The following list is not meant as an exhaustive guide to instructing students. It is provided as food for thought and will hopefully be of use to some of you.
1) Begin your week by “nesting.” Students need time upon arrival to become familiar with and comfortable in their new surroundings. Take time during your first class to discuss the week and what they will be doing and to answer questions they may have.
2) Use the students’ names. They will feel that you know them and care about them.
3) Catch them being good. Praise the group and individuals when they do well. (Be careful not to over praise an individual. Telling the other students that they should behave “just like Suzy” can be counterproductive—and not necessarily appreciated by Suzy.)
4) Dignify wrong answers. If a child gives a wrong answer, give him or her credit for trying, and if possible, relate their answer to the subject matter. For example, if you are asking the students for an example of a decomposer and a student answers “manzanita,” you could respond by saying, “the manzanita is a vital part of this ecosystem, so you’re on the right track. However, I’m looking for a living organism that would help break down the manzanita into soil after it dies.”
5) Give students a second chance to answer correctly. You could follow-up on the situation above by giving all the students an opportunity to share with their neighbors some examples of decomposers. Once it is clear that everyone has an answer, tell the student (above) that you will give him/her another opportunity and then, after you’ve taken an answer or two from other students, call on that student again.
6) Don’t “zap” students. If a student is misbehaving, try and redirect the behavior in subtle ways such as moving closer to that individual, utilizing his or her name in a sentence during instruction (such as “let’s say we were walking on the trail and Johnny came across a deer track…”), or a gentle hand on the shoulder. If you must address the child directly and aggressively, pull him/her away from the group. If you overtly discipline a child in front of the group, others may be afraid to participate for fear of the same treatment.
7) Phrase your questions in a manner that is nonthreatening. It is better to ask, “who would like to share with the group…” than to ask “who knows the answer to…” as the latter implies that if you don’t raise your hand, you don’t know.
8) Allow for thinking time. After you ask a question or give instructions give the students time to process. If you give instructions and ask for questions but do not provide wait time, children who process slower than others may not understand and will feel lost once the activity starts. Students who are not given adequate time to consider when answering a question will similarly feel left out.
9) Don’t repeat answers. When a student makes a comment, let his/her comment stand on its own. If you repeat the answer, the students will be trained to listen only to the teacher and you will steal some of the “thunder” away from the student. If you think the others did not hear, have the student repeat the answer. (Note: this technique may not work when addressing 200 people, but is very effective with a trail group.)
10) Give the students choices. Make sure the choices you give are acceptable to you. For instance, you can say “today we are going to climb ‘Daredevil Hill,’ would you like to do that before or after lunch?” Giving some choice in activities, or at least the order, gives the students some control and buy-in for their week.