Teachers must be good communicators to their students for several reasons. First, teachers must covey to their students that teaching and learning are purposeful activities, and they must ensure that students are aware of these purposes. If students think that their learning is meaningless, they are not likely to truly learn the material. In addition, teachers must be able to properly communicate instructions and classroom expectations to students, so that there are not discrepancies. Next, teachers must be skilled at explaining concepts to students. They must anticipate where students will struggle, be able relate the concepts to other things that students are familiar with, and know when to omit particular information. The communicated information must also be accurate and show deep understanding. Teachers must also use vivid and age-appropriate vocabulary. Students often build their vocabulary after the models they hear, so teachers must be good language models. Finally, teachers should be able to provide scaffolds so that all students can understand complex concepts. Elements of this include:
Expectations for Learning
Teachers should clearly communicate the goals of learning. This could be done at the beginning of a lesson with a chart stating what they will be learning, how they will be learning it, and whey they will be learning it. If the lesson is better achieved if students discover the goals for themselves, then the teacher should hold a discussion at the conclusion of the lesson to ensure that all students are aware of what they learned.
Directions and Procedures
Students should know exactly what they are supposed to be doing and when. This is especially important when direct instruction is not being given, such as in individual or group work. These instructions can be provided orally, written, or both, depending on the individual group of students.
Explanations of Content
Skilled teachers should be able to explain concepts using vivid explanations, analogies, metaphors, and connects to student interests. In addition, teachers should be able to provide proper scaffolds to students in order to keep them all in their ZPD. Finally, teachers should be able to anticipate difficult skills for students and provide scaffolds before the problems arise.
Use of Oral and Written Language
For many students, teachers are the best example of proper and rich use of language. Therefore, teachers must take care to use proper, extensive, and age-appropriate vocabulary so that students can emulate it.
Implementing in the Classroom/Artifacts Demonstrating Competency
Expectations for Learning
Teachers should clearly communicate the goals of learning. This could be done at the beginning of a lesson with a chart stating what they will be learning, how they will be learning it, and whey they will be learning it. If the lesson is better achieved if students discover the goals for themselves, then the teacher should hold a discussion at the conclusion of the lesson to ensure that all students are aware of what they learned.
Directions and Procedures
Students should know exactly what they are supposed to be doing and when. This is especially important when direct instruction is not being given, such as in individual or group work. These instructions can be provided orally, written, or both, depending on the individual group of students.
Explanations of Content
Skilled teachers should be able to explain concepts using vivid explanations, analogies, metaphors, and connects to student interests. In addition, teachers should be able to provide proper scaffolds to students in order to keep them all in their ZPD. Finally, teachers should be able to anticipate difficult skills for students and provide scaffolds before the problems arise.
Use of Oral and Written Language
For many students, teachers are the best example of proper and rich use of language. Therefore, teachers must take care to use proper, extensive, and age-appropriate vocabulary so that students can emulate it.
Implementing in the Classroom/Artifacts Demonstrating Competency
- When giving directions, teacher provides written and oral instructions
- After directions are given, students tell their neighbor what they are supposed to do
- Teacher relates a concept to multiple interests outside the classroom
- When teaching about the letters b and d, teacher has student who plays baseball explain how he/she uses a bat to hit a ball. The teacher then explains that many students get confused with the letters b and d, but they can remember it because b is a bat hitting a ball.
- Teacher has a vocabulary word of the week and uses that word in his/her language as much as possible
- At the beginning of a lesson, teacher displays a chart that explains what the students will be learning, how they will be learning it, and why they will be learning it
- When talking about hurricanes, teacher vividly describes it, shows pictures and videos of a real hurricane, and tells students to think about the biggest storm they have ever been in. The teacher then asks a few students to describe the storm they are visualizing. Then the teacher explains that a hurricane would be like combining all of those huge storms together.
- Photo labeled for reuse
- (2018). Static.pdesas.org. Retrieved 3 April 2018, from http://static.pdesas.org/content/documents/danielson_rubric_53.pdf