T H E N E W A G E O F T E A C H I N G B E L L - T O - B E L L

B Y B E R N A R D P I E R O R A Z I O

U N L I K E T H E A N T I Q U AT E D S T Y L E O F T E A C H I N G W H E R E I N T H E PA S T A T E A C H E R C A N S TA N D I N F R O N T O F A C L A S S R O O M A N D L E C T U R E F O R A N E N T I R E H O U R , T H E N E W S U P P O R T I V E I N S T R U C T I O N A L D E L I V E R Y H A S TA K E N A M O R E I N T E R A C T I V E S TA N C E O F W H AT I S R E Q U I R E D B Y B O T H T H E T E A C H E R A N D T H E I R S T U D E N T S .

A lot of this is shaped by the new Common Core State Standards that require teachers to rethink and reflect the way in which they support their student each and every day.

W H E N C R E AT I N G Y O U R L E S S O N P L A N , Y O U N E E D T O T H I N K O F T H E O V E R A L L B I G G E R P I C T U R E . S I M P LY P U T I T, P L A N O U T Y O U R G O A L S .

T O D O T H I S , Y O U N E E D T O L O O K AT T H E E N T I R E C U R R I C U L U M A N D W H AT Y O U WA N T T O A C C O M P L I S H AT T H E E N D O F E A C H A C A D E M I C Q U A R T E R .

T H I S I S W H AT W E C A L L , B A C K WA R D S P L A N N I N G .

B A C K WA R D S P L A N N I N G , A L S O R E F E R R E D T O A S B A C K WA R D S M A P P I N G , I S T H E P R O C E S S T H AT A N E D U C AT O R U S E S T O D E S I G N I N S T R U C T I O N A L T E C H N I Q U E S A N D L E S S O N P L A N S I N O R D E R T O A C H I E V E A S P E C I F I C L E A R N I N G G O A L .

B Y C O N C E P T U A L I Z I N G A N D F R A M I N G Y O U R D AY- T O - D AY L E S S O N S A S T H E S E N E C E S S A R Y B U I L D I N G B L O C K S , Y O U W I L L B E A B L E T O T R U LY T R A N S F O R M T H E I M PA C T Y O U C A N H AV E O N Y O U R S T U D E N T S I N J U S T A F E W M O N T H S .

I N A D D I T I O N , B A C K WA R D S P L A N N I N G A L L O W S Y O U T O F O R E S E E A N Y F U T U R E P R O B L E M S S U C H A S D I F F I C U LT L E S S O N S O R C H A L L E N G I N G C O N C E P T S T H AT W I L L B E N E C E S S A R Y F O R T H E G R O W T H O F Y O U R S T U D E N T S .

Once you develop your goals (quarterly, weekly, and daily), you will be able to begin planning your day-to-day instructions. With the new instructional initiatives, you will see your day broken down into five parts:

1. Bell Ringer: review or preview

2. I-DO: teacher led instructions

3. We Do: group work and class work

4. You Do: Independent work

5. D.I.: differentiated instructional groups

B E L L R I N G E R : R E V I E W O R P R E V I E W

To begin the day, start by giving your students a quick assignment that can be easily accomplished within a five to seven minute span.

While essentially you can provide any type of assignment, you want to make sure you pick a task that is beneficial and strategic to your lesson and your objectives.

You can do this by either optimizing a review assignment or previewing a task for your current lesson.

I - D O – T E A C H E R L E D D I S C U S S I O N

F O R T H I S P O R T I O N , Y O U W I L L B E D O I N G M O S T O F T H E TA L K I N G . A S Y O U L E C T U R E , M A K E S U R E Y O U P R O V I D E E A S I LY U N D E R S T O O D I N F O R M AT I O N A N D E X A M P L E S S O T H AT Y O U R S T U D E N T S C A N C O M P R E H E N D A N D R E P L I C AT E F O R T H E L AT E R S E C T I O N S .

T O E N H A N C E E N G A G E M E N T, T R Y A N D U T I L I Z E V I S U A L TA C T I C S T H R O U G H O U T Y O U R P R E S E N TAT I O N S U C H A S T E A C H E R M O D E L I N G , G E S T U R E S , A N D T E A C H E R E X A M P L E S .

I N A D D I T I O N , P R O V I D E Y O U R S T U D E N T S W I T H T H E N E C E S S A R Y N O T E S T H AT T H E Y W I L L U T I L I Z E L AT E R O N I N T H E D AY O R C O U R S E .

W E - D O – G R O U P W O R K

• With the ‘We Do’ portion, group your students in either pairs or table groups so that they can collaborate and discuss with one another.

• This is the portion where students are able to interact and learn from one another.

• One helpful hint is to keep your ‘teacher-led’ example up on the board so that they can reference your example if they are having any troubles.

• While the students are working together, move around the classroom. Sit in on some groups and discuss a variety of ideas and how they came about with that answer.

• Afterwards, bring the class together and give them the opportunity to share their group answers with the rest of the class.

Y O U - D O – I N D E P E N D E N T W O R K

O N C E Y O U H AV E F I N I S H E D T H E ‘ W E - D O ’ P O R T I O N O F T H E C L A S S , H AV E T H E S T U D E N T S AT T E M P T T H E A S S I G N M E N T Q U I E T LY A N D I N D E P E N D E N T LY.

P R O V I D E T H E M W I T H A N E W P R O B L E M O R T O P I C .

W H I L E T H E Y A R E W O R K I N G B Y T H E M S E LV E S , C O N T I N U E T O WA L K A R O U N D T H E R O O M A N D W O R K W I T H S T U D E N T S Y O U S AW S T R U G G L I N G T H R O U G H O U T T H E L E S S O N .

T H I S W I L L G I V E Y O U A N O P P O R T U N I T Y T O P R O V I D E T H E M W I T H T H AT N E C E S S A R Y O N E - O N - O N E T I M E T O T R U LY L E A R N T H E M AT E R I A L .

D I F F E R E N T I AT E D I N S T R U C T I O N S G R O U P• This is often the section where many

teachers overlook.

• As much as they can cut this out of their lessons, you need to understand the importance and benefit that this can have on your students.

• A differentiated instruction begins with students moving into their specific groups, usually based on their statewide scores.

• By meeting with these groups, you will be able to work with the students who most need the help.

• Remember, the students entering your classroom are not all on the same level. To make that a reality, you need to provide the extra time, dedication, and support to get them to where they need to be.