First let me say, I am all about some front-loading. Definitely team “Front-load information” over here. With that being said, I’m reluctant to admit that while I understand the need for it, have read the research supporting it, and have every intention of including it in lesson plans, I’ve never really seen such a clear example of it’s effectiveness or how it is done. That is, until my observation last week and then again with the super fab Ms. Wicket.
I always thought to front-load information was to basically just verbally go over things. I’m not sure why my mind went there, but I just didn’t really make the connection to actual instruction during this part. (I’m not a doofus, I promise haha). I think the reason being is because I never had to create a lesson plan in which it was necessary. I always selected an SOL and started from the beginning. I wrote as if this was the first time students would be exposed to this plan. Herein lies one of my complaints about being an education student-writing lessons not knowing your students, or audience, but it’s the norm and to be expected. (insert one of the reasons I am super excited for student teaching! Can I get a woohoo for real living breathing kiddos? woohoo!
Anyways…I’m not quite sure of the technical name of what she did, but I’m going to call it sandwiching (sort, powerpoint, read-aloud, back to the sort. The sorts are the bread, the rest are the toppings/meat). I loved how she incorporated so many different types of assessments (pre- with the sort, think pair share, thumbs up/down, etc) all before she even got to the main point of her lesson. Even more so, the sandwiching! (food analogies for the win). By coming back to the sort, the students understood the purpose of the activity. They were able to make sense of all of the information and (hopefully) put together all of those pieces floating around in their head.
I am a bit anxious about being how, as a new teacher, I may look if I am unable to keep up with pacing guides due to time spent on front-loading? One would hope it would all work itself out by the end of the year but who knows. Only time will tell!
Sarah,
I’m so glad you got so much from Ms. Wickett’s lesson. I think there is time to frontload instruction within the context of the pacing guide. While a pacing guide tells you what to teach when, it doesn’t (and shouldn’t) tell you HOW to teach. The choice to frontload is yours. I wish I could tell you why more teachers DON’T do this. Is it because it’s harder to plan for? I don’t think so. It just means thinking about how to set students up for succeess. Is it because there isn’t time? I don’t think it takes any longer to frontload than it does to review. Why not do this work up front?
I agree that you really need to know your students to do this. And I get the writing lesson plans and planning for differentiation and knowing how to proceed is hard when you don’t know the kids. It does feel a bit contrived. Think about this as training your brain to think like a teacher. I promise in the end you will find that this will have been helpful.
Thanks! I have no doubt that this will be helpful and can’t wait to try this out next semester. 🙂
Sarah, for so many years teaching to the SOL for federal accountability has led teachers and administrators to believe they must teach in sort of a “scripted” way. It never had to be like that. I am glad you are finding value in the practice of front-loading or building background knowledge. To me, this can be the best way to set up students for success. Thank you for your reflection.