My trainee and I have been discussing the importance of transitions in a lesson. One of his work ons has been to make them 'snappier' so students are focussed and on task quickly after explaining what to do.
Good transitions start with clarity in instructions. By clearly stating what you expect to see students doing there is no grey area and students know the expectations. Non compliance can then be followed up according to the behaviour pathway. E.g. "On the board is 5 questions, I'd like you to write down the answers with workings into your book. This is to be done by yourself, in silence. You have 5 minutes, off you go."
Next is to make use of the word 'go' to help create a sense of urgency. Go is associated with racing and so it encourages students to get on with the work straightaway.
Following this, for the first 30s of setting students off on a task, the teacher just stands and observes. The first 30s is where students will fall into bad habits, turning around, talking etc. This is an opportunity to observe and correct all of this and ensure students are working on the task you have set them. After this point of course wander around the room as you would do normally.
📚 Read:
Sarah Cottinghams thread about how we learn. She explain 4 key concepts and how they affect learning. Read it here
📚 Read:
Adam Boxers post with linked to how his own department runs. I liked them idea of having rules written down to support teachers in what a typical lesson should look like. Similar idea to businesses having standard operating procedures. Read his post here.
🔊 Listen:
Modern Wisdom podcast with Michael Easter. Embrace discomfort, it is where growth occurs. We need more boredom in our lives. Boredom is a type of discomfort and can illicit creative thinking. Listen here.