Technique 19: At Bats

(Part of Chapter 3: Structuring and Delivering Your Lessons)

This one is easy to summarize: repetition, repetition, repetition.  To refine a skill, you must do it often, so that it becomes almost natural.  So, you teach the students how to do something, and then you give them plenty of practice.  The author says "they need lots and lots of practice: ten or twenty repetitions instead of two or three."

Key points to remember:

• Go until they can do it on their own.
• Use multiple variations and formats
• Grab opportunities for enrichment and differentiation.  I.e., be sure to have bonus problems ready so that stronger students can be pushed to the next level.

My response:

Yes! Yes! Yes! (notice the repetition there :-)  In teaching students how to program, repetition is key.  Students have to be able to write for loops, define new classes, make functions, etc., without even thinking.  The only way to do this is to give them plenty of practice.