Use a Front Loaded Means of Participation to reduce choppy time
Welcome to the Tips for Teachers Newsletter. Each Monday an email will arrive in your inbox with a tip that you might like to try out during the coming week.
This week I wanted to share a lovely tip from Adam Boxer that has revolutionised how I give instructions to students.
What’s the problem?
Consider the following set of instructions:
Straightforward enough. What could possibly go wrong?
Well, quite a lot.
As soon as we ask that first question (What is the formula to calculate speed?), students could engage in a whole manner of behaviours:
- Some may start thinking of the answer in their heads
- Some may start writing it in their books
- Some may put their hands up to tell you the answer
- Some may shout the answer out
- Some may start telling the answer to their partner
- Some may turn around to tell the person behind them
Before you know it – and crucially, before you have had an opportunity to give that second part of the instruction (Write it on your mini-whiteboards), we have what Adam Boxer calls choppy time. There is a general hubbub in the class that can be hard to rein in, and precious minutes and energy are wasted in an attempt to do so.
The problem with this pair of instructions is that the means of participation (write it on your mini-whiteboards) comes at the end, at a point when students have already selected their own means of participation.
What’s the solution?
Consider this set of instructions as an alternative:
Let’s take a moment to consider why this set of instructions is likely to lead to much less choppy time.
We are going to do this next bit in silence
The means of participation is placed right at the front. Students know whatever comes next is to be done in silence. Crucially, they do not yet know what comes next, so have nothing to distract them from this instruction.
Wait
If anyone is not silent, then they have clearly not listened to the first instruction
Get your mini-whiteboards
Here we have the second component of the means of participation. Once again, notice how this comes before students have been told what they need to write on the mini-whiteboards. This allows the class to settle before the all-important final instruction is given.
It is worth noting that students will need to know how to use mini-whiteboards to prevent choppy time emerging at this stage.
- Where are they kept?
- Who gets the mini-whiteboards?
- What do I do if my pen is working?
- Do I work with my partner or alone?
- How big do I write?
- What do I do when I have my answer?
- etc
I would recommend checking out a video by Adam Boxer all about his mini-whiteboard routines, as well as something I learned from Dan Quinn.
Wait
An opportunity to check everything is all present and correct with the mini-whiteboards
Remember, silence for this
A final reminder of the means of participation
Wait
A final check to make sure the class are settled and focussed
On your mini-whiteboards, write down the formula to calculate speed
Finally, now the way we wish them to participate has been made explicitly clear, we can tell our students what we want them to think about.
This set of instructions may not seem wildly different to the first, but my experience in the weeks since Adam described it to me has convinced me of its merits. It saves time and leads to a much calmer, more focussed classroom. So now, whenever I give a set of instructions, I ensure that the means of participation are placed right at the front and articulated clearly and concisely.
Over to you
- Is there a lesson this week where you could try this tip?
- What would you need to change to make the tip work for you and your students?
You can watch the original video where Adam shares this tip
Thanks so much for reading and have a great week.
Craig
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