Tips for Supporting Students

This year my role was extended to include MYP/DP learning support. 

After reflecting on the teacher orientation, I thought of myself as a student and what I would want teachers to change.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Speak slowly

There are many students in the school whose first language is not English. But this is not only for BMLs, sometimes there are other noises or echoes that can make it harder to hear. 

Make it visual

Many sessions were all talk. Sometimes we were asked to go to a different page or look at a different graphic, but since it was not shown, I saw many participants who were confused and didn't know where to look. 

A few suggestions I have for teachers:

1. Make text large
2. Keep the text to a minimum
3. Use visuals related to the content.

Another suggestion would be to create an outline that could be handed out to students during the lesson.

Vocabulary

Thinking about students new to a program, the vocabulary can be overwhelming. Especially in the IB, there is so much to learn. When people do not know a word, most will be hung up on what they do not know. This can break focus and then attention might shift elsewhere. 

One idea for the classroom is when introducing command terms teachers could have students rewrite them in their own words. If they are an EAL student, they could also try writing in their home language. 

I would also suggest showing students that command terms are on a continuum as well. For example, "list" is lower than "develop". Maybe this could be a sorting activity.

Make URL links and vocabulary obvious

Sometimes on a Google Site, the URL links get a little buried in the text. They do have an underline, but they can sometimes be a challenge to locate. It is a good idea to make it very obvious by changing the color of the text, underlining, or 

separating out a link or main idea.

Presentations

This can be said for presentations as well. Using graphics more than text will help those (like me) who cannot see very well. It will also help keep the audience focused as they will not be distracted reading and will be able to focus on the main idea.

Have a flow to your page/document/presentation

It is really hard for me to follow a talk that jumps around. It is especially hard for me to try to follow a document or a talk that keeps jumping back and forth. Try to organize your talk so it moves linearly.

Start with Tuning In - if you have a game, start with the game

Here's something I saw - the presenter went up in front of the audience, talked a lot, went off on a tangent, and then went into a game. 

How about starting with the game to get your audience thinking about your topic? 

By starting with a game, the audience could get warmed up and start thinking about the topic, activating their schema, or prior knowledge, in a low-stakes situation. It will also make the talk less boring.

Another idea is to think of a skill your class is focusing on, like presenting and incorporate that into the game. At the beginning of the year, this could be a formative assessment, but more practice is always better.

Maybe hold back on talking about how hard the year will be

One thing I heard was how hard the year will be. 

What a bummer! When I heard that my mind stopped focusing. 

I think talking about challenges is OK, but try to stay positive.

MODEL for all before releasing

The last item on my list was to model a task before releasing the audience to do the task. I saw a lot of talking - but when it came to actually doing the task, the audience was confused.

Conclusion

I know everyone is doing their best, I simply think that by making a few adjustments, the messaging could be more effective.

* I just realized that I also didn't include visuals to help illustrate my points. That'll have to be a follow-up post.