Everybody Loves to Hate Lectures
In our coursework regarding differentiated instruction, examples of successful differentiation are often contrasted with lecturing as the gold standard of dull, traditional, unresponsive teaching. The narrative is often that you distill your direct instruction down to a minimum--a few unfortunately necessary minutes of lecture for which even the least focused students can focus--after which they practice this new content via expertly crafed "activities," which are dynamic and exciting and appeal to multiple intelligences. I think this is a false dichotomy. As unsexy as lecturing is amid a sea of discourse promoting student-centered and hands-on practice, I doubt any education model could (or should) omit direct instruction entirely. At the very least, lecturing is an effective and ubiquitous method of transmission of information and learning through exposure to a more-knowing other--provided the student has the familiarity to engage with ideas through this medium. Lecturing will inevitably be a part of any lifelong learner’s education, and I don’t think students should be sheltered from it on the basis of it seeming boring during the early stages of their exposure.
But, stepping down from my soapbox, the point I would like to make here is that direct instruction shouldn’t be condemned to a boring, static necessity at the start of class. Rather, a lecture can (and should) be dynamic and exciting, even for high schoolers, once we realize that differentiation belongs there too.
But, stepping down from my soapbox, the point I would like to make here is that direct instruction shouldn’t be condemned to a boring, static necessity at the start of class. Rather, a lecture can (and should) be dynamic and exciting, even for high schoolers, once we realize that differentiation belongs there too.
"Could you put that triangle thing back up?"
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Now that I’ve made my theoretical claim, I can own up to the fact that my direct instruction in practice typically falls far short of that mark. I swear, some of my students can immediately sense a transition into direct instruction and assume the body language of someone heading in to get a root canal. Though, I was fortunate to capture one of my more successful direct instructions on video, which gave me the opportunity to watch the lesson and get some feedback from my instructors. My lecturing was far from exceptional (is there anything more painful than watching yourself on video?) but I noticed that this particular lesson drew on a wider variety of instructional techniques than some of my earlier lessons.
In this lesson, I was beginning the second day of our writing workshop by giving a brief direct instruction on composing introductory paragraphs. As I began explaining what a good introductory paragraph does, I distributed a handout that included the main points of the lesson and a checklist for writing a strong intro. The brief lecture was structured by a visual aid: an upside-down triangle, symbolizing the “zooming in” of an intro that appeals to a broad range of readers, then draws them into a very specific thesis. Throughout my verbal lecture, I projected examples of strong elements of an introduction, which student volunteers read out, and were debriefed in short, informal discussions. Mostly by accident, this short lecture exposed students to the content visually, textually, and auditorily, interspersed with opportunities for student participation and support.
In Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design, Tomlinson and McTighe cite examples like these in their section on making traditional teaching methods more responsive: “Use both words and images. Model or demonstrate ideas. Use examples, stories, analogies, and illustrations” (2006). This minor differentiation can make direct instruction much more accessible to students of diverse learning styles and definitely helped make my classroom look less like a dentist’s waiting room.
If I had any doubt about the effectiveness of these minor instructional differentiations, it was dispelled by a student immediately afterwards. At the conclusion of the lecture, I changed the slide to one listing the class’s directions for the remainder of the period. A student, notorious for spacing out during direct instruction, raised his hand: “Could you put that triangle thing back up again?” That’s all I needed to hear; I absolutely could.
Works Cited
Tomlinson, Carol Ann, and McTighe, Jay. (2006). Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
In this lesson, I was beginning the second day of our writing workshop by giving a brief direct instruction on composing introductory paragraphs. As I began explaining what a good introductory paragraph does, I distributed a handout that included the main points of the lesson and a checklist for writing a strong intro. The brief lecture was structured by a visual aid: an upside-down triangle, symbolizing the “zooming in” of an intro that appeals to a broad range of readers, then draws them into a very specific thesis. Throughout my verbal lecture, I projected examples of strong elements of an introduction, which student volunteers read out, and were debriefed in short, informal discussions. Mostly by accident, this short lecture exposed students to the content visually, textually, and auditorily, interspersed with opportunities for student participation and support.
In Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design, Tomlinson and McTighe cite examples like these in their section on making traditional teaching methods more responsive: “Use both words and images. Model or demonstrate ideas. Use examples, stories, analogies, and illustrations” (2006). This minor differentiation can make direct instruction much more accessible to students of diverse learning styles and definitely helped make my classroom look less like a dentist’s waiting room.
If I had any doubt about the effectiveness of these minor instructional differentiations, it was dispelled by a student immediately afterwards. At the conclusion of the lecture, I changed the slide to one listing the class’s directions for the remainder of the period. A student, notorious for spacing out during direct instruction, raised his hand: “Could you put that triangle thing back up again?” That’s all I needed to hear; I absolutely could.
Works Cited
Tomlinson, Carol Ann, and McTighe, Jay. (2006). Integrating Differentiated Instruction and Understanding by Design. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.