1. Teaching Functions

2. Effective Systematic Teaching
Begin a lesson with a short review of previous, prerequisite learning
Begin a lesson with a short statement of goals
Present new material in small steps, with student practice after each step
Give clear and detailed instructions and explanations
Provide a high level of active practice for all students

3. And...
Ask a large number of questions, check for student understanding, and obtain responses from all students
Guide students during initial practice
Provide systematic feedback and corrections
Provide explicit instruction and practice for seatwork exercises, and where necessary, monitor students during seatwork

4. The major components in systematic teaching include teaching in small steps with student practice after each step, guiding students during initial practice, and providing all students with a high level of successful practice
Of course, all teachers use some of these behaviors some of the time, but the most effective teachers use most of them all the time

5. Information Processing and Instruction
When teachers present new information, they should be concerned with not presenting too much information at one time
When teaching new or difficult material, a teacher should proceed in small steps, and provide practice on one step before adding another

6. The teacher should also:
Provide for elaboration and enhancement in order to help the learner move the material from working memory into long term memory
Provide for additional practice and overlearning of basic material and skills so that the learners are fluent and automatic in using them

7. A General Model of Effective Instruction
1. Review, check previous day’s work (and reteach if necessary)
2. Present new content/skills
3. Guided student practice (and check for understanding)
4. Feedback and correctives (and reteach, if necessary)
5. Independent student practice
6. Weekly and monthly reviews

8. Daily Reviews
Ask questions about concepts or skills taught in the previous lesson
Give a short quiz at the beginning of class on material from previous lesson or homework assignment
Have students correct each other’s homework papers or quizzes
Have students meet in small groups to review homework

9. And...
Have students prepare questions about previous lessons or homework and ask them to each other or have the teacher ask them to the class
Have students prepare a written summary of the previous lesson
Have students ask the teacher about problems on homework and the teacher reviews, reteaches, or provides additional practice

10. Aspects of Clear Presentations
1. Clarity of goals and main points
State the goals or objectives of the presentations
Focus on one thought at a time
Avoid digressions
Avoid ambiguous phrases and pronouns
2. Step-by-step presentations
Present the material in small steps
Organize and present the material so that one point is mastered before the next point is given
Give explicit, step-by-step directions
Present an outline when the material is complex

11. 3. Specific and concrete procedures
Model the skill or process
Give detailed and redundant explanations for difficult points
Provide students will concrete and varied examples
4. Checking for students’ understanding
Be sure that students understand one point before proceeding to the next point
Ask the students questions to monitor their comprehension of what has been presented
Have students summarize the main points in their own words
Research the parts of the presentations that the students have difficulty comprehending, either by further teacher explanation or by students tutoring other students

12. Guided Student Practice
Guide initial practice
Correct errors
Reteach, if necessary
Provide sufficient practice so that students can work independently

13. Checking for Understanding
Prepare a large number of oral questions
Ask many brief questions on main points, supplementary points, and on the process being taught
Call on non-volunteers as well as volunteers
Asks students to summarize the rule or process in their own words
Have all students write the answers while the teacher circulates

14. Feedback and Correctives
When a student response is correct, quick, and firm, then the teacher should simply ask a new question, thereby maintaining the momentum of the practice
If students are correct but unsure of themselves, it is suggested that teachers provide shorts statements of feedback such as “correct,” then provide moderate amounts of process feedback, that is, re-explain the steps used to arrive at the correct answer

15. When a student makes a careless error during review, drill, or reading, teachers should simply correct the student and move on
If student responses are incorrect due to lack of knowledge, the teacher can (a) provide the students with prompts or hints to lead them to the correct answer; or (b) reteach the material to the students who do not understand

16. Effective Management of Independent Practice
The teacher spends more time in demonstration and guided practice
The teacher makes sure students are ready to work alone, by achieving a correct response rate of 80% or higher during guided practice
The seatwork activity follows directly after guided practice

17. And...
The seatwork exercises are directly relevant to the demonstration and guided practice activities
The teacher guides the students through the first few seatwork problems

18. Improving Student Engagement during Seatwork...
Give clear instruction- explanation, questions, and feedback
Circulate during seatwork
Have short contacts with individual students
For difficult material, have a number of segments of instruction and seatwork during a single period
Arrange seats to facilitate monitoring students

19. And...
Establish a routine to use during seatwork activity which prescribes what students will do, how they will get help and what they will do when they have completed the exercises