I Do It, You Do It, We Do It

Matt Swift

Deciding the best way to teach is a difficult task for any teacher. Should teachers talk to the class the whole time? Should the students work in groups? These are some of the questions an educator wrestles with when deciding the best approach. Despite this dilemma, implementing a structured teaching style is extremely important if teachers want their students to learn the material and become better educated.

Educator Doug Fisher discussed structure at ASCD’s Fall Conference during his session, "Better Learning Through Structured Teaching." Fisher said that teachers and students both have a responsibility when it comes to learning. There cannot be too much teacher responsibility, and students need to learn to interact and collaborate with each other and learn independently. Fisher described four important aspects of creating a perfect structure for learning:

Teacher

• Focus lesson ("I do it.")
• Guided learning ("We do it.")

Student

• Collaborative learning ("You do it together.")
• Independent learning ("You do it alone.")

A proper balance must be struck between all four if a student is going to achieve at a high level. A teacher can’t drone on the whole time and expect students to stay engaged (focus learning), and students can’t be expected to sit down and complete an assignment on their own (independent learning) without help from the teacher (guided learning) and without interacting with classmates (collaborative learning). Fisher went so far as to say that teachers who only have independent learning in the classroom do not deserve to have a teacher’s salary and that anybody can do that job because they are failing in their duty to educate.

Fisher suggests 15 minutes for the focus lesson; if you go on much longer, you risk losing the students. Since human beings are social by nature and learn through interaction, students should work together on assignments. After learning through working with the teacher and other students, kids are more inclined and better prepared to work independently.

Beginning with the focus lesson, the teacher explains what they are learning; moving on to guided instruction, the teacher can help implement the lesson with the students; then working together, the teacher has the students collaborate; and finally, after fully learning the lesson, the teacher allows them to work on their own. This proper structure works in the classroom. The time spent on each one should be divided up evenly.

Fisher suggests that having an evenly divided structure in the classroom will create a perfect learning environment and provide students multiple avenues for learning. If educators can plan a classroom structure like this, then they may have one less worry on their mind when they walk into the room to teach.

Join the conversation already in progress on Inservice, ASCD's blog.