Show Me What You Know
Remember show and tell in elementary school? We could use a little more of that in adult classrooms, just with a little finesse. Research shows that students who have the opportunity to explore new knowledge and communicate what they’ve learned in creative ways increase their achievement (Marzano et al., 2001). What are those ‘creative ways?’
The buzz term is “nonlinguistic representation.” In a recent Tech Notes blog, nonlinguistic representation as an instructional strategy is “defined as expressing an idea in a way that goes beyond the use of words.” Some examples of student products are graphic organizers, sketches, pictographs (stick figures and symbols), concept maps, dramatizations, flowcharts, role-play, posters, music, physical models, computerized simulations, and on and on. The list is really only limited by the teacher or the student’s imagination. The product has to, of course, demonstrate what the student has learned, and if you can follow up with the student verbally explaining all that and how their product represents that knowledge, you get bonus points because you’ve just increased student understanding even more. Sounds like show and tell, huh? Only, the product is student-created and connected to presented information. If left to their own devices, students will choose an activity that suits their learning style (cha-ching), and I hate to sound like a broken record, but if you use choice menus and give them a variety of options for products, students won’t get stuck.
So why don’t we see more nonlinguistic representation as an instructional strategy in our classrooms? They take more time than asking a student to regurgitate information in a paragraph or essay, for one, so in the crush to cram as much material as possible into a curriculum, teachers may feel like they can’t spare the time. It requires more prep time for the teacher too. In a correctional classroom, you have to be creative about supplies. For instance, no scissors, no markers, no glue, no big movements, and the crazy list goes on (I worked in a facility once that didn’t allow staples. smh). Another downside is that students can’t take this kind of work ‘home,’ as in some instances they aren’t even allowed to have pencils in their cells and a limited amount of paper, much less the other supplies they might need. So this kind of work eats into class time.
We shouldn’t let this stop us though. We can be creative in allowing our students to create.
I’m a big fan of instructional strategies that increase learning and meaning. In terms of a very possibly undiagnosed ADHD kid who was smart but bored with writing paragraphs and essays, if I could’ve just drawn my response every now and then, I might have gotten more out of my teachers’ assignments (and maybe would’ve been less of a pain too). If you aren’t using these strategies, or aren’t seeing them in classrooms in your schools, it’s time for some professional development! My team can help with that, of course. :)
I would’ve drawn this blog post, by the way, if it was possible. Just for grins. Enjoy your cup of steaming hot whatever this morning (I hope it’s coffee…or chocolate). The picture accompanying today’s thoughts is my own morning coffee cup perched on the deck of a beautiful cabin on Shell Mountain in Tennessee. I hope your view is equally peaceful.
Cheers!
Marzano, R. J., Pickering, D., & Pollock, J. E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Ascd.
