Principles of Good Teaching Handout Text

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1. Vision and Goals
2. Nurturing Relationships
3. Structure
4. Consistency
5. Balance
6. Communication
7. Planning and Preparation
8. Instruction
9. Practice
10. Evaluation and Accountability

Types of Questions
Madeline Hunter's Lesson Design
Dale's Cone of Experience

Many elements and principles which increase the chances that children will succeed are inherently present in the home school model. Research on effective schools has shown higher rates of achievement when the following "pieces" are in place. As you evaluate your home school, congratulate yourselves on areas of strength. Don't aim perfection, aim for improvement. Where you find an area you'd like to improve, set small achievable goals and celebrate progress toward them.

1. Vision and Goals

• Parents share an inspirational vision for the home school and for the children's future.
• Mission, philosophy and priorities are clear.
• A sense of the whole picture, the ultimate aim.
• An understanding of how people learn.
• Prayer and trust in God.

2. Nurturing Relationships

• Children know adults love them, enjoy being with them, and appreciate their personal worth.
• Feelings are accepted. Adults listen with respect.
• Adults model character qualities they want children to emulate.
• Adults are courteous and responsive.
• Adults encourage children to develop their strengths and persevere in overcoming their weaknesses. Children learn to handle failure.
• Children know adults believe in them and in their ability to reach high standards of achievement.
• Adults are in close proximity to children. Hugs, touching and eye contact are frequent.

3. Structure

• Children feel loved, safe, secure and important.
• There is a "normal" schedule for days and weeks.
• There is a master calendar. Outside activities are grouped to minimize interruptions.
• The family eats meals together and conducts family discussions.
• There is a positive "family culture."
• The environment is pleasant and conducive to study and learning.
• Distractions have been minimized in order to increase "time on task."
• Routines and systems are in place for housework.
• There are a variety of reference books, maps, time lines, etc. to allow us to take advantage of "teachable moments."

4. Consistency

• Children have been trained in good habits.
• Parents are in agreement about disciplinary standards and reasonable consequences.
• Children know the standards and consequences.
• Focus is on the positive. Approval is expressed when children choose to do what is right.
• Consistent and businesslike follow through in enforcing consequences.
• Hate the sin and love the sinner. Adults have confidence in the child's ability to choose his/her behavior.

5. Balance

• Balance focused time and free time.
• Balance work, study and play.
• Balance routine and interesting activities.
• Balance talking and listening.
• Balance individual and group activities.
• Balance hands-on activities and books.
• Balance indoor and outdoor activities.
• Balance left brain and right brain activities, or sequential and creative activities.

6. Communication

• Adults listen and respond to children.
• Adults talk at a level children understand, or slightly above it to stretch their understanding.
• Communication and feedback flow both ways.
• Praise is frequent and reasons are given for the praise. Focus is on the positive.
• Goals, standards and objectives are clear.
• Feedback is prompt and frequent.
• Adults ask a variety of questions.
• Adults, delve, rephrase and give clues if children have difficulty with a question.
• "Wait time" is employed to give children time to think and formulate answers.
• Adults recognize "body language" and attitude clues of children and adjust accordingly.

7. Planning and Preparation

• Schedule time for planning and preparation.
• Know what students need to know, what is essential and what is nice but not necessary.
• Know your students and be aware of their individual differences in motivation, interest, etc.
• Diagnosis: Find out what students already know.
• Prescription: Select appropriate learning objectives, not too easy and not too hard.
• Collect appropriate materials and curriculum.
• Prerequisites: Determine if children have the skills they need to succeed at a new task. If not, teach the prerequisites first.
• Task analysis: Break assignments into "bite-sized" pieces, small sequential steps.
• Timing: Do not introduce too much at once. Step by tiny step will maximize success.
• Readiness: To check for readiness, offer tryout activities and adjust expectations as needed.
• Early success: Plan carefully to ensure early success when introducing something very new.
• Prepare checklists or contracts so students know exactly what is expected of them.

