| Every quality lesson has students transitioning from | | | | and 30 seconds to put the worksheets in your folder |
| one activity to another, or, as I like to say, from one | | | | and open your textbook to page 323 without |
| mini-lesson to another. | | | | talking...when the timer beeps stop what you are doing |
| Mini-lessons are a great way for teachers to address | | | | and listen for the next set of directions." |
| student attention span and teach their content without | | | | See the difference? |
| the students getting bored. And, if students are not | | | | If you want to take it a step further, it would be a good |
| bored, teachers will face less classroom management | | | | idea for the teacher to then write the textbook page |
| problems. | | | | on the board. |
| However, the transitions from one activity to another | | | | 3. Check-for-Understanding |
| can also be the cause of many classroom | | | | As with any set of directions teachers need to |
| management problems. If the transitions are | | | | "check" to see if their students actually know what to |
| unstructured, teachers can guarantee themselves an | | | | do. Teachers should simply call on students at random |
| increase in classroom management issues. | | | | to repeat the directions. "Johnny, what are you going |
| Therefore, the best defense is a good offense - in | | | | to? Sarah, how much time do you have?" etc. |
| other words, teachers need to make sure every | | | | 4. Model |
| transition in the classroom is structured. | | | | Depending on the complexity of the transition teachers |
| Here are some simple, but effective classroom | | | | may need to actually model the procedure. For |
| management tips for transitioning between | | | | example, if students need to move into new groups |
| mini-lessons... simply follow the steps below: | | | | then the teacher may want to demonstrate how he |
| 1. Signal | | | | expects this to happen. Remember, students' cannot |
| Teachers must have some type of signal to bring | | | | read the teacher's mind. |
| student momentum to a halt. In my experience nothing | | | | However, modeling can also be used for simple tasks |
| works better than a simple egg timer. On the very first | | | | such as putting the caps back on the markers and |
| day of school I teach my students that when that | | | | putting the markers away in their proper place in the |
| timer "beeps" that is their signal to stop what they are | | | | classroom. Again, if you want it done, you must teach |
| doing and listen for the next set of directions. | | | | it. |
| 2. Be Specific With Directions | | | | 5. "Go!" |
| The fact is students' cannot read a teacher's mind. | | | | After completing the above steps the teacher simply |
| Therefore, the more specific a teacher is with the | | | | sets the timer and says "Go!" |
| directions the better it is for everyone. | | | | Having a few different activities within a single lesson |
| Let's look at an example where a teacher is | | | | is essential to being an effective teacher. However, |
| transitioning from an activity that involved the students | | | | the transitions can also be the cause of many |
| completing a worksheet to an activity that involves | | | | classroom management problems. By following the |
| reading from the text book. There is a big difference | | | | above steps teachers can transition from activity to |
| between, "Put the worksheets away and open up | | | | activity without any classroom management problems. |
| your text book to page 323" and "You have 1 minute | | | | |