Another Year of Teaching Weak Pupils:
Turning Failure into Success
Melanie Shaul
Can academic achievement be elevated when
using a specific teaching method in a non
readers class ?
• Population : grade 7, non readers
- Low level of reading and writing in Hebrew and
English
- Low socio-economical level
- Many are L.D learners.
• First semester: 14 students
• Second semester: 17 students
- 3 special education students
- 1 autistic girl
- 2 boys
The Problem
• Students low level
- low self esteem
- feel as if they cannot learn English
• Studying English since grade 3
• Few students progress from ‫הקבצות ג‬
• Accustomed to book-based lessons
- require no effort
- unmotivated students are disciplinary problems
How do non readers get to this level?
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Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale was born(‫ )נולדה‬in 1820 in England. Her
family was rich and everyone thought she was very happy. But she
wasn't really happy because she wanted to do something to help
others. So one day she decided (‫ )החליטה‬to work in a hospital.
Hospitals were not clean then. The nurses (‫ )אחיות‬didn't know how
to help sick people. But that didn't stop Florence. She went to London
and worked in a hospital there.
In1854 a war (‫ )מלחמה‬began between Britain and Russia. The
British took the injured (‫ )נפגעים‬soldiers (‫ )חיילים‬to a hospital in
Turkey. Florence and some other nurses went to work there.
They saw that the hospital wasn't clean, and there weren't enough
(‫ )מספיק‬beds, food, water, or medicine (‫)תרופות‬. Many of the soldiers
died (‫)מתו‬. So Florence wrote (‫ )כתבה‬to people in England and asked
them to send (‫ )לשלוח‬money.
After the war, Florence returned to London. In 1860 she opened
the first school for nurses.
Teaching and Society
Language and Thought:
Vygotsky
Illiterate Farmers
Educated People
Language and thought
reflect practical activity
Abstract ideas and words
are present with
practical activity
Natural functions are
elementary and basic
Experiences come from
personal understanding
of
events
5
Higher mental functions
in understanding
Use and development of
complex language.
New Way of Teaching:
The Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and Play
• “Z.P.D is an area in which the development of mental
growth takes place, depending on the support in
learning which may come from fellow classmates, the
teacher and/or the environment as the students are
involved in active dialogue and interaction.” (Woolfolk-Hoy,
2005)
• “Z.P.D defines functions that have not matured but are
in the process of maturation.” (Vygotsky, 1978, p.83)
• Through play use skills, knowledge and language which
influence development emotionally and intellectually.
6
Play
• Students use skills, language and knowledge that
were based on external factors.
• External activity cause skills, language and
knowledge to be internalized.
• External activity influences development
emotionally and intellectually.
• Become cognitively aware of one thing but act
differently concerning perceptions
- Ability to act more mature in setting
- Use of self control and restraint
- Conscious movement toward realization and
understanding of specific purposes for behavior
Teaching Style
• Cognitive development arises when both culture
and social factors are stressed.
• All thinking is done through language which
involves mental processing of ideas and thoughts.
• ZPD- “ZPD is the gap between what a student can
achieve alone and what he can do through problem
solving with the help of others” ( Wood, 1996)
Students
• Higher mental functions appear first between
two people, interpersonal plane.
• Knowledge is internalized only after it passes
through the interpersonal plane
• Students become active participants in growth
and development
• Students no longer passive
Learning=Problem Solving
• Learning occurs through problem solving under
teacher guidance and or in peer work.
• Teacher models specific strategy
-Teacher slowly withdraws herself from being the
expert and become an observer
- Students are active in building their own personal
knowledge.
- Teacher chooses a student who plays the role of
teacher.
Phase One- Working Together
• Work in pairs
- Used to frontal teaching
- OK to talk to partner about material being learned
• Flash cards
- Multi-sensory lessons
- One word flash cards
entire sentence flash cards
• Students walked around helping others
- Student played teacher upon completion of tasks
- Student helped a friend whenever needed
Phase Two Switching Roles:
Teacher and Student
• Playing teacher
- All students that finished work became teacher
- There could be as many as 5 students walking
around the classroom helping.
• Weaker pupils
- Taken aside and given a task to do with the
class
Example of “Play” and “ZPD”
• I taught a basic grammatical point in the
lesson
- Attempted to explain in another way for
better understanding
• Student asked to explain the grammar to
the student
-”Sometimes kids can explain something better
than the teacher.”