8. Instruction

• Gather materials, equipment and supplies beforehand.
• Review related concepts, vocabulary and ideas.
• Show enthusiasm and interest.
• Prove an overview or outline of the lesson or unit. Move from whole to part to whole.
• Objective: State and have students state the objective.
• Purpose: Why is this important to learn?
• Transfer: How does this relate to what you already know? Help students organize and connect new knowledge to old.
• Clearly present information. Do not include non-essential information or distractors.
• Move from simple to complex.
• Move from known to unknown.
• Model or demonstrate examples as well as non-examples.
• Actively involve students. Use variety.
• Adjust the level of questions to student ability.
• Check for understanding frequently.
• Feedback: Use criticism sparingly. Provide prompt feedback with reasons.
• Guided practice: Closely monitor practice in the early stages of learning. Aim for at least 80% success.
• Closure: At the end of a lesson, summarize or have the child summarize what was learned.
• Review and reteach as often as necessary.

9. Practice

• Practice is directly related to the lesson objective.
• Students are not distracted during practice time.
• Directions for practice are clear.
• Adequate practice is provided to ensure mastery.
• Generous feedback is given early on.
• Guided practice is closely monitored. It is "practice without penalty" and receives no grades or marks.
• Students should have about an 80% success rate before independent practice is assigned.
• Practice is distributed over time. Practice is less frequent after initial instruction but continues until mastery is achieved.
• "Mental practice" is encouraged.

10. Evaluation and Accountability

• The teacher is accountable to someone for diligently pursuing goals and plans.
• Self discipline, diligence and timeliness are emphasized and rewarded.
• Students are held responsible for completing work on time and doing a quality job.
• A method exists to keep track of goals and achievements. Examples: plan book, student contracts or checklists, conferences.
• Informal evaluation takes place constantly.
• Formal evaluation (testing) is used as needed so that students can demonstrate their mastery.
• Grades are essentially comparative and punitive. Better to keep a running list of accomplishments.
• Evaluation is used as a basis for selecting future objectives.

Types of Questions

• Recall. Does the child remember specific facts and details?
• Comprehension. Does the child understand the meaning?
• Application. Can the child tell how this information could be used?
• Analysis. Can the child analyze the information?
• Synthesis. Can the child combine the information with information learned previously to come up with a new insight?
• Evaluation. Can the child give an evaluation of the information which is well thought out?

Madeline Hunter's Lesson Design

Standards

• Students know behavior expectations.
• Materials and equipment are ready.
• Efficient systems and use of time.

Setting the Stage (Anticipatory Set)

• Objective. What will we be learning?
• Purpose. Why is this important to learn?
• Transfer. How does this relate to what you already know?
• Motivation. Raise interest and concern. What will students be expected to do?
• Check for understanding. Students state what they will learn and why.

Instruction

• Review. Check prerequisite skills.
• Input information. Clearly and concisely present information, definitions, rules or procedures. Do not include non-essential information or distractors.
• Model. Model or demonstrate what children are expected to learn or do. List steps if applicable. Go through several examples, then present non-examples. Four examples should be given for every non-example.
• Check for understanding. Children demonstrate or explain their understanding of the concept or skill.

Guided Practice

• Related to the lesson. Practice should be directly related to the new learning.
• Directions. Directions should be clear and simple.
• Overt response. Teacher can see or hear what students are doing.
• Monitoring. Ensure correct practice. Provide feedback and correction.
• Practice without penalty. No grades or marks. Strive for at least 80% success.

Closure

• Check for understanding. Students state what they have learned.

Independent Practice

• Seatwork or other assignments reinforce and strengthen learning.
• Students check or correct their own work and receive prompt feedback.
• Distributed practice. Practice is distributed over time. Intense at first, then fade.
• Concepts and skills are reviewed and retaught periodically.

Dale's Cone of Experience

People learn best when they are actively involved in the learning process. People learn better when experiences are concrete rather than abstract.

People generally remember

• 10% of what they read
• 20% of what they hear
• 30% of what they see
• 50% of what they hear and see
• 70% of what they say or write
• 90% of what they say as they do a thing.

If new learning is not recalled or used within 24 hours, recall drops to 75%. If not used within 48 hours, recall drops to 25%.

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