Whenever I've thought of Direct Instruction in the past, I've pictured a teacher standing in the front of a classroom, droning on and on about something completely irrelevant, while half the class is sleeping, staring off into space, or completing their math homework that's due next period. Until just recently, I've thought of it as boring teaching, I never realized there was a proper term for this strategy or style of teaching.
This past week, however, I've learned that Direct Instruction goes much deeper then a teacher lecturing for hours about who-knows-what. When done properly, it's actually a very effective strategy to deliver a large volume of information in a short amount of time. It uses time efficiently, guarantees specific learning outcomes and is easy to implement and automate.
Broken down into the simplest terms, Direct Instruction is essentially, "I Do It, We Do It, You Do It."
- "I Do It" is the teacher demonstrating (or modeling) the information to be learned
- "We Do It" is the guided practice where the class practices the work together and the teacher is able to monitor the learning (and adjust accordingly)
- "You Do It" is the student demonstrating mastery of the content
If you've read this far, perhaps you're interested in learning a bit more about what a Direct Instruction lesson plan contains. A successful lesson plan will always begin with the Overview & Standards and Goals & Objectives. What follows next is the general outline that a Direct Instruction lesson plan will follow.
A. The Anticipatory Set - You must capture your students attention before the lesson even begins, otherwise you've lost the battle before you've even started!!
B. Information Presentation and Modeling -
C. Checking for Understanding (Active Processing) -
D. Guided Practice -
E. Assessment and Evaluation -
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