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As teachers, we must provide explicit instruction to students in order to ensure that they both complete the task correctly, but also stay focused on task. Explicit instruction should should be given when providing students with independent tasks, but also should be used when redirecting students away from negative behaviors. Instruction should be direct, specific, and brief, and should be phrased as a statement, not a question. There should also be follow through with a logical consequence should the student not follow your direction. EXAMPLE: Get your textbooks and your science notebooks out.

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Definition: Questions without predictable answers posed to the class

Purpose: Encourages curiosity and open-mindedness, students will be forced to think critically and engage in discourse with one another

Example: Why are so many people afraid of spiders?

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Interactive modeling is a process for teaching children any academic skills, social skills, routines, or procedures you want them to do in a certain way. It is a method for showing students caring, respectful, and safe actions and outlines what the action looks, sounds, and feels like, and then they experience it through doing it themselves. To start, the behavior must be broken down into each element that is expected of the child. There are seven steps to follow:

1. Describe the behavior/goal in a positive way

2. Collect ideas from the students

3. Demonstrate the positive behavior for them

4. Ask students what they observed about the tone of voice, language, and body actions during the demonstration then re-state the goal

5. Ask for additional demonstrations of the behavior as it has been modeled by others

6. Have all students practice the behavior and state the expectation that this is the behavior that will continue

7. Notice and comment on the behavior in the days ahead, and provide positive feedback and redirection as needed

An example of this in a middle school classroom may be how students ask to use the bathroom:

1. I would begin by describing that to ask to use the restroom students must quietly raise a “t” sign, I will give a nod or vocal approval, then they may walk to sign out and take a pass with them.

2. I would ask the class what our bodies and voices sound/look/feel like when we go to sign out. They may respond we should walk with quiet feet, our hands should stay to ourselves, and our voices should be off

3. I would then demonstrate the entire process from raising my quiet “t” sign to silently and safely walking over to the sign-out sheet, filling it out, and then grabbing a pass to leave.

4. I would ask them what they noticed and to describe my behavior and reiterate that during instruction/independent work, this is the behavior they will use to ask to go to the bathroom

5. I would ask for a few students to volunteer and demonstrate the behavior

6. Throughout the class period, I would have students practice

7. Over the next few weeks, I would notice and comment on the behavior, providing feedback and redirection as needed.

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Interactive modeling shows students what caring and respectful actions look, sound, and feel like, as well as provide experience doing these actions. This method of social modeling teaches students a behavioral or academic action/skill while providing specific steps to follow when doing these actions/skills

Steps:

1. Describe goal - what you want student do in positive way

2. Collect ideas from students

3. Teacher demonstrates positive behavior

4. Ask students what they notice (actions, language, voice tone) during demonstration, re-state goal

5. Ask for additional demonstrations of positive behavior just as it has been modeled

6. Invite all students to practice behavior and state your expectation is that behavior will continue

7. Notice and comment on behavior after modeled, provide positive feedback and redirection when needed

Example: Quiet Signal

1. I would describe the goal of the quiet signal, what the quiet signal looks likes, and what the student actions should be. When we see the quiet signal, we need to make sure we stop talking and turn our attention to the speaker by having our eyes and ears up front.

2. What does it look, sound, and feel like when we are being quiet when we have the quiet signal raised?

3. I would demonstrate the use of the quiet signal and how I would respond if I were a student and the quiet signal was raised.

4. Have students describe what they noticed during my demonstration of how I would react to a quiet signal. What were my actions and language used?

5. I would have a group of students volunteer to demonstrate how they would act /respond if they saw the quiet signal.

6. Have students practice the quiet signal throughout the day.

7. Provide positive feedback on students who are demonstrating understanding of quiet signal. Provide redirection for students who may need additional assistance with quiet signal.

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Interactive Modeling is a process that is used to teach students how to be caring, safe, and respectful in their actions.  This is utilized with any academic, social, or other skill that needs to be taught and reinforced.  Students should understand what the action of using the skill should feel like, sound like, and look like through teacher modeling, and then experience it themselves through targeted actions.  Students should be explicitly educated on each step, following the process:

1.     Description of the desired action/behavior/goal with a positive spin from the teacher

2.     Brainstorm of ideas from class peers

3.     Behavioral demonstration by the teacher

4.     Students are questioned on the body language, tone of voice and verbiage used in the teacher’s demonstration, and the teacher then restates the goal of the lesson

5.     Teacher asks further students to model the desired action/behavior/goal

6.     Teacher asks all students to practice the desired action/behavior/goal and tells them that it is expected that they continue the action/behavior/goal moving forward

7.     Teacher looks out for the action/behavior/goal in students each day afterwards, and provide both positive and constructive (redirection) where applicable

Example: Elementary school use of the hip and lip walking method in hallways (used with grades K-1 typically)

1.     I would describe the goal of the hip and lip hallway walking method, what it looks like, and how the students should act in the hallway.  When we walk in the hallway, we need one hand on our hip and the other on our lips in a “sh” motion.  Our voices should be off, and we should be facing forward when walking.