Example of “Play” and “ZPD”
• Student had to explain the homework to
each student individually.
• Class became upset and agitated.
- Designated teacher did not understand the
homework assignment.
- Gave too much homework
• Results:
- Designated teacher had to explain to me my
instructions before.
Example of “Play” and “ZPD”:
Students Teaching
• Students teaching vocabulary in groups.
- Divide the class into working groups
- Each group given 7 words to teach class in any manner
they chose.
• Weaker Group
- I suggested teaching 5 words instead.
- Student “I know that my group and I are weak, but we
should still do the same amount of work as the class.”
Teaching Day
• First student- teacher group
- Noticed that class was not listening to them
- “Hey they aren’t supposed to be talking when I am
talking. Tell them to shut up.” I refused
•
Taking Control
-Student-teacher group talked quietly among themselves
- One girl turned off the lights
- Girl screamed, “Shut up!”
- Boy yelled, “ Hey what are you all a bunch of animals?
We want some respect. One more word and the next
student goes to the principal.”
Teaching Day: continued
• The Wheel of Fortune
- I participated as a student
- I was leading in the game
• Student –Teacher Group
- Discussion among them
- Decided that I could not participate in the game
- New rules: only grade 7 students who were under 14 years
old could play
• “ It’s not fair you know all the words. The
whole idea is to have all the kids participate
and make them feel like they know the
material. You already know the material.”
Student's Behavior in Classroom: Student – Teacher Instruction
Student
Moran
Olga
Vladi
Date
participated as
teacher
11/12
18/12
11/2
Number of
students he/she
helped
1
1
1
Behavior in
class
Teaching
method used
Explained
quietly.
Normally he is
very loud in
class.
Actively talked
to the students.
Normally she
does not talk in
class.
Elated.
Normally, he
does not
participate. I
have to
constantly tell
him to take his
Verbal
explanation
Verbal and
written
explanation.
Black board
work. He went
to the board and
elaborated on
my examples.
Help received from student-teacher
Student
Olga
Vladi
Roz
Date received Type of help
help from
received
student teacher
11/12
18/12
11/12
Explanation
of the
homework.
Behavior in
class
Smiled.
Normally she
shows no
facial
expressions
at all.
Explanation Calm in
of the
class.
homework. Normally he
is hyperactive
Translation of She was
cue cards
active in
class. Most of
the time she
Material that
was understood
How to fill
out a graph
from the
book
How to teach
vocabulary to
the class
How to spell
words in
Hebrew.
Stage Three: Students-Free Agents
• Streaming of students from special education
- 2 boys + 1 girl (mildly autistic)
• Prior to arrival
- Did not mention the class
- Agreed that class would accept all students regardless
of level
- Discussed helping new students close the gap
• Student-Teacher
- Student sitting next to new student would become their
personal teacher.
- Reward: receive 100 as a quiz every week.
Changes in Students
• Ran
- Weakest student
- Began to work because his friend Yosi came to class
- Increase in self esteem
• Ben
- Behavior problems ( jump out of window from second
story, try to burn classroom)
- Began to come to class on regular basis to help Shai.
- Less behavior problems in school
- Increase in self esteem
Changes in Students: continued
• Tami
- Weak student who slept in class
- No books
- Called autistic girl “ The class retard”
“Use student’s background and world
knowledge”
• Intimate Discussion
- “ How does it feel to be in the lowest level in classes?”
- “ What do other kids say behind your back?”
Changes in Students: continued
• Tami
- Became responsible- brought Metal to class
everyday.
• Metal
- Began to participate
- Smartest girl in class
- Helped Tami
Discussion
• Learning is the result of joint problem-solving
through ZPD and play
• Students no longer passive
• Students
- Increase in motivation
- Feel “smart”
- Responsibility
- Develop both emotionally and intellectually
- Consciously aware of consequences of being
active in class
No longer non-readers
• Teachers believe that underachievers are not
capable of being accountable for their own
learning.
• Using ZPD and Play:
- Students become responsible for both personal
and class mates development
- School is the setting that provides appropriate
tools from society which fosters improvement and
development.
- Teachers must offer tools that enhance learning
and ultimately development