Methods of Teaching

Today in class (7 minutes)
This course is the first chapter in a story about learning to teach, and each class mem-
ber is the main character in his or her version of the story. All stories share a common 
narrative theme: exploring teaching. To keep that narrative alive in Student Teachers’ 
minds, begin each class session with a brief review of the previous class and end each 
class with a review of the class that has just finished. Ask for a volunteer to provide 
their recollections and give that person two minutes to speak. Ask if anyone wants to 
add to the review. Choose no more than two and give them each one minute to speak. 
Tell Student Teachers that they are to leave their student interviews papers (previous 
session’s homework) on your desk at the end of class. 
State the purpose of this class session: to discuss the results of the teacher effec-
tiveness research they read for homework (‘Summary of Conclusions from Teacher 
Effectiveness Research’) and to create a list of teacher actions associated with high 
student achievement to enter on the ‘Teacher Observation Form’. During week 2, 
the observation form will be used in two observations in nearby primary school 
classrooms in order to learn which of these actions are taken by primary school 
teachers in Pakistan.
Preparation for small-group work (10 minutes)
Put Student Teachers in groups of three. Tell them this is a permanent grouping for 
classroom observations. Ask if there are pressing questions about the ‘Summary of 
Conclusions from Teacher Effectiveness Research’ they read for homework. Keep 
questions and answers brief. After answering questions, put one of the actions from 
this sample list of teacher actions on the board. 

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COURSE GUIDE: Methods of Teaching
29
UNIT 1
UNIT 4
UNIT 5
UNIT 3
UNIT 6
UNIT 2
UNIT 7
• If children do not learn, effective teachers change the lesson.
• Time in school is used for lessons, not for classroom management.
• Lessons proceed at a pace that holds childrens’ attention.
• The teacher moves continuously around the room to see each child’s work.
• Review is included in each lesson.
• The teacher assesses each child’s progress frequently.
• The teacher asks questions that require thinking.
• The teacher links new information to childs’ prior learning.
• The teacher builds learning in small steps.
• The teacher encourages children to take responsibility for learning.
• The teacher demonstrates skills to be learned.
• The teacher explains concepts.
Discuss the action you wrote on the board. Ask for a volunteer to contribute another 
action from the summary. List all contributed actions on the board. If they are not 
suggested by Student Teachers, add the remaining actions on the list above. Shape 
answers into short declarative statements similar to those in the list of actions above.
Give each group of three Student Teachers, two copies of the ‘Teacher Observation 
Form’ and tell them they will have 20 minutes to create one list of 10–12 actions on the 
form. Suggest that they start by discussing the summaries they wrote for homework.