Keep the Class Flowing
A well-run class has a vitality that is obvious to the most casual observer. But how that energy is infused or maintained in the lesson is less obvious.
ACTIVE TEACHERS AND DYNAMIC LEARNERS
Teachers who remain active in students' learning activities rather than passively observing students as they practice are best able to maintain lesson momentum. Students achieve more in classes where they spend most of their time being taught or supervised by their teachers rather than working independently. Therefore, effective teachers are constantly in action: giving information, offering support, and nursing along the learning process. For a lesson to flow, a teacher must persistently infuse energy into the students' learning.
It isn't just the teachers who are active in a dynamic learning environment. Students must move if they are to learn sport and physical activity. Teachers can promote greater student participation in the learning process with a few techniques. Asking questions about the material being learned or its application to a game or activity engages the students' brains as well as their bodies. For example, asking students practicing basketball lay-ups when they might use that shot in a game gets them thinking about how the skill might actually be used. Now, you have the students who are both moving and thinking - dynamic learners.
USE A BRISK PACE ALONG THE ROAD TO SUCCESS
Pacing students briskly through activities, ensuring that they make continuous progress with high rates of success, is another hallmark of a lesson with flow. Moving students rapidly through a series of activities not only keeps the momentum of the class moving but also allows more content to be covered in less time. Students don't get bogged down in endless and mindless repetitive activities. The effective teacher also seizes the "teachable moment" and propels the class forward. A teachable moment might arise when a student asks an unexpected, but insightful, question about the activity. A good teacher will go with the question and seize the opportunity to teach additional information.
Another technique to consider for infusing the lesson with flow is to divide the activities into modified tasks, with each activity containing a subgoal of the larger goal of the lesson. Students can experience more success, and one successful activity may lead to the next, which not only builds the students' confidence but also makes the lesson a progressive series of successful learning experiences. For example, students learning soccer passing may start their practice individually by rebounding the ball off a wall with alternating feet. Next, they may find a partner and pass between them. Then, the partners may begin to move around the field as they pass. A fourth activity may have two sets of partners join together in passing two balls amongst the four. Finally, the two groups of foud might join in a game of keep-away. The activities are progressive and build toward an activity that is much like a soccer game. A further advantage of this method is that it minimizes the amount of time spent on one activity. Dwelling on one activitiy for too long makes the lesson grow stale, whereas moving from one successful experience to the next keeps the lesson fresh. People learn best when they are both nurtured and challenged. Success provides the motivation and security to reach for new heights, and new activities provide the challenge to discover more success.
VARIETY IS THE SPICE OF LIFE
In teaching, as in any human endeavor, it's easy to follow comfortable instructional routines until they wear into deep, dull ruts. Routines can be valuable time-saving devices for teachers, but too many routines or too much routine can crush the spontaneity that brings life to a lesson.
It takes a bit of imagination and some knowledge on the part of the teacher to discover new and varied ways of conducting a class. Some ideas for spicing up a lesson and keeping it flowing include relying more on nonverbal behavior, using new instructional strategies, devising novel learning/practice activities, incorporating technology or learning aids, reorganizing class formations or stations, putting up posters or playing motivating music, employing different assessment techniques, or inviting visitors to participate in class as students or guest teachers. Searching for new ways to perform old tasks has the added benefit of not only keeping flow in the lesson but possibly refreshing and rejuvenating the teacher as well.
TIMING IS EVERYTHING
Knowing when to make a change in a lesson is an important yet difficult skill that normally takes time to develop. After years of working through instructional scenarios, experienced teachers learn to anticipate situations, predict events, and generate alternatives to meet the demands of these developing situations. Inexperienced teachers have difficulty anticipating events and are often surprised and unprepared for particular situations as they occur during the lesson.
