A successful strategy that we have used at our school to engage our students is our “Lesson structure board”. We have the same board in every classroom and every subject. Each lesson starts with the teachers letting the students know the goal of the lesson, what they are expected to learn and work with, what to do afterwords and evaluation/reflection time in the end of the lesson. The board has the same questions, and the teachers prepare the board before the lessons start. The students get information about what is expected from them and are prepared for the task. This is a dialogic way of teaching/a formative teaching.
At first, we used these questions written on the whiteboard and when we saw the positive effects we printed a board for the whiteboard and we use it in every classroom and in every subject, so the pupils always know what is expected of them.
The Lesson structure board:
This lesson:
What (should you do)?
Why?
Where? With whom?
What time?
Materials (What do you need)?
Afterwards?
Reflection (what did you learn)?
A challenge we can see is if there are some teachers who does not use the Lesson structure board. Then the students might be insecure about what is expected of them, and this can cause unrest in the classroom. There is a risk that students who depends in structure will fail if the teachers do not provide the structure the students are used to. To avoid this, it is very important that teachers understand the reason to use the Lesson structure board.
To overcome this, it is important to work with the teachers before starting to use the Lesson structure board, so they are confident of how to use the board and why the board is important.
The main outcomes are that the students become more engaged and active during the lessons. In the end of the lesson the teachers get feedback from the students and understand what the students have learned and what is still unclear. This helps the teachers to plan next lesson. The strategy helps the students to know the aim for the lesson.
Step 1:Talk to the students about the importance of planning lessons and their structure;
Step 2.Decide what they would like to know about a lesson and what a well-planned lesson should be like;
Step 3:Collect their ideas and lead them to set the main aspects( Topic,time,materials.outcomes…)
Step 4:Ask a group of students to realize and clearly organize a poster considering the main points( Who,What, How,Why,When /How long,Materials,And then..Feedback and follow up..)
Step 5: Choose a single topic or a learning unit as an example and try the new tool;
Step 6: Share positive and negative aspects of the activity and ask the students for more ideas to improve their Lesson structure board.
Step7:Use the Lesson Structure Board as much as possible.
At the beginning the students don’t realize how important it is to be well organized for a lesson
or an activity, but then they start being more involved and motivated in thinking and then setting the aims, the materials etc..
They feel more active and part the lesson/activity and at the same time less stressed or anxious.
The idea that they can change some things if they are not useful and share more with the teachers proved very effective.
This tool also proved very useful with kids with special needs. By using the Lesson structure Board, they always know what they have to do and the goals set for them.
Structure and organization in the classroom environment support students’ outcome by facilitating feelings of competence, keeping students engaged and on task, managing their behaviour and avoiding chaos in the classroom.
