Teacher Tuesdays: A Time for Learning

Today's blog is written by Angela Houk, Dean of Shepherds College

Shepherds College staff and students take the online Clifton StrengthsFinder™ Theme assessment to discover their top five talent themes.   According to the assessment, one of my strengths is – Learner.  One aspect of this strength is a desire to learn and continuously improve.  For me, the learning process brings great enjoyment. 

 

Some tasks that fill my weekly schedule include teaching a Bible class, developing curriculum, facilitating meetings, evaluating programming, and training staff.  However, last week, Nash Consulting provided training for the faculty and I had the opportunity to be a learner - a time where I could soak up new ideas and plan how to implement these into classes and trainings.  

Scott Nash, owner of Nash Consulting and an educational and technology trainer at events across the nation, and Jenny Nash, Assistant Director of Clinical Experiences & the Coordinator of Professional Development School for Marshall University's College of Education, demonstrated instructional strategies to engage students and enhance the learning process.  Let me share with you some things we learned:

           Activating Strategies are the “hook ‘n link” component at the start of a lesson.  Activating strategies motivate student learning, emphasize lesson objectives, and link to prior knowledge.  Three activating strategies we practiced were Bio Poem, Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, and 3-2-1.      

o   Bio Poem Format

Line 1 – First Name

Line 2 – Three adjectives that describe the person

Line 3 – I teach…

Line 4 – In my class, students…

Line 5 – I mostly teach by…

Line 6 – I feel….

Line 7 – Last Name

This a great tool to use to get to know your students and for them to get to know each

Other.  Each line can be adjusted to fit the situation.   

o   Picture is Worth a Thousand Words – Select a photograph of a current event and have students write what they think about when they look at the picture. 

o   3-2-1 – Participants list 3 praises, 2 hopes, and 1 question. This activity can be done with various topics applied to the 3-2-1 model.    

 

·         Cognitive Strategies provide a structure for learning that actively promotes comprehension and retention.  Three cognitive strategies we learned were:   4 Corners, Frayer Model, R.A.F.T., and Wall Graffiti.  

o   4 Corners – This activity stimulates student learning through movement and discussion.  Instructor presents controversial scenarios in each of the four corners of the classroom and the student expresses their opinion by standing in front of one of the statements.  Students share their opinions with others in the corner. 

o   Frayer Model – This vocabulary development tool is used to develop understanding of complex concepts by having students identify what something is and what something is not. 

 

o   R.A.F.T. – Is an acronym that stands for Role, Audience, Form, and Topic.  This activity engages student learning through analysis and synthesis of information.  Students take the role of someone or something related to the topic of study and generates a product for a designated audience.  The creative thinking involved in this activity involves the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Learning.  

o   Wall Graffiti – This strategy enhances students’ thinking skills and promotes writing skills while stimulating discussion and class participation.  Hang chart paper on the wall, divide students into groups, and give different colored markers to each student.  Students have 3-5 minutes to respond to a question or define a word or idea.  Students may use words, phrases, statements, or pictures that they write or draw as graffiti on the paper.  Students share their graffiti art with the class. 

Two other strategies staff found useful include: 

 

·         Wad & Toss – Provide paper to students and allow them 3-5 minutes to write questions, answers to questions, prayer requests, etc. on paper.  When they are done, they crumple and toss the paper at a target.  Instructor opens and reads. 

·         Parking Lot – Designate a parking lot space (white board, door, poster paper), provide post-it notes and pens, and allow students to write questions, ideas, comments on Post-It notes and place it in the parking lot.  At the end of class or other designated time stop to answer questions or respond to comments. 

Shepherds College instructors are enthusiastic and hard-working.  Many instructors attended the training in the morning and implemented ideas from the training in their afternoon classes.  It is a privilege to work with a faculty team dedicated to learning and enhancing student learning.   

Below are some ways instructors used ideas from the Nash Consulting training:  

·         John Andrus, Computer Skills Instructor, used the Frayer Model to define the internal components of a computer. 

·         Erin Luchterhand, Personal Finance and Money Skills Instructor, used 4 Corners, Graffiti Wall, and the Frayer Model in her classes. 

·         Karli Luchterhand, Study Skills Instructor, used the Frayer Model to define new vocabulary. 

·         Andrew Kolkman, Residential Life Manager, used Wall Graffiti to allow students to create their own Bible Study.  

·         Sarah Kolkman, Personal Development 1 and Personal Bible Study Instructor, tried Graffiti Wall while reviewing the book of Philippians.  

·         Lori Konopasek, Lead Academic Advisor, plans to implement Graffiti Wall and 4 Corners in Personal Development 2 while teaching strengths.  

·         Kimberly Pechous, Daily Living Skills Instructor, used the Parking Lot during the residential life meeting in the dorms.  Instead of interrupting discussion, students wrote questions or concerns on post-it notes and parked these in the parking lot and were answered at the end.  

·         Laura Pollard, Trained for Life Instructor, implemented the Frayer Model to teach community living definitions related to the post office and pharmacy.  

In Life of Christ, I created 4 Corners Prayer where I wrote various prayer requests on paper and posted one in each of the corners of the room.  Students went to the corner of their choice and prayed with peers. 

 

Activating and cognitive strategies create a learning-centered classroom which is the goal of R.E.A.L. instruction (Relational, Experiential, Applicable, and Learner-based), the teaching method used at Shepherds College. 

An ancient Chinese Proverb says – “Tell me, I forget.  Show me, I remember, Involve me, I understand.”  Thank you Scott and Jenny Nash for your time, ideas, creativity, and energy as you involved us in the learning process so we can do the same with our students.  A time for learning… allowed faculty time to learn, share, and implement new strategies into the classroom. 

 

Shepherds College - Guiding Your Transition to Appropriate Independence. Please visit us at www.shepherdscollege.edu.