Hi everyone! Today we're going to talk
about how to give effective instructions.
Why? Simply because students don't
understand the immense amount of
meticulous planning that needs to happen
before the delivery of an activity or
a game.
Students often underestimate the
complexity of giving instructions and do
not realise that it is actually a skill.
And so today, we'll focus on how to give
effective instructions. And starting from
this week onwards, you will have plenty
of opportunities to practise and to
train yourselves to master the skill.
Let's take an icebreaker lesson as an
example.
All kids love games, right? All kids
understand how to play games, right?
And so there should be no problem in having
them participate in an icebreaker
activity?
Well, let's watch a clip of three
students trying to get a couple of kids
to participate in an ice-breaking game.
Listen, listen.
Jose will come, and ask, anyone of you
Are you the Lion King?
And she may ask ...
Listen!
OK, OK.
Listen, listen, OK.
Maybe you ask Alex,
Are you the Lion King?
Alex will say
No, I am not the Lion King
and maybe she will ask me
Are you the Lion King?
I will say ...
Yes I am the Lion King.
OK, so ...
Follow me.
So, would you submit this as
your assessment? If not, why?
Some of you may think that they had just had a bad
class and that not all classes are like
this.
Well, remember never ever blame the
students. Always look back on how the
lesson was planned and how the
instructions were given.
And so, let's analyse this video.
You want to start the
class with the simple and fun activity,
to warm the students up and engage them.
By doing so, you're actually preparing
them for your teaching that comes later.
But in this case you can clearly see
that quite a few students were lost.
Definitely not engaged! In their defense,
this is quite a complicated game for
them to understand. Students will first
have to understand that the objective of
the game is to guess who the lion king
is while watching everyone's movements.
They will also have to understand that
there are three separate roles. The Lion
King;
the guesser; the followers. The guesser
will have to leave the room.
The Lion King will have to create
motions and constantly switch motions,
and everyone else has to follow along as
quickly as possible, and so they will
have to understand the trick is everyone
has to look at the Lion King in order to
follow along, but they should not be
looking too obviously, or else the guesser
would know who the Lion King is.
So let me ask this question again,
do you think this was a good activity to
start the day?
Our Tip Number 1, is that you have to
evaluate the sequence of your activities.
OK, although this might not have been the
best activity to start the day but they
did plan a smooth flow from their
activity to their teaching. They changed
the title of the game so by playing the
game they also introduced the main
character of their story. So remember,
plan the sequence as well as the flow of
your activities. Next question, do you
think the language was appropriate?
Our Tip Number 2, is that you have to
evaluate your sentence structures and
the word you use very carefully.
She did a great job trying to simplify
her language. She simply said ...
So in this case,
the sentence structure and words used were
simple enough, but why didn't her
students seem to understand?
The answer is simple. You need to plan which words
you should teach before you play the game.
You may think, 'lead', 'actions', 'follow',
'guess', 'ask' are very simple words and
concepts, but if you don't teach these
words before you let your students
participate,
how can you make sure that they will
understand your instructions and be able
to follow along?
So, Tip Number 3, identify key words
and concepts in your instructions and
pre-teach them. When brainstorming how
you should teach the words or concepts
consider our Tip Number 4. Use visuals!
In this case, instead of having the phrases
up on the blackboard, is there a more
effective way of using the blackboard?
For example, divide the blackboard into
three sections, the three roles: the Lion
King; the followers; and the guesser. Just to
make it more fun,
maybe use other animals for these two
roles. Then write down the key words, the
key responsibilities of each role
accordingly; for example, under Lion King write
'lead', 'actions';
under Guesser, write down 'go out', 'come in',
'guess', 'ask'; under Followers write down 'look',
'follow'. Then teach each of these words;
demonstrate using body language what
each keyword means and therefore you're
teaching them what the three roles are
expected to do. So that leads us to our
Tip Number 5. Always demonstrate
before you let your students participate.
As you can see, even though they try to
demonstrate, their students weren't
paying attention.
Why? Students already formed a circle, so
to them,
the game has already started. It's not
teaching time anymore and so of course
they would lose focus.
One good thing about their demonstration,
is that they have good and bad examples.
OK, maybe she will ask Alex.
And maybe, she will ask me ...
Remember, even for the
simplest games like hang man, you should
demonstrate what it means to lose, as
well as what it means to win. So after
the good and bad demonstrations is it
time to let your students participate?
No, there's one more step, Tip Number 6.
Check understanding. For example, if hats
were prepared, put the Lion King hat on
one student, and put the Guesser hat on
yourself, and have one group member
encourage the Lion King to create
motions. Another group member to
encourage others to follow along. Then,
you can go around and ask students, "Are
you the Lion King?", and have them respond.
Remember you should always check whether
or not your students really understand,
before you let them play.
So in the example I just gave, clear
demonstrations and checking
understanding effectively, required group
work. So one last question, how would you
evaluate their group work? One girl was
giving instructions; another girl who
didn't get to see is outside
accompanying a student who was chosen to
be the Guesser. And the boy was
supposed to be the one monitoring
discipline.
However, the girl leading had to
constantly stop to monitor discipline.
The leader of the activity should never
divert their attention to complete other
duties. When you're not focused on them,
they lose focus.
As for assisting roles, make a list of
roles needed, and make sure everyone is
clear on how to come together as a group.
Remember we're expecting to see
collaboration. Our last tip is that
everyone must have a strategy to keep
the students eyes on you. Be it a signal or
classroom rules you should not expect
students to just pay attention. When they
lose focus,
you need a strategy to help them regain
focus. That's how meticulous planning can
help you give effective instructions.
It's not just your language, it's how you
plan every single activity, in every
single lesson you teach. In all lessons,
you will need to give clear instructions,
and that cannot be achieved by one
person.
So remember, group work is key.
So, from this week onwards, we will be asking each
group to lead an icebreaker. Use these
opportunities to practise. Treat your
peers and your teacher like they are
students who don't understand the most
basic words in English.
Plan carefully with your groupmates. How you will
establish classroom rules? What your
language focus will be? How and what you
will teach before you introduce your
game?
What kind of visuals you will use? How
you will demonstrate the game
step-by-step with your groupmates? And
lastly, how you will check understanding?
OK, now start planning!
See you in class!
Bye!