Engine Target Audience

Two fourth grade classes are learning about the California Gold Rush and the migration that ensued. In one class, the teacher has difficulty maintaining students’ interest, and there is much chatter and note passing. In the other class, students are out of their seats, actively engaged, and retaining information (as witnessed on test scores). Both teachers have the same material and are following the same standards. Then why is there such a difference? In the first class, the teacher uses their expertise to attempt to convey material to students. She has not thoroughly planned her lesson, because she knows this material well. As a result, she often uses vague terms and students have difficulty relating concepts. In the other class, however, the teacher has spent much time creating a lesson where students role-play various characters in history. They are thinking about who, what, where, when and why these events happened. As a result, they are engaged and taking part of their learning. The teacher is clear, and there are few to no management issues.
The idea of clear objectives refers to the creation of success-based activities that are focused on objectives and provide the teacher with clear guidelines. One basic rule of thumb for this is ABCD objectives. A-audience, B-behavior, C-condition, D-degree. In other words, target lesson objectives to a specific people, doing a specific thing, under certain circumstances a number of times correctly. Similarly, teacher clarity is an essential skill. Avoid vague terms such as “approximations like ‘almost,’ ambiguous designations like ‘somehow,’ bluffing like ‘everyone knows,’ indeterminate quantification such as ‘a lot or a few,’ and probability like ‘generally and often’” . Also avoid “rabbit trails” or mazes. They lead to misbehavior from confusion. Withitness and overlapping refer to the teacher’s ability to multitask, keeping students working and interpreting their body language. Lesson momentum keeps the lesson on target by preventing fragmented instruction (using too many steps) and over-dwelling on concepts. Lesson smoothness maintains a steady rhythm in teaching the lesson, as well as speeding up or slowing down as needed based on students’ body language. This includes connected discourse, or the linking of parts in the lesson through clear objectives, and creative repetition, which is the review of points in a creative and new way. Finally, group focus keeps students on task by providing variety, keeping students accountable and having them involved. (Savage, 1999).

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