How can you apply Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction to a remote learning situation?

Henrietta Curwen

Assistant Principal & Head of Performing Arts

It seems that it’s not just BCA who recognises Rosenshine and his Principles as being at the core of effective teaching and learning. In fact, over 800 keen teachers were eagerly waiting to be let into Tom Sherrington's Zoom on Monday 25th January that was hosted by Kings Academy…so much so, this flurry of fans were somewhat disappointed when only 300 were admitted. Sadly myself, Claire Rixham, Sarah Charncok and Emily Atherton were not on the cool list. Tamara Higham, Dan Beech and Dan Roach were; obvs.

All was not lost though – the session was recorded and put onto YouTube. You can watch here; https://youtu.be/0xrXfvWn6r0

Whilst it was reassuring to see Tom’s suggestions chime with BCA practice, it was also a useful refresher and a poignant reminder of some basic concepts that perhaps we take for granted when we are teaching on our usual stomping ground. In fact. Sherrington suggests that it is these simple strategies that are the most powerful tools to use when teaching remotely.

Here are some of my main ‘takeaways’ that have given be plenty of ‘Aha’ moments…

Engage Everyone 

Maximise any opportunities to engage students remotely – using student names upon entry to the classroom and using them throughout the lesson hooks learners and creates a welcoming and safe environment. Sherrington references Doug LeMov, quoting references from his book; “Teaching in the Online Classroom; Surviving and Thriving in the New Normal’ and explores the importance of  ‘Dissolving the Screen’;

“To dissolve the screen is to heighten and strengthen student’s awareness of the back-and-fourth exchange that still exists between their teacher and themselves. Dissolving the screen creates a clear message: I see the work that you are doing and it matters.” Dissolving the screen create vibrant and engaged remote classroom cultures. We feel one another’s absence even though we’re present on screen ,. Our students feel it to an even greater degree. But dissolving the Screen reminds them that we’re human beings and we’re here for them, that we see and appreciate that they're human beings and here for us, and that together we’re going to continue to learn.” – Powerful stuff!

Daily/Weekly Review:

Sherrington states that this is crucial to activate prior knowledge. When waiting for students to join the lesson, this is the perfect opportunity to present students with a ‘Do Now’, something that Katie Jolley explained she did in her CPD last week.  Instead of making the pleasantries with students whilst waiting for others to join, start the lesson immediately;

“Great to see everyone – here are the questions on the screen – have a go at them now and then we will see how you have done after that” – Simple, consolidation questions to make them think.

Quality Questioning:

Sherrington reminds us of Rosenshine’s findings in which the most effective teachers ask the most questions to check understanding. It seems that questioning is a remote teaching super power. Through effective questioning passive learning is prevented – often a worry of mine when I am faced with a sea of black screens facing me. The following questioning strategies are presented by Tom as being useful armour when stepping into your virtual classroom…

Cold Calling:

Sherrington's weapon of choice. We all have that one student who would usually default to sitting in the corner being loosely connected. Often they observe the lesson rather than being an active part in it. Sherrington reminds us that students need to feel that all of the questions are for them; not everybody else.

Pre Calling:  

Effective to help build the confidence of students who you know may crack under pressure and who might hastily murmur “Don’t know”. Target a student who you think might not be engaging. Tell them in advance the question you are going to be asking them so they can have time to think and prepare their answer. Get them ready to talk.

Batch Calling:

Throw your net out to more than one student. Select several students and let them know you will be questioning them. Tell others you might also be coming to them. Probably best to tell them to get their fingers ready to unmute to avoid disrupting the flow of the lesson.

Process Questions:

Rosenshine says effective teachers ask students to explain their thinking process. E.g. – Great answer John – What made you think of that? Good answer Mary – why did you suggest that? What was your thinking? You selected B – why did you choose that?

Sherrington explains that it is important to follow up your initial response after a student has answered, with a ‘explain your thinking 'question. I saw this modelled by Paul Jones in his Year 11 class, it really helped his students to dig a little deeper!  

Chat Function:

As I awkwardly experienced two weeks ago, some students have technical problems with audio/video. Silence was deadly when I asked them a question. Sherrington said that Lemov’s ‘wait’ questions can overcome this via the chat function.

- Pose a question to students 

-Ask them to write their response in the chat but not to post (that’s the wait!)

-Count them down 3, 2, 1 and instruct them when to press send – cue a flurry of answers that you can respond to and move forward with.

My year 10 group love this – something I will definitely be doing more of.

Guiding & Independent Practice:

Sherrington explained that experienced teachers craft student learning form guiding practice and helping students successful in the early stages. This helps to build confidence and fluency. From this, teacher withdraw support so students can work independently. But how can we do this remotely to avoid dump and run?

Google Slides:

This clever programme allows you to view students work as they are completing it. You can  view all slides simultaneously. This allows you to scan through work and observe student progress; enabling you to identify misconceptions immediately.

The Best of Both

Like the DFE Guidance we explored last week, Sherrington agrees that a blended approach to lesson delivery has been adopted by most school Sherrington favours the semi-synchronous approach to lessons referring it to a sandwich approach; 10 minutes live to recall learning and set the task up, 40 minutes independent practice, followed by 10 minutes for a live ending recap. I know that whilst my students seem to enjoy the live start of my lessons, they are eager to complete their work independently and so this is the approach that seems to be working for me so far.