSchool add-on that lets us actually change student schedules and makes it easy logistically). I'm supervising ~15 students but I can work with a few students in the back of the room.
If you don't have a time like that I think it's probably not worth it to try and do this during math class. It could still be something you recommend for special education services or a tutoring program if that's relevant, though I've had trouble getting other people on board with preteaching.
Excellent stuff Dylan.
Every class has a culture, it varies period by period as the kids trundle in and out. Sometimes it's strong, sometimes it's weak, and sometimes things hang in the balance. In those situations, there's a Tipping Point that can be achieved with Pre Teaching the way you describe. You may "just" be flipping 3 kids for Period 4 math, but those 3 "win you the election" - the class has a positive vibe for all 20 kids now.
Yup. Behavior is contagious, positive and negative. I'm having a hard time with that in my 2nd period class right now. Every little bit helps.