Abby Conner

April 30, 2015

Teach Like a Champion
ENTRY #1
Technique #1 No Opt Out
Description In the technique, No Opt Out, I learned how to avoid the phrase I dont know
turning into a way to get out of answering a question. If students do not know the answer to a
certain question, the teacher can call on another student and then return to the first student to
repeat the answer to the question.
Observation/Implementation I have seen this technique used a lot in my placement at Phillips
Academy. The fifth graders were reviewing for testing and the teacher used this strategy to
ensure that the students were learning as much as possible. I can see myself implementing this
strategy in my classroom. I am not a fan of the I dunno response and I can see this quickly
putting an end to it.

Technique # 6 Begin with the End

Description The technique, Beginning with the End, emphasizes being purposeful in planning
lessons. I should not plan lessons and activities the night before the lesson, I should plan
objectives and I should plan them in advance. There was a nice list that summed up the strategy
at the end. 1. Progress from unit planning to lesson planning. 2. Use a well-framed objective to

define the goal of each lesson. 3. Determine how youll assess you effectiveness in reaching your
goal. 4. Decide on your activity.
Observation/Implementation I have seen this strategy and implemented this strategy numerous
times! Our teachers are always telling us to Begin with the end in mind! I have seen our
professors and our cooperating teachers utilize this strategy in the classrooms. I have also
implemented this strategy numerous times. In every lesson, minilesson, even book that I read to
the students, there has to be a purpose behind it. I begin with the end in mind for most, if not
every, assignment that I am given in class.

ENTRY #2
Technique #12 The Hook
Description The hook is a technique that is meant to grasp students attention. The hook is
meant to be very short. It is meant to engage the students in a few minutes. The hook is meant to
yield to the teaching portion of the lesson. The hook is energetic and optimistic. It focuses on the
greatness of Shakespeare; not what is hard about Shakespeare. There are six different types of
hook that the book describes in detail: story, analogy, prop, media, status, and challenge.
Observation/Implementation I saw this technique a lot in my kindergarten placement. The
students needed to be hooked several times a day to focus their attention back on their
learning. The teacher used a variety of hooks. Her favorite ones to use fell into the story, media,
challenge, and status categories.

I have used this in my lessons and mini lessons. There is always an engagement piece that
needs to happen. Students attention needs to be focused on the learning activity before they
realize that they are learning.

Technique #22 Cold Call

Description The idea behind the technique, Cold Call, is that in order to make engaged
participation the expectation, call on students whether their hand is raised or not. It allows for
you to check for understanding effectively and systematically. It increases speed in the pace of
the lesson and the rate at which you can cover the material. It allows you to distribute work more
evenly around the room to signal to students that they must participate. It is predictable. The
more that it is implemented in the classroom, the less jarring it will be when students who are not
raising their hand are called on. It fosters positive engagement in the classroom.
Observation/Implementation I have observed this in my kindergarten classroom. The teacher
would call on random students whether their hands were raised or not. The teacher would
sometimes warn the students that everyone was going to have a turn and to be ready to be
called on. I did see this strategy some in my fifth grade classroom at Phillips Academy, but not as
much. The students were reviewing for testing and the teacher seemed to call only on students
who she knew would know the answer.
I have not implemented this strategy during teaching mostly because I was more timid at
the beginning of the year. I felt that I could have implemented it towards the end of the year but I
struggled with learning the students names.

ENTRY #3
Technique #3 Stretch It
Description This technique calls for teachers to extend questioning students beyond the right
answer. It asks students to explain their thinking or to apply their knowledge in new ways. This
strategy is good for differentiation and seeing students strengths and weaknesses. Some of the
more effective types of Stretch It questions are: ask why or how, ask for another way to answer,
ask for a better word, ask for evidence, ask students to integrate a related skill, and ask students
to apply the same skill in a new setting.
Observation/Implementation I have seen this in my kindergarten placement at Trace. The
teacher would ask the students to explain their thinking, have them relate concepts back to
themselves or experiences that they have had, and ask for other ways to answer the same
problem. I have seen this strategy in my fifth grade placement as well. The students were
preparing for testing so the teacher would keep finding new ways of having the students interact
with the information to help them make connections and to remember what they had already
learned.

Technique #37 What to Do

Description This technique focus on the way that teachers give directions. Directions need to
be specific, concrete, sequential, and observable. The clarity of the instructions helps the students
be able to understand and perform them better. Telling a student pay attention is vague and
students might not know how to pay attention. Tell the students to have their eyes on you or to

put their feet in front of them. These are concrete actions that students can implement and
observable for the teacher.
Observation/Implementation I have seen this technique used countless times in my clinical
placements and at Shades Cahaba Elementary extended day program. The teacher who oversees
the lunchroom during snack time always gives directions to students in this manner. She breaks
down what the student was doing wrong and then tells him/her ways that they can correct
themselves to avoid punishment. I definitely implement this at EDP and in my clinical
placements. The students respond very well to this type of discipline.

