Should you give instruction before a Do Now? Why?

The strategy is designed to help with creating a strong classroom culture; it provides a possible way to begin every day. The Do Now strategy is simple: begin every day with a simple activity, located in the same place, with the same expectations. It provides a consistent, effective way to begin class that is clear to students and eliminates excuses that lead to distractions. By beginning class the same way every day, it sets precedence of what is expected at the beginning of class, which sets up the day for success. Because the activity is posted on the board when class begins, it allows for students to begin working hard before the teacher enters the room. It eliminates the need for a discussion about what is expected of the students for the day by using every moment for productivity.

How will the Do Now help you protect your instructional time?

The strategy of circulating should work based on research that when teachers are engaged in the students learning, they are showing support which is a key factor in motivation. By going around the classroom and engaging with students you provide support to those who may be timid to ask if front of the class. When you provide support to these students you are increasing their motivation. If students are motivated they are more likely to achieve.

How do you ensure your movement feels purposeful rather than random and reactive?

Definition

 The Hook is a strategy to get the students engaged in a lesson by introducing what’s interesting about the lesson in a brief, up-front manner. The hook should prepare students to learn the new material by giving them a reason to pay attention to the material and get the students interested. It isn’t necessary to employ “The Hook” for every lesson, but this strategy is useful because there are many categories that hooks can fall into which makes this strategy flexible enough to use for many different lessons. Some examples of hooks are: a story, an analogy, a prop, media, or a challenge.

Why it Works

The Hook strategy should be an effective strategy in the classroom because it establishes connections with existing knowledge and can be used to add distinctiveness to certain material that will aid students in memory retrieval.

A hook technique can also be used to introduce new material and cause disequilibrium, which is where students are at first unable to address new material with schemes that they have already established. Then the students work to accommodate the new information (make new schemes or modifying how they think about existing ones). Piagetian theory establishes that learning happens in disequilibrium, so this use of the hook should be effective according to Piaget.  Furthermore, the hook technique prepares students to be introduced to new material which is an effective use of scaffolding, or building up students’ abilities by making small steps in the right direction (much like the scaffolding on a construction site aids workers in getting to the end goal). Finally, teachers can use a hook to differentiate material according to student’s interests.