Research has, however, provided some clues to the timing of activity change and class pacing by experienced teachers. While inexperienced teachers focus on student interest in the instructional activities, experienced teachers monitor student performance more closely and attempt to maintain an appropriate level of challenge. Experienced teachers adjust the lesson based on student performance cues, whereas inexperienced teachers struggle to maintain student interest. Experienced teachers are concerned about the students' skill performance and understanding of the information being taught - which is easier to judge than someone's interests or enjoyment.
Experienced teachers are willing to make changes both quicker and more often than inexperienced teachers. Inexperienced teachers often make changes after dramatic, negative occurrences in class, but experienced teachers are able to monitor the nuances that signal a need for an alteration before a crisis occurs. And because they are better planners, experienced teachers are better prepared to make the changes once change is deemed necessary.
MAKE TRANSITIONS SMOOTH
Once a decision is made to change the activity, it now becomes important to make the change without interrupting the lesson flow. Momentum can often be lost when changing learning activities or when moving from one location to another. Therefore, transitions between lesson parts and activities should be signaled clearly and make quickly. Clear signals between lesson parts allow the students to better follow the flow of the lesson. Having been briefed in the lesson opening about the upcoming activities, students better understand what is expected of them with each transition signal and can restart quickly after changing activities or locations. Moving quickly from one activity to the next maintains the momentum, freshness, and focus of the lesson. It also reduces confusion and wait time, which leaves more time for learning.
EXPECT SUCCESS
Good teachers expect that students will master the skills and concepts being taught. These teachers realize that sometimes it may take a while before the students are able to grasp the material and show mastery. Students seem to have a remarkable ability to rise to high levels of expectations. If a teacher is giving her/his effort, it is not unreasonable to expect the same from the students.
In conveying expectations to students, teachers need to focus on individual student mastery and personal improvement rather than comparisons to others or established standards. People learn sport and physical activity skills at varying rates and levels as well as in different ways. A practice activity or piece of information that helps one person achieve a higher standard or performance will not necessarily have the same effect on everyone. Similarly, one person may see a demonstration that clearly depicts the skill to be learned, while another student standing nearby sees only a confusing commotion. But expecting each student to master the skill sets the goal of the lesson clearly as well as reveals to both the teacher and student that they need to keep working to achieve the mastery.
Classes in which students constantly strive to master a skill or concept flow from one activity to the next because the teacher and students both know what they are attempting to do, and both recognize the need to keep moving toward the goal. Classes in which students are only expected to "try" or "participate" often degenerate into meaningless robotic rituals for both the teacher and students.
In setting high standards and expecting high levels of performance improvement, it is imperative that teachers attribute success to student effort and ability. Students who see their success measured in effort and see themselves as able to achieve are willing to commit to their learning. Students who believe that they lack the ability or are led to believe they are lazy will soon fulfill the prophecy of failure. Teachers, being human, often have the tendency to treat high and low achievers differently. High achievers better reflect a teacher's efforts, and the natural tendency is to expect more from them and provide them with more tangible, meaningful rewards - such as respect and admiration. Low achievers often attract either scorn or sympathy from a teacher. Low achievers, will, therfore, be given unnecessary help, praised for success on simple tasks, or given acceptance for failure. Consequently, a teacher who holds high expectations for every student will enhance the learning experience for everyone.
When a teacher expects great things from students, it doesn't take long before the students begin to believe they are capable of such achievement, and they start expecting success and achievement as well. They believe they can learn the skill or concepts being taught. Students who believe themselves incapable of learning are not likely to learn, nor even try. In contrast, students who believe they have the ability to achieve are far more likely to put forth the effort to fulfill their self-imposed expectations.
A student's perception of competence is instrumental for getting a lesson to progress in ways that promote student learning. A student learning a free throw shot is far more motivated when a teacher, convinced the student is going to make a basket or two with enough practice in the proper technique, persists in teaching and encouraging. If the teacher persists in teaching, students will put forth greater effort, willingly approach learning activities, persist even in the face of initial failure, seek help, and take pride when success is finally gained. Success may come in the form of a single free throw or 10 free throws or a new worl record. But success will come. If a teacher wholeheartedly believes that, so will the student.