ENTRY #4
Technique #7 4 Ms
Description This technique describes four Ms that learning objectives need to be successful.
They must be manageable, measureable, made first, and most important. Using this technique
ensures that the objectives are able to be taught within one lesson, are able to be measured, are
made before the activity, and are the most important thing that the students will be learning
during the lesson. All of these Ms must be taken into consideration when writing an objective.
Observation/Implementation I never observed my teacher writing lesson plans, but I did
observe the effects of their lesson plans. All of their objectives for the students were evidently
seen in their lessons. My fifth grade teacher even posted them on the board for the students to see
as well. I have always written my objectives using the four Ms. I did not know I was at the time,
but the way we were taught to write the objectives basically covers the four Ms.

Technique # 33 On Your Mark

Description This technique is about ensuring that students are prepared for class. It would like
for the teacher to set the expectation about how class is to begin every period. The teacher has a
list of five items or fewer that the student needs to take care of before class begins. These items
can vary by the preference of the teacher. The book emphasizes that students not having a pencil
is not the same as the students forgetting to sharpen their pencil. The book suggests having a
station where students can get extra paper or pencils when they need them as long as the paper
and pencils are taken before class begins.
Observation/Implementation I have not seen this technique at my clinical placements. The
students in my kindergarten classroom at Trace were given paper every time they needed to write
something, there were pencils and crayons at their desks for them to share, and they each had
their own box with markers and crayons that lived in their desks. This strategy seems like it
works best with older students. I did not see this implemented at Phillips Academy. I can see
myself using this technique in my classroom. I can see myself having a transition time that
would act like a reset for students to clear their desks and take out a pencil.

ENTRY #5
Technique #17 Ratio
Description This technique discusses the ratio of teacher to student thinking. A successful
lesson is rarely marked by a teachers getting a good intellectual workout at the front of the
room. Push more and more of the cognitive work out to the students as soon as they are ready.
Students are the ones who need to be doing the thinking. The book provided several methods that
teachers can apply during discussions: unbundle, half-statement, whats next, feign ignorance,
repeated examples, rephrase or add on, whys and hows, supporting evidence, batch process, and
discussion objectives. The author does state two caveats about using this technique. The first one
is that increased doses of cognitive work should come as soon as students are ready but not
before. The second is that increased doses of cognitive work should be given with constant and
vigilant discipline in making that work focused and productive.
Observation/Implementation I have seen this in my kindergarten placement. The teacher
provided lots of examples and she did a lot of rephrasing and adding on. She feigned ignorance
where applicable, but she did not do it all the time. I have also seen this in my fifth grade
placement. The teacher would use this strategy to help her students do the review work for
testing instead of her. She often feigned ignorance and asked why and how. I have implemented
this strategy in my lessons and minilessons that I have taught. The students need to be the ones
doing the thinking. This is one thing that our professors have drilled into us. The students are the
ones that need to be learning so they are the ones that need to be thinking.

Technique #38 Strong Voice

Description This technique is about the voice and presence that teachers have when teaching
students. Some teachers have it others dont, but all want it. There are five principles of a
strong voice that are outlined in the book: economy of language, do not talk over, do not engage,
square up/stand still, and quiet power. There were several good suggestions as to how to manage
the classroom. The one that I liked best was to trail off in the middle of a sentence to gain
students attention. It makes them realize that what you have to say is important and that you will
wait for them to finish. Another one that I liked was posture. I think that sometimes we forget
that posture is important. We spend more time slouched over our computer screens than sitting
up straight. The way that the teacher talks to students is important. The teacher needs to stand up
straight with shoulders back, make eye contact with the students, and maybe even keep her hands
behind her back. This will communicate with the students that what the teacher has to say is
important.
Observation/Implementation I have observed this in my fifth grade placement. The teachers
favorite phrase was Ill wait on you. She would add this after she trailed off in the middle of a
sentence. This got the students attention and it also let them know that she would not start until
the students were ready. I have also seen this in my kindergarten placement. The students would
get excited about something and the teacher would stop in the middle of a sentence. The students
were just learning about the social cues of school so they would all tell each other to hush and it
was quite precious. I have also seen this at my work at Shades Cahaba EDP. The head teacher in
the lunchroom has this strategy down to an art form. I have learned so much from watching her. I
was reading the examples of the teacher speaking to a student in this technique and I could hear
her saying the words.