Stop Teaching! Let Kids Teach Themselves – Third in the “Two-Word” Series

By Bill PagecloseAuthor: Bill Page Name: Bill Page
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About: About Bill Page ... Bill Page, a farm boy, graduated from a one-room school. He forged a career in the classroom teaching middle school “troublemakers.” For the past 26 years, in addition to his classroom duties, he has taught teachers across the nation to teach the lowest achieving students successfully with his proven premise, “Failure is the choice and fault of schools, not the students.” http://www.amazon.com/Risk-Students-Understanding-Accepting-Defensive/dp/0977386309 Bill Page is a classroom teacher. For 46 years, he has patrolled the halls, responded to the bells, and struggled with innovations. He has had his share of lunchroom duty, bus duty, and playground duty. For the past four years, Bill, who is now in his 50th year as a teacher, is also a full time writer. His book, At-Risk Students on Amazon.com and on Bill’s web site: http://www.billpageteacher.com In At-Risk Students, Page discusses problems facing failing students, “who can’t, don’t and won’t learn or cooperate.” “The solution,” he states, “is for teachers to recognize and accept student misbehavior as defense mechanisms used to hide embarrassment and incompetence, and to deal with causes rather than symptoms. By entering into a democratic, participatory relationship, where students assume responsibility for their own learning.” Through 30 vignettes, the book helps teachers see failing students through his eyes as a fellow teacher, whose classroom success with at-risk students made him a premier teacher-speaker in school districts across America.See Authors Posts (76)

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Third article of the “Two-Word” series of teaching strategies by Bill Page

Hello Bill, I implemented your January and February “two-word” teaching techniques. I am using both ideas, daily. I hope you have another one; I use ‘em and my kids love ‘em. HLR

Dear HL: I do, indeed, have another“two-worder”.  It’s a simple classroom strategy; the best I’ve ever used for both my kids and me.  And, it keeps improving with use. Try it. You’ll like it.

If I were required to follow traditional bureaucratic procedures and permitted only one teaching strategy outside the constrained routine, I would implement the following two-word technique.

Quit Teaching, Kids Can Teach Themselves!

billpage@bellsouth.net

A well-known aphorism teachers understand and love is: “The best way to learn something is to teach it.  We all know that’s true for ourselves, but it is also true of our students.  I believe “teaching it” to be the best teaching gimmick I know. And, indubitably, there is one practical way of “teaching it” in every classroom every day.  It is the singular best teaching for students to use—a technique that has-it-all and does-it-all.

If the powers-that-be knew how simple, effective, and efficacious the technique is, they would make it mandatory. A technique this powerful couldn’t be new to you.  You know it, but do you use it?  When I tell you the two-word strategy, all you have to do is recall your own education and think of times you have used it. Then get ready to revive it and begin using it, now. Ready?

The “Pair-Share” Strategy

Known by names such as, Study Buddy, Pairing, and Learning Partners, the Pair-Share technique is absolutely, positively miraculous—students paired and encouraged to talk right in the middle of their lessons. Instead of the teacher talking,everyone, even the bottom kids, can talk using the pair-share strategy all at once with equal interest, satisfaction, and success.

Instead of one teacher talking while 26 students listening passively,maybe, there can be 13 teaching and13 actively listening and then taking turns in roles as teachers-learners.Any students taking inappropriate advantage of the idea can be “paired with the teacher” until they can be shown the value of the process.I sometimes have two or three as my partners.

It Works for Everyone in Class

Sharing on a one-to-one basis is an effective way to learn, practice, reinforce, memorize, consider, ponder, compare, clarify, and contrast what is going on in each partner’s head.  And there is no better way to use speaking, listening, discussing, reflecting, thinking, and getting immediate feedback than relating and responding as partners in the pairing method.  All students, the shy and unprepared along with all others, can use the ten-second to five-minute opportunity to share ideas and exchange thoughts, reflect,question, discuss, and consider information before the prospect of being called on or as a clarification and review technique.

Just Google It and Do it

Although the Pair-Share Strategy was an integral part of the learning done in the old one-room country schools, such as I attended, it has been around, somewhat formally, for at least twenty-five years and has been written about in hundreds of books. Teachers just need a reminder of how amazing and effective it is. [continued on page 2]