Information Processing TIPR

Overall, the teacher that I observed this semester primarily used stimulus driven attention grabbing techniques in her classroom. She grabbed student attention with videos featuring celebrities, music that positively contributes to her lesson, and thought provoking questions that required students to think critically and past the surface of a question. She also uses controlled attention when the subject taught required direct instruction and focus on a difficult concept like body image/eating disorders. However, she also provided a PowerPoint with pictures to stimulate the dual processing function of the student's brains. She always puts pictures to the vocabulary she introduces to students and then references the pictures to make sure the students notice and remember them. She also used distributed practice to break up class time into learning and review so that students were sure to get adequate exposure to new and old information. The teacher also used review worksheets and exit slips to allow students the opportunity to rehearse the information they learned that day and provide her with the information that she needs to plan her next lessons. She helped the students to retrieve information in an easier fashion by connecting related concepts with similar images to visualize how the information connects. She also kept her students on their toes cognitively because she frequently called on students randomly to answer questions which lead to the other students paying closer attention because there was a chance they could be called on next.

The one thing that I didn't notice this teacher doing effectively was wait time and therefore, I think that's the main student need in this area. These students were incredibly bright and were able to recall information from previous lessons because of the effort I saw the teacher put into grabbing their attention in relevant and fun ways. However, they were rarely given the chance to demonstrate that skill because the teacher did not wait very long after asking a question before prompting the answer and moving on. I feel confident that if the students were given the chance they could definitely answer the review and discussion questions without prompting. Something else that I feel would be beneficial for the students would be ways to greater organize the information they receive in class. The students are not required to take notes in class but they are encouraged to in order to help them study for the tests. I observed that students either tried really hard to write all the information presented or they wrote very few or no notes at all throughout the class. If they were given some way to organize the information they needed to remember long term I think they would be much more effective in learning and retrieval.

When I teach my mini lesson I am going to try very hard to increase my wait time enough that it will encourage contemplation and participation. I'm practicing counting to at least 5 seconds in my mind after asking a question to give time for the students to think about and answer the question. Even after the 5 seconds I am practicing waiting further in the case that they just need more time. I know for sure that I'm going to feel uncomfortable and that the students probably will as well but I'm hoping that awkward silence will prompt greater thinking and participation. I will also collaborate with the teacher and provide guided notes as a way for the students to organize the most important information that they will need to know  and be able to recall for their assessments. I hope that this makes it easier to chunk the information and process it easier.