J. Terry Gates, Mary E. Bickel
Building Bridges, Jefferson City, Missouri Nov. 6-8, 2011
Deepen achievement now.
Create better futures for kids.
What can kids do with their
knowledge and skills?
They can choose to be…

1: Knowledge-keepers.
 2: Knowledge-tellers.
 3: Knowledge-builders.
Knowledge-builders make magic!!
Building frameworks today…

1: Frame and share ways to
strengthen kids’ tutoring skills.
 2: Frame a group instruction
process for peer teachers.
Kids who teach learn more deeply.
What are frameworks?
How is peer teaching different from pair learning,
cooperative learning, group projects, etc.?

Cooperative Learning
–
–
–
Content:
• The content is structured
by the teacher. Students
follow directions. All
must learn the content.
Instruction:
• Students have equal
duties to help group
members learn, and try
to raise the group’s
achievement level.
Assessment:
• Students make mostly
informal judgments
about contributions of
other members as they
go along.

Peer Teaching
–
–
–
Content:
• The PT can decide what
content comes next, or if
prior content needs to be
re-taught to learner(s).
Instruction:
• The PT is expected to
select and apply effective
approaches—ways to
raise the achievement
level of their learner(s).
Assessment:
• The PT deals directly with
responses from their
learner(s) and gives
feedback about their
quality.
Two frameworks
for your peer teachers
1: Tutoring: MOAT!
 2: Group instruction: POLAR+

Framework 1: Tutoring
What do tutors do? They MOAT!
• Motivate.
– Get the learner moving; re-direct their efforts.
• Offer
– Give explanations, hints, and games.
• Ask
– Pose questions, challenges, and wait four seconds.
• Thank
– Thank learners for their efforts, celebrate successes.
•!
– Use individual initiative, creativity, unique reinforcers.
The expertise gap in tutoring.
High
Learner's
content
knowledge
level
Learner
frustration
zone
Challenge zone*
Tutor
frustration
zone
High
Low
Tutor's content knowledge level
*The interactional side of the Zone of Proximal Development. Adapted from L. S. Vygotsky. 1978. Mind
in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard U. Press, p. 86.
Tutors need a framework* for coaching.

Remember
–

Understand
–

Reduce a complex set into constituent and related parts, and explain how the
parts relate; differentiate, assign functions, organize, etc.
Evaluate
–

Utilize a learned procedure to solve a similar problem; find real-life uses for the
information.
Analyze
–

Summarize ideas: classify, infer, compare, explain, etc.
Apply
–

Recognize, recall, and define facts, terms, dates, names.
Use criteria to assess the value, effectiveness, or applicability of creative
processes and solutions to problems.
Create
–
Combine materials, knowledge, ideas, and processes to make something new.
*Adapted from David R. Krathwohl. Autumn 2002. A revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy: An overview. Theory Into Practice, 41(4),
212-218. See also Anderson, L. W., and D. R. Krathwohl (Eds.). 2001. A taxonomy for learning, teaching, and assessing: A
revision of Bloom's Taxonomy of Education Objectives (complete ed.). New York: Longman.
Cross-age peer tutoring builds success.
No. of districts
in 2008-09
Avg. no. 2009
diplomas
All districts awarding 2009
diplomas*
457
136.42
Districts with an A+ high school
256
185.7
Non-A+ districts
201
73.21
Missouri school districts
*Adapted from http://dese.mo.gov/schooldata/ftpdata.html (accessed 27 January 2010). The table is titled
graduation_rate.xls. Reported in J. T. Gates, M. E. Bickel, & S. Hembrough. (2010). Missouri's A+ Tutoring Resource:
A Status Study. St. Louis, MO: The Hoenny Center, Appendix B1.
Framework 2: Group instruction
Think POLAR+™
Plan
Organize
Lead
Assess / reinforce
Reflect / improve
POLAR+
plan
reflect/
improve
organize
assess/
reinforce
lead
What’s the + in POLAR+?
Personality

Real-life teaching situations require a lot.
– Intuition, creativity, individuality, perseverance, several kinds of
knowledge, much more…



Teacher-to-teacher talk, even with kids.
Teaching grows with people who do it.
A Pathway in Teaching from early grades.
Adapt these ideas!
Do them YOUR way!
Safe, structured opportunities…
End-of-the-day wrap-up

Second grade - The College School, Webster Groves, Missouri - Colleen
Corbett and Cristina Rapp
Student has each job for 2 weeks per year, in final 15 minutes each day; jobs
rotate each Monday
– Stack chairs, straighten library, etc.
– Journal entry
– Scrapbook page
– Joke of the day
– Juicy word
– Calendar work (color day block, ask questions)
– Science Fridays, featuring the scientist of the week
POLAR+ opportunity
Note: In the presentation, we showed a video of four second-graders
quizzing their peers on a) a riddle (“Joke of the Day”), b) a vocabulary
word (“Juicy Word”), and c) two questions about February. They illustrated
four different teaching personalities (philosopher, drill sergeant, nurturer,
and game show host) and many good teaching skills.
The discussion centered around several observations:
1.Their personalities came through clearly. The mentor’s job is to reveal to
them the personality traits that are effective in teaching and to help them
find alternative behaviors for traits that impede learning.
2.There were some brilliant teaching skills displayed by these children as
well as some habits that should be changed.
3.These kids responded to answers their peers gave to their questions in
various ways, consistent with their individual differences (above). The
impulse to respond is going to be there in every similar situation, but how
the child behaves on that impulse can be coached for effectiveness.
So, what do my kids need from
me in peer teaching?
1: Safe, structured opportunities.
 2: Professional tips.
 3: Some minimal supervision:

–
–
–
–
Coaching.
Feedback.
Debriefing.
Prompts for reflecting.
Why debrief kids?
Reveal teaching strengths to themselves.
Let you know what they’re thinking.
Get kids planning for improvements.
Hear some great insights about teaching.
A third grader reflects on teaching natural science topics
to 2nd graders in the park:
“It was hard. I didn’t get a break until
lunch and I had to stand up all the time.”
Our invitation…







Join our Professional Partners National Network.
Add more peer teaching strategies to your classroom planning.
Apply for a Hoenny Center Grant for an action research report.
(See “Resources” at www.hoennycenter.org.)
Share your peer teaching successes, tips, and classroom
research through our web site.
Invite colleagues to help you build a K-12 vertical system in your
district.
Start a Pathway in Teaching program.
Keep us posted at teachers@hoennycenter.org.
On the next frontier of teacher development.
www.hoennycenter.org
teachers@hoennycenter.org