Technique 16: Break It Down

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

"Break It Down" is a strategy you use in response to an incorrect answer to a question.  The idea is to quickly analyze where you think the student went wrong in formulating her/his answer, and then ask questions or give information that fix that error, and then ask subsequent questions (or repeat the original question) to get back to the correct complete answer.

Lemov says,

You never know exactly how big the gap is between the student's level of knowledge and the knowledge necessary for mastery, but in most cases, you want to provide the smallest hint possible and still enable your student to get to the correct answer successfully. (p 89)

One difficulty is taking the time to break down the problem sufficiently, but not taking too much time so that the entire flow of the lesson is broken.

Some examples of "Break It Down" techniques follow.

• Provide examples: provide an example of an answer to the question.  E.g., if the question is "what is a prime number?", say, "7 is one, so is 11, and 13".
• Provide context: e.g., use an unknown word in a few sentences to see if a student can derive the meaning.
• Provide a rule: if you've set up rules for determining the answer to the question, remind the student of the rule.
• Provide the missing step.
• Eliminate false choices.

My response:

This is a useful technique, even in the college classroom.  In FIT, I show students an Excel formula and ask them if it correct or not.  If they say it is correct, then I break it down by asking if it obeys some of the rules we have established ("never" use constants in formulas, will the formula still work if copied/moved, etc.)

It is useful in teaching intro programming, too, I think.  We go through many examples where my students have to write short code snippets.  When they are wrong, I try to break it down.

The real challenge is, I think, to break down problems quickly, but get back on track quickly, too.

Technique 15: Circulate

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

"Circulate" means moving around the classroom while you teach.  The author gives a few reasons why this is important in a classroom:

• Break the plane: The "plane" is the imaginary space at the front of the classroom, in front of the chalk/white board.  If you teach only from within this space, then you distance yourself from the students.  Also, if you break the plane only to move toward kid with a behavioral problem, then you are telling the rest of the class that you are out of control.
• Full access required: Make sure you can move anywhere in the classroom.  So, make sure the pathways are clear. 
• Engage when you circulate: as you move about the room (while students are doing some desk work, e.g.), you should be constantly looking at what your students are doing, and helping or encouraging.
• Move systematically: move everywhere, systematically, but unpredictably, so students don't know when you'll be near them and so they don't know when they should be working or when they could be goofing off.
• Position for power: stay facing the majority of the classroom as much as possible.

My response:

This technique mostly seems to be a technique for handling behavioral problems.  I don't have behavioral problems in my classroom -- perhaps because it is college, or perhaps because the students know not to mess with me.

However, I do still think that it is important to move about the classroom while I teach.  In FIT, where students have computers in front of them, I like to move down the center aisle and teach from the back of the classroom.  That way students know that I can see their screens and can see if they are goofing around or paying attention.  Also, I like to move because I think it helps students to pay attention.  (I see other professors sitting up at the front of the classroom lecturing to their instructor's monitor sometimes -- that looks like a recipe for putting students to sleep!)

Technique 14: Board = Paper

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

Students have to learn how to take good notes -- i.e., how to retain a record of what is being taught.  Lemov says, "As a matter of habit, expecting students to make an exact replica in their notes of what you write on the board is the right starting point."

Some teachers use pre-printed notes, with missing words that the students need to fill in. 

My response:

In college, students should already know how to take good notes.  But, I know some don't.  I'm not sure it is my place to teach them how, though.

I've used the technique of having "partial notes" -- where the notes are printed out with missing words -- and it does work, a bit.  I'm curious to know what people (especially students) think of this.

Technique 13: Name the Steps

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

"Name the Steps" means breaking down complex skills into manageable (and learnable) parts.  Naming each part helps students understand and learn the parts, and keep them in order.

Lemov breaks this technique into 4 subtechniques:

1. Identify the steps: when you teach the complex skill, teach the steps to learning the complex skill.  I.e., don't hide the fact that you are using steps.
2. Make them "sticky": you need to find a way for students to memorize the steps.  Thus, naming them helps.  If the names form an acronym, that makes remember the steps and their order even easier.
3. Build the steps: if you can derive the steps with the students' help, in class, that makes the lesson even more interesting and memorable.
4. Use two stairways: I think this means narrating the steps and doing an example problem at the same time.

My response:

I think this is a great idea, but I haven't been able to think of examples where I could/should use this technique.  Maybe when I teach debugging techniques in CS106...  Perhaps when I teach building formulas in Excel...?  Hmmm... I have some thinking to do on this one.

Technique 12: The Hook

Lemov says:

If you can introduce material in a way that inspires and excites and can get your students to take the first step willingly, then there is no content about which you cannot engender excitement, engagement, and deep learning among your students.

So, the Hook is a short introductory moment that captures what's interesting and engaging about the material.

The author gives some examples:

1. Story: tell a quick story to inspire and motivate
2. Analogy: offer an interesting analogy in real life
3. Prop: use a prop to grab students' interest
4. Media: act out a part of the book, or show a short movie clip of a dramatization of a book.
5. Challenge: give students a very difficult task -- this can motivate them wanting to find a better/easier way to do it.

Important points: keep it short, make sure it applies, and make sure it is energetic and optimistic.

Also, you don't need one for every lesson.

My response:

I used to do this for almost every algorithm that was being taught when I taught Data Structures and Algorithms at LaRoche College.  I think it worked wonderfully.  I use Analogy, Prop, and Challenge -- I think these apply the best for teaching technology.

I'll have to think more about how this can be used when teaching introductory programming.  For FIT, I think it is not too hard, in most cases, to motivate the students this way.  After all, FIT is supposed to teach very practical content...

Intro to Chapter 3: Structuring and Delivering Your Lessons

Each technique in this chapter is part of an "I/We/You" pattern: responsibility for knowing is gradually released from teacher to student.  E.g., the author demonstrates that the teacher shows how to add fractions ("I"), then does it again, asking students to answer questions along the way ("We"), then asks a student to do an example, with lots of help from the teacher ("We"), then asks students to do an example on their own ("You").  Finally, the teacher gives the students many more examples to do ("You", repeatedly).

The author says, "Students get very good at watching their teacher demonstrate mastery without ever learning to do it on their own."


My response:

Excellent stuff.  I see myself demonstrating how to do something in Excel or Dreamweaver, or in Python, without using this technique -- and the result is that students can't do it on their own once they have to do it for their lab/assignment...

Technique 11: Draw the Map

The author uses this term (for some reason) to refer to controlling the physical environment to assist in teaching.  The author talks about the arrangement of desks, what posters are on the walls, etc.

My response:

In FIT and in CS106, I could have handled this better.  In FIT, students are very tempted to goof around on the computers while I'm talking.  I try to fix this by "constantly" asking questions and asking for students to respond to what I'm saying with a nod, or something.  But, the author seems to imply that I could/should ask students to turn off their monitors or put away their keyboards if they aren't using the computers to take notes.  I don't know if I want to do this in college.

As for posters, etc., in CS106, I was thinking of making some posters that showed commonly used list methods or function syntax, etc.  It seems kind of like elementary school, but it might be useful...