![]() ![]() In these moments, it’s imperative to bring the students back and deliver the direction again in a different way.Ĥ. Concise: Finally, it’s crucial that directions be concise. In practice, you may find that you have given what you deemed a clear direction and then realize that students are not meeting it. By taking the time to plan out in advance exactly what you will say to students, you can ensure that your directions will be as clear as possible. There are many instances in which I said something that I thought was perfectly clear, but it left my students confused. I often combine the two forms to give my students as much structure as possible in how to fill their time effectively and ensure that no class time is wasted.ģ. Clear: Providing students with clear directions may seem like a no-brainer, but taking the time to assess whether your directions are clear is certainly worthwhile. When it is time to stop, you will hear me count down from three, and your pencils will be down by the time I say ‘Zero.’”ĭepending on your students’ needs and work styles, one of these forms of timed directions may be best or some combination of the two. This can take the form of a specific time frame for the activity or can simply be an indication to students of how they know when to start and stop.Ī timed direction may sound like this: “You will have two minutes to complete problem number three.” An indication of start and stop times may sound like this: “When I say ‘Go,’ you will begin working on problem number three. This helps to create a sense of urgency in the classroom so that all students recognize the need to be on task right away and remain on task the entire time. When students are provided a time frame for the direction, they know when to start and when to stop. The action steps given should include not only what students are doing but how they are doing it-silently, with partners, in groups, etc.Ģ. Timed: The second facet of my directions that I needed to address was timing. Additionally, observable directions provide clear action steps for students, so they know exactly what is expected of them and how they should accomplish the given task. This made it easy for me to identify which students were following the direction and which were not. The 4 Criteriaġ. Observable: The first shift I addressed with my directions was to make each direction I gave observable. A major piece of the fix was in creating criteria for my directions and ensuring that every time I asked my students to do something, these criteria, outlined in detail below, were met. ![]() Luckily, the principal who made me realize that it might be my directions that were the problem was the same principal who helped me figure out how to fix it. It quickly made me reevaluate the ways in which I gave directions to my students during class. One of the most important, yet initially harsh seeming, pieces of advice my principal gave me was this: If multiple students aren’t following the directions, it most likely isn’t their fault, it’s yours. ![]()
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