2.     What does it look like, feel like, and sound like when we are being quiet and using the hip and lip hallway walking method?

3.     I would then show students how to physically act and do the motion as if I was a student in line with my class.

4.     Students would then be asked to describe in detail what they observed during my demonstration.  What was my body language, and what did my tone of voice and choice of words indicate?

5.     I would then have a selected group of students volunteer how they should walk in the hallway using the hip and lip method.

6.     Students will be asked to practice the hip and lip hallway walking method every time we leave the classroom throughout the day.

7.     Students would be provided positive reinforcement for walking quietly and with the taught method in the hallway, while students who need further work will be provided with redirection as needed.

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Interactive Modeling is a way for teaching children a concept and shows students what caring, respectful actions look like, sound like, feel like, and have experience doing. The method of social modeling teaches students a skill and provides steps to follow

7 steps to follow

#1

Describe a goal – state as a positive behavior…

#2

Collect ideas from students

#3

Teacher demonstrates the positive behavior

#4

Ask students what they notice about actions, language, and voice tone during

the

demonstration and re-state the goal.

#5

Ask for additional demonstrations of the positive behavior just as it has been

modeled from others.

#6

Invite all students now to practice the behavior and state that your expectation is that

the behavior will continue.

#7

Notice and comment on the behavior in the days ahead.

Provide positive feedback and redirection as needed.

Example: Elementary school use of the peace sign to use as a quiet sign

1. I would describe the goal of the peace sign, what it looks like, and how it should be used. When I am transitioning the students to the next activity I will hold up a peace sign (two fingers up).

2. What does it look like, feel like, and sound like when we are quiet and putting our eyes on our teacher when she is talking

3. I would then show students how it should look like and show them how I would like it done as if  I was a student in my classroom

4. Students would be asked to describe what they saw me do in my demonstration and how I was acting and looking at the students. I will also ask if my voice was off or on

5. I would then select a group of students to volunteer and show me how I would like the students to be quiet when they see a peace sign in the air

6. Students will then be asked to practice the peace sign quiet sign in the hallway or when transitioning to new activities

7. Students will be praised and receive positive reinforcement when they transition smoothly without talking or use the peace sign to quiet down the line in the hallway. Students who are not using the peace sign or being loud in the hallway will be redirected as needed

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Being direct and specific when giving your class instructions is very important. When giving direct instruction it should be kept brief and said as a statement and not a question. An example of direct language is if a student is distracted by others around them a teacher could say “sit at another table where you can pay attention to your work.”

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As a teacher, it is very important to be direct and specific with your students when giving directions. This is because kids tend to not understand what is being asked of them unless it is very clear. When doing this, there are a couple of strategies to follow. The first is to be brief. If you are giving directions that are lengthy, there is a good chance the student is not going to remember the entirety of the directions. It is also important to give the directions as a statement and not a question. For example, instead of saying "Can you please focus" we can say "We need to focus". Another example of being direct and specific include "sit at another table where you can pay attention to your work", instead of saying "move your seat".

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Open-ended questions are questions that cannot be answered with a simple “yes” or “no.” They instead require the student to elaborate on their point. Open-ended questions are beneficial because they support the natural way children learn, promote student engagement, encourage self-control, and nurture a sense of community. The natural learning cycle begins with initiating a concrete activity. Then, students explore and try out ideas and materials to solve problems. Last, students reflect on their explorations and try to make sense of them. By asking children open-ended questions, “we show trust in their ability to have good ideas, to think for themselves, [and] to contribute in valuable ways to the class.” According to Deci and Flaste (1995), by asking open-ended questions, “[w]e help (children) feel a sense of autonomy, competence and belonging—feelings that lead children to become engaged and to invest deeply in the activities of the classroom.” In a classroom that implements open-ended questions, students talk more than the teacher and make the information they are learning meaningful to themselves. They also engage in analysis, synthesis, prediction, evaluation, and creativity. Teachers can also use open-ended questions to help children realize that their learning occurred because of something they did—by asking questions such as: “What did you do to help yourself learn these new words?” One of the most important aspects of open-ended questions are their ability to nurture a sense of community. “When children are asked to express their perceptions and feelings, the entire class is exposed to diverse points of view, and allows children to practice empathy.” Children learn to appreciate individual’s strengths, they learn to make connections, and they learn to value differences. For an open-ended question to be truly effective, they should not have predictable answers and teachers should allow for wait time. Open-ended questions can be used at any point throughout or after a lesson. They can be used at the start to cue thinking. During to encourage multiple responses. And after to reflect on what was learned and how it was learned.

Example of an open-ended question: What are some ways to be good writers when we work on our short stories today?