To facilitate success, teachers need to develop solid communication skills and dependable methods of conveying appropriate information. They must also be able to structure a learning environment in which students can grasp that information and turn it into useful knowledge and improved performance. Expecting success will not, however, guarantee success. But without a teacher being firmly convinced that the final outcome will be student mastery of the subject, there is little chance for mastery to occur. Expect success and you give it s far greater chance of happening.
MONITOR FOR MOVEMENT
As the lesson unfolds, a skillful teacher will monitor the lesson to ensure that progress is being made toward the instructional goal. Much of a teacher's thinking during class centers on the learners and the learning process. Monitoring the in-class activities and continually assessing the effectiveness of the activities in terms of meeting the lesson goals are vital for keeping the lesson flowing. For example, a soccer games gives the appearance of 22 active bodies scurrying around a field. On closer look, only one or two players are actually using any skill at any given time. The rest are either waiting for the ball to come to them, or they are attempting to get the ball. Effective teachers might use smaller teams or add more equipment to get more students using the skills of soccer. Attempting to engage all learners, regardless of the size of the class, in motor activity most of the time takes careful and continual analysis. Ensuring that students have ample time to practice and demonstrate the skills being learned transforms passive observers into active learners.
Experienced teachers constantly consider alternatives in a never-ending search for the best possible set of learning activities for these students, at this time, in this environment. They spend considerable in-class time monitoring the class, looking for alternatives to keep the class focused and flowing. In a recent study, it was found that more skillful teachers differed from less skilled teachers in two important areas: first, being able to provide more activities and tasks to help students improve and learn and, second, monitoring student and class activity with a clear eye on the quality of a student's performance.
AVOID MOMENTUM BLOCKERS
It takes skill to get a lesson flowing and to keep it flowing, but it also take some knowledge and skill to recognize and avoid events that will derail and arrest the flow of a lesson or practice. Avoiding disruptions, distractons, and delays is one secret of keeping students' attention and subsequently keeping the lesson flowing. One of the surest ways of interrupting or halting the flow of a lesson is to deflect attention away from student learning and onto other matters. For example, students coming in late, not having enough or the proper equipment to undertake the activities, or misbehaving students all stand to distract attention. Having to retrieve or set up equipment, review rules or schedules, change locations, or leave students waiting in long lines will also quickly kill the momentum of a lesson. In many cases, the need to interrupt a lesson is the result of poor preparation. Therefore, time needs to be invested before class to consider not only the instructional portions of the lesson but the administration of the lesson as well.
Giving consideration to factors that are known to block the lesson flow will often lead to strategies for maintaining the lesson momentum. Placing equipment in convenient locations, ensuring that it's in good working order, and working out an efficient, economical method of distribution will reduce this sometimes necessary delay. In addition, covering administrative necessities before or immediately after instructions keeps the lesson focused on learning during the most critical phases of the lesson. Reviewing class rules and expectations can also help sidestep momentum blockers. For example, let students know that you expect them not only to work hard to master the skills of the lesson but to help their peers learn as well. Learn to recognize potential misbehavior and other momentum blockers and deal with them quickly. The longer it takes for a teacher to address a potential problem, the more time the problem has to negatively affect the lesson.
Idle time is a sure way to kill the flow of a lesson. Monitor the waiting time for students, and if they appear to be distracted or bored, find ways to reduce the waiting time and increase active learning time. Planning easy, efficient routines and pathways when a change in the instructional location is called for keeps the lesson flowing. Perhaps some useful activity can take place during the transition. For example, a conversation on the topic at hand or a related game-like activity that can be initiated during transitions can keep the learning moving forward.
Excerpt from the book, Teaching Sport and Physical Activity: Insights on the Road to Excellence.
