How does the teacher work with the students' information processing systems to promote learning? For example, how does the teacher focus students' attention, help them rehearse new information, and encourage them to encode and transfer information? Evaluate the teacher's use of wait time as part of this process. Cite specific examples and be sure to underline the concept's vocabulary in your response. (Use your study guide as you go!)
One way I've noticed that my cooperating teacher helps encode and transfer information to long-term memory is through repetition, but not in the traditional boring way. She uses a variety of methods through which the repetition seems to build on basic knowledge. For example, after a brief lecture, instruction, or review of reading material, she'll have the students make a list of terminology, names, or ideas that they can think of from what they just learned. She does this in different ways (games, list making, group work, etc). Then they try to explain to their neighbors what those items/people are, what they mean, how they apply, etc. She often turns it into a game to see who can get the most terms, but they have to be able to justify and/or explain their relevance. This forces the students to make connections between what they learned, what they know, why they think these are important, etc. Sharing the info with fellow students allows them to use the encoding strategies of summarizing, elaborative rehearsal, and organizing. One time I watched a game of "Scategories" where the students made an A-Z list and tried to come up with a chapter term/concept for each letter. They had to get creative to get some of the letters but then had to justify their terms. For the colonial unit, one student came up with "Medical Malpractice" for the letter m, and he connected it to the part of the reading that talked about medical exploration that included using leeches, exploratory surgeries, and other questionable practices. This also used some creativity. This is a game that the teacher uses periodically and the students really love it. They can rely on each other for justification and to help explain. They "judge" each other's explanations, and they really get into it. She also adds other activities like having the students draw images or diagrams or illustrations to depict what they're learning, has them summarize readings, and create projects. A lof of it is repetitive, covering topics that they've already discussed, but I think it helps solidify and connect all the information.
As far as wait times, she sometimes jumps in quickly and could probably wait a little longer. It might encourage some deeper thinking and maybe even put a little pressure on those who seem to be skipping out on the readings or homework (she doesn't assign too much homework, but she gets frustrated when she can tell a lot of them haven't done it). But, she does sometimes wait long enough, and I think that is when she is certain they know the answer so she's willing to give them time.
She uses chunking. She doesn't always teach the information by chunking, but a lot of her reviews chunk the material. The example that sticks out to me is her unit on the Revolutionary War. She taught the material chronologically, but when she reviewed for the test she spent a good "chunk" going over the different acts. They didn't all happen at the same time, but she reviewed the material by chunking them. She emphasized that they took place over decades, but I think it was another beneficial way to present the information in a way that might work for other students that don't always do as well with chronological informatin.
One way I've noticed that my cooperating teacher helps encode and transfer information to long-term memory is through repetition, but not in the traditional boring way. She uses a variety of methods through which the repetition seems to build on basic knowledge. For example, after a brief lecture, instruction, or review of reading material, she'll have the students make a list of terminology, names, or ideas that they can think of from what they just learned. She does this in different ways (games, list making, group work, etc). Then they try to explain to their neighbors what those items/people are, what they mean, how they apply, etc. She often turns it into a game to see who can get the most terms, but they have to be able to justify and/or explain their relevance. This forces the students to make connections between what they learned, what they know, why they think these are important, etc. Sharing the info with fellow students allows them to use the encoding strategies of summarizing, elaborative rehearsal, and organizing. One time I watched a game of "Scategories" where the students made an A-Z list and tried to come up with a chapter term/concept for each letter. They had to get creative to get some of the letters but then had to justify their terms. For the colonial unit, one student came up with "Medical Malpractice" for the letter m, and he connected it to the part of the reading that talked about medical exploration that included using leeches, exploratory surgeries, and other questionable practices. This also used some creativity. This is a game that the teacher uses periodically and the students really love it. They can rely on each other for justification and to help explain. They "judge" each other's explanations, and they really get into it. She also adds other activities like having the students draw images or diagrams or illustrations to depict what they're learning, has them summarize readings, and create projects. A lof of it is repetitive, covering topics that they've already discussed, but I think it helps solidify and connect all the information.
As far as wait times, she sometimes jumps in quickly and could probably wait a little longer. It might encourage some deeper thinking and maybe even put a little pressure on those who seem to be skipping out on the readings or homework (she doesn't assign too much homework, but she gets frustrated when she can tell a lot of them haven't done it). But, she does sometimes wait long enough, and I think that is when she is certain they know the answer so she's willing to give them time.
She uses chunking. She doesn't always teach the information by chunking, but a lot of her reviews chunk the material. The example that sticks out to me is her unit on the Revolutionary War. She taught the material chronologically, but when she reviewed for the test she spent a good "chunk" going over the different acts. They didn't all happen at the same time, but she reviewed the material by chunking them. She emphasized that they took place over decades, but I think it was another beneficial way to present the information in a way that might work for other students that don't always do as well with chronological informatin.
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