The importance of tone and volume

The teacher voice is something that many teachers are told they need to learn.  I think sometimes the 'teacher voice' is a catchall phrase that practicum teachers can have some difficulty learning.. I know I did as a practicum teacher.

Being soft spoken, it is something that I had to approach.  My first teacher instructor was a shouter - to her classroom control was maintained through a combination of fear and volume.  It was something that I was poorly suited to and found difficult to emulate.

My second teacher instructor maintained her classroom through warmth and caring.  She had an ability to develop a rapport with her students and her classes liked her - much of this I would attribute to her sunny, kinaesthetic Phys Ed inspired background.  Not being the warmest of people myself and a little awkward at times in new social occassions,  it too proved difficult to emulate, although I did take much away from that practicum that I have tried to incorporate into my teaching.  I could see how her approach made it easier to break down barriers and reach that zone of intervention.

My third practicum was nearly my undoing, where the teacher instructor was a disciplinarian - a person I highly respect for the results he achieved in his classroom.  I also taught the class next door once a week and found enforcing this approach was difficult - as setting bounds on classes not seen often was difficult - and is a regular issue in teaching high school.  Whilst being observed in this class, my practicum nearly terminated after a lesson failed to achieve lesson outcomes due to behavioural issues.

Yet from each I was able to take a little bit of what I wanted to do (and what not to do) and established my own style of teaching, authoritarian but with a degree of warmth used to encourage students to achieve above their own understanding of their ability.  Raising my voice a little into assertive tone brings attention quickly - raising my voice above this brings looks of shock and silence for half an hour.  I think my students realise that I care about their performance as long as they are pursuing the methods I describe for success and realise that I care about non compliance when it effects their grades.

Anyhow, assertive delivery is a powerful tool in the arsenal of a teacher.  Use of the tone usually requires a number of things

1. establishment of an attention spot at the front of the room
2. a quick scan of the room (seeking eye contact and indication that instruction will follow)
3. a pause (to give students an opportunity to finish and look up)
4. a statement to gain attention (eyes front, pens down, look here or similar statement) delivered without intonation at a slightly high volume level than instructional voice (a voice that can be heard at the back of the room).
5. a second scan of the room to identify non compliant students in conjunction with a number of low key responses for students that need additional attention (hand signals, name, indication to neighbour)
6. a willingness to discuss consequences with students and move students permanently that do not respond after multiple processes

Once attention can be gained and maintained easily, delivery of materials becomes considerably easier.  It's not really the obscure secret many teachers make it out to be nor is it an optimal strategy for all teachers.  It is one of the more successful strategies for practicum teachers to use during practicum where more reliable and effective rapport based strategies really take too long to successfully implement.

Being predominantly a rapport based teacher, I do empathise with practicum teachers that are not 'type A' individuals sport stars and fashion victims that students immediately warm to.  My fear with the current practicum system is that many of the highest potential teachers are lost to the system as they do not have the time to develop a reputation amongst the student population as a great teacher rather than as a new cool teacher.

I love being a math teacher - as sportiness and fashion are rarely problems for us.  No expectation of being cool here :-)

Practicum Teachers

There is another side of taking practicum teachers - the side where the teacher instructors benefit.  A good practicum teacher is worth their weight in gold.  Some of the reasons for taking a practicum student:

• They are the bees of education, cross pollinating ideas from one school to another and from their own educational background
• They bring enthusiasm into the classroom
• They are an extra pair of eyes, ears and hands
• They lack pre-conceived notions and challenge the status quo
• They bring fresh ideas, a level of innocence and hope
• They lack some of our cynicism and crustiness
• It forces us to re-evaluate our own teaching practices
• They bring youthfulness into teaching staff
• It provides some longevity to our own learning when seen in their teaching

Most of all they can be a lot of fun. Once in your fourth or fifth year, I'd heartily recommend taking one for a term.

Lesson plans

I think every practicum teacher goes through questioning why lesson plans are useful.  Some find them odious and don't see the value of creating something that rarely executes as expected.  As a teacher instructor, I find lesson plans a real insight into what is intended by a practicum teacher.  As a tool it forces the practicum student to think about what they intend to do, before doing it.  The lesson plan also provides an opportunity for feedback between the teacher instructor and practicum teacher that can be done before a lesson is run (rather than the trite comment given by teacher instructors with the benefit of hindsight after the lesson).

A quick look at a lesson plan can provide a teacher instructor a wealth of information about how a practicum teacher is travelling.  Here are some things that I look at within a lesson plan.

• Has the teacher connected the lesson to prior learning?
• Is timing adequately considered?
• Is the scope of the lesson being managed?
• Are the main teaching points identified?
• Is the level proposed appropriate for the students?
• Is there adequate opportunity for students to demonstrate competence?

Without a reasonably detailed and well thought out lesson plan, practicum  teachers are placed on the back foot, forever reacting to issues rather than predicting issues and developing skills and knowledge to compensate.  By setting clear goals for performance before a lesson practicum teachers are able to see improvement measured against the goals of the lesson plan.

A note of warning, lesson plans on practicum have a finite life, as practicum teachers start taking full load, timing constraints limit their effectiveness (and can cause burnout towards the end of ten week practicum if detailed lesson plans are pursued).   The full benefit of a lesson plan is gained whilst a practicum students is ramping up. Even with this limitation, lesson plans (for all their odious nature), tied to reflective practices after a lesson, provide practicum teachers a platform to develop their fledgling skills into skilled teaching practitioners.

Classroom presence

I asked a colleague to talk to my practicum student about teaching.. Often a colleague has different viewpoints on teaching and can get to the nub of a problem faster than I can. There was some great advice about establishing presence in a classroom.

Establish space between the whiteboard and the class >1.5m
- use this as performance space. Move towards the class for emphasis and towards the board when teaching.

Establish modes of voice.
- develop a range of tones that can be used to indicate pleasure/displeasure, tied to a range of volumes

Develop affectations to your teaching
- Tapping a whiteboard marker can be more effective than shouting, as can removing or looking over your glasses.

Change your travel path
- ensure that your travel path is giving attention to all students and is not just a convenient way to travel a room.

All of these things will change your presence in the room and were good ideas. I would add a few more - wait for quiet before starting instruction (be patient.. 5 seconds is longer than you think), establish a spot so students know to be quiet when you are standing in it when waiting for attention, ensure that you are giving positive and negative feedback, be warm but not overly friendly and welcome students on entry.

I'm sure there are many more!