Working together students see the light

Each summer, the Smoky Mountain Synchronous Fireflies create a spectacle of light, so much so that people come from miles around to view the show in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. While other fireflies in other parts of the world sparkle individually, for some reason Smoky Mountain Synchronous Fireflies are in sync with each other. This creates flashes of light as the fireflies work in unison. Oohs and Ahs follow, of course.

How does this apply to the classroom? Well, think about what can happen if all of the students experience a “flash of light” together as they move through the lessons. Rather than blinking separately, one at a time, they work together for that brilliant flash of light to shine. For the classroom student, of course, the brilliant flash is the idea being taught.

How can this happen? Consider how the instructor can set up the classroom experience so that the students are pulling together. Before moving along any further, I am indebted to Doug Lemov, author of Teach Like A Champion, for his many basic approaches worth applying to the classroom.

One of Lemov’s ideas is to tell students the teacher has a 100 percent rule. That is, everyone in the class is included in the learning process, 100 percent. Everyone is expected to learn, 100 percent, and we learn together, 100 percent. Thus, in any classroom everyone is expected to participate, no exceptions. We are all in this together. If someone fails to learn, then we as a class have not succeeded in our goal.

With my 100 percent rule expectation established, I then move on to two important elements in making the rule a reality. First, if teaching an online class, I establish an agenda for the unit. If am in the classroom, an agenda is written on the board. Second, I also prepare my worksheets and have them ready when students enter the classroom. They are on a desk at the front of the room, and students are expected to pick them up the moment they arrive. I do not hand the worksheets to the students. This is a little more difficult with the online student. I can easily supply the worksheets. Working with the Softchalk design tool, I place the worksheets in the sidebars, but it is more difficult to know for sure that the students are reviewing them.

Since I put the 100 percent rule in place, I also have found that I had to be better organized. For the classroom student, this means that I arrive ten minutes ahead of the class starting time to not only write my agenda on the board but also place the day’s worksheet on a table in the front of the room.

What then happens is wonderful. Students also arrive early for the class and complete the worksheets early, as I had directed. Thus, when class was actually to start, students were ready. I also see fewer students straggle into the room late. I now am able to start the class right on the dot. In fact, I tell students that I will start on time and they are not to be late. If they are late, I ask them why, privately, and remind them of the 100 percent rule.

Interestingly, should an instructor ahead of me go long, and it happens, my students become annoyed, because they want my worksheets in their hands. Quite often the moment the previous class ends I see my students hustle into the room and grab for their worksheets. This is one reason the earliest morning classes recently became more successful as I did not have to wait upon another instructor to relinquish the room. Even more the reason, though, is that students know what I expect, and they know I am serious about applying the 100 percent rule. They know they will be called upon in the classroom, and they know that they are expected to contribute.

The worksheets include concepts to be reviewed as well as new ones to be discussed. When discussions are on the agenda, the questions I want answered are included on the worksheets. This means students who come early then have more time to reflect upon their answers. With that said, students who had before been quiet, now have time to think through the questions and are able to contribute when called upon to do so. And call upon them I do. If nothing else, I can ask the student to read what he or she had written to answer the worksheet question. By the way, I walk the room to be sure students answer the worksheet questions, and I also collect the worksheets at the end of the hour.

To set up the discussions, I also provide weekly progress reports to the students, which, by the way, are also easy to do for an online classroom. The successes and challenges are noted. I always give students the major concerns of the moment to address, both individually and as a group. For the online students, I also provide tips on how to address discussion questions within the lecture. These tips direct them to areas of the course where the ideas to be discussed previously have been presented.

Thus, all the students are “blinking” together and in this way they learn, review, discuss, apply concepts, and solve problems. I believe focusing upon one or two ideas at a time helps us all to see the brilliant flashes of light – together.