Teacher Awareness Series I – Article Two: Repeat and Summarize

by Jean Schedler, Ph.D. Educational Consultant

Welcome to the second of five articles focusing on what we as classroom teachers/clinicians can do to increase our awareness of our students’ learning profiles.

The first article discussed the importance of establishing eye contact with our students.

You were asked to identify three students in your classroom who readily established eye contact with you; and three students who do not readily establish eye contact with you.

Suggestions for how to model good listening and eye contact were discussed, as well as positive motivation suggestions for our reluctant students.

Remember to always use the “positive” to encourage, and try to avoid the “negative” to punish.

Hopefully you have had time to practice the teacher behaviour discussed in the first article.

You have practiced ensuring that your class is looking at you and you in turn are looking at your class (good eye contact for both teacher and students) when you are giving directions and/or instructing.

This second article in the series will touch upon the importance of repeating and summarizing. Let’s start with oral directions given to the entire class.

Let’s assume you have just finished assigning the morning set work and you want to ensure that each student understands the morning expectations.

You have already successfully completed the first step in the process through maintaining reciprocal eye contact between teacher and students.

You were looking at your students and your students were looking at you. What you don’t know is if they have processed and understood the morning set work. Does each student know how they are going to start and continue working at their seat on the independent lessons?

The only way for us teachers to find out is to ask individual students specific questions such as: “Tell me what you are going to do first?” “Tell me what you need [paper, workbook, pencil?] in order to begin your lessons?” “Tell me the three things you will be working on this morning?”

There will be students in your class who can do readily do this. There will be students in your class who will look at you with a blank face.

The student with a blank face may have difficulty with receptive and expressive oral language. He/she may need a scaffolding of the teacher language of instruction. These oral language concerns will be addressed in Teacher Awareness Series II.

Right now you/the teacher are only being asked to become aware of the different processing styles that may exist within your class and provide the necessary accommodations.

The accommodation is to be aware of and provide to the students that may need one-on-one teacher time after directions to ensure that the student(s) understands the directions and this is done through having the student “repeat or summarize” the directions.

Initially you/the teacher may need to (in as few words as possible) state and have the student repeat verbatim, the directions.

We/the teachers are “structuring for success” the students’ ability to work independently after being given directions. This is always done in a quiet, positive, supportive manner – never in an isolating, negative or ridiculing manner.

During this next week, make sure you have provided each student in your class the opportunity to repeat and/or summarize the oral directions given after a lesson.

Take time to record what you learn during this activity. See if you can identify the students that require a quiet one-on-one “repeating” of the directions with you, prior to their successfully beginning the independent seat work.

This week you will be using eye contact during directions and instruction, and having students repeat and summarize the directions.

Keep practicing – each week we will be adding another recommended teacher behaviour!

To learn more about Dr Schedler’s September 2009 and 2010 Workshops and/or Training in Reading intervention materials (Sonday System) contact Read Auckland info@readauckland.co.nz or call 09-529 1381.