Sharing Student Reflections in a Debrief Circle

Are you working on your closures, but getting thoroughly sick of exit slips?  A fun closure strategy is the Debrief Circle, demonstrated here in this Teaching Channel video from Expeditionary Learning (note: you may have to create an account to watch the full video).

In this two minute-video, the teacher has her students form two circles, one inside the other, each with the same number of students. The students face one another; each holds written responses to reflection questions. When the teacher calls time, the students share with the person directly across from them the answer to the first question.  One circle then rotates, so that students now have new partners, and they then discuss the second question.  In the video, the teacher has students answer four questions:

• What would you have changed in the lab you did?
• What did you notice?
• What did you wonder?
• What did it mean to meet the learning target?

While the video doesn't show this, the teacher could take notes on what he/she hears, and use those notes either as a quick summary at the end of the period or to have students share specific targeted responses with the large group.

This would be a creative way for students to reflect, to practice their communication skills, and to deepen their understanding of the topic!

What Does Lesson Closure Include?

Last week's Teaching Tip was an introduction to lesson closures, which we compared to "sticking the landing" as a gymnast.  You were given some end-of-lesson strategies or formative assessments to incorporate into your lesson closures. Here is the link to that Teaching Tip in case you would like to reread it.

This week we continue with the concept of closure. Ann Sipe of Grandview School District created a handout entitled "Lesson Closure with Examples, or 40 Ways to Leave a Lesson."  You can read her entire handout, along with 40 formative assessment/closure activities here.

We have also captured some of Sipe's great ideas below and added a few of our own:

What is Lesson Closure?

• what the instructor does to wrap up the lesson in a meaningful way and smoothly transition to the next lesson
• a quick review to remind students what they have learned (or should have learned) in terms of meeting the learning target. This works best when students are doing the thinking, not when the instructor is summarizes for them
• a part of the lesson that includes formative assessment to tell you:
• how well students have met your learning target, can summarize main ideas, can evaluate class processes, can answer questions posed at the beginning of the period, and can link to past and future learning
• if additional practice is needed
• whether you need to re-teach the concepts or skill, or can move on to new learning
• not complete without student self-assessment and reflection against the learning target and success criteria
• an opportunity for students to draw conclusions, connect learning to past learning or personal experiences, make inferences, ask questions, deepen their understanding of concepts, and begin to draw connections to upcoming lessons
• something you can do in five minutes
• something that takes place at the end of the learning target, which may or may not be at the end of the period

Sticking the Landing: Closure in the Classroom

Sticking the landing. This phrase is typically used when referring to gymnasts as they finish their routine with a perfect landing. 

This phrase also applies to closure in the classroom.

Tyler Reese, an educational blogger, writes: “How a lesson ends can affect a learner's ability to organize, evaluate, and store information presented in class. Although we give emphasis to hooking students' interest at the start of instruction, the end is often hurried and overlooked. These emergency landings leave students struggling to absorb newly acquired knowledge as they rush out the door to the drone of homework reminders and announcements. Teachers tend to subconsciously undervalue closure; as a result, they don't plan for it and miss out on the opportunity to collect rich learner feedback.”

One take-away from this article that many teachers found comforting was that closure doesn’t have to be at the end of the lesson. It can, in fact, happen during a transition in the middle of class or even at the beginning of the period the next day! Providing enough time for kids to reflect on the days learning is just as important as what they are reflecting about.

We can have the most amazing lesson with student talk, engaged students, and critical thinking. We could be on fire with our teacher moves, questioning strategies and checks for understanding. But, if we don’t give kids enough time to reflect and connect to that new learning we would expect the same results a gymnast would if they didn’t stick the landing-- a less than perfect lesson.

Start sticking the landing in your classroom by reading about Reese’s strategies to plan routine closure in your classroom! Need strategies for a closure activity? Visit our formative assessment blogs for ideas!

Super-Easy Strategy to Help You Save Time for a Lesson Closure

Why should teachers build in time for lesson closures?

Lesson closure can enhance “a learner’s ability to organize, evaluate, and store information presented in class” (Reese). We focus on learning targets, but to maximize learning, we should also make sure that students have adequate time to process their progress toward the learning target and to set goals at the end of the lesson.   

The problem is this:  How does a teacher keep track of the time and not end up accidentally teaching all the way to the bell? 

Watch this SUPER-EASY strategy used in the classroom of THS Math teacher Malinda Shirley.  All she did was to recruit a student to call a five-minute warning at the end of the period each day, so that she always has time for a closure. Brilliant!

To learn more about closures: “Road Tested / Lesson Closure: Stick the Landing” by Tyler Reese.
 (http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/education-update/jun14/vol56/num06/Road-Tested-~-Lesson-Closure@-Stick-the-Landing.aspx)
 

 Visit our blog

Three W's Closure Strategy

This is a simple strategy that provides students a chance to reflect on their learning and teachers an opportunity to gain important information to inform future instruction (6.3).

Students write or discuss:

What?	So What?	Now What?
What did we learn today?	What is the relevancy, importance, or usefulness?	How does it fit into what we are learning?   Does it affect our thinking?  Can we predict where we are going?

Ending Your Lesson Using Best Practices

 Coaches and administrators throughout the district have been going into classrooms for the yearly spring Data Collection, observing and recording best practices throughout the lesson.  If the observer is in the classroom at the end of the period, he/she looks for best practices in the lesson closure. The benefits of a strong lesson closure are well-documented and can be summarized as follows:  Closure summarizes the current lesson, allows for a check to see “did my kids get it,”and helps inform teacher planning for the next lesson.  Closure provides that critical bridge that brings sense and sequence to a series of lessons within a unit.

What do coaches and administrators look for in a lesson closure?

Coaches and administrators in Tahoma School District look for the following when they are in an end-of-lesson Data Collection:

If you have questions about what these look like in a lesson, please contact your  building coach or administrator.

What do others say about lesson closure?
Dr. Rod Lucero, Associate Professor in the School of Education and the Associate Director for the School of Teacher Education and Principal Preparation (STEPP) at Colorado State University, says that “closure activities also help define both your teaching agenda and the intended learning progression, weaving today's lesson with yesterday's while providing a look ahead at what tomorrow's will bring. As a deliberate part of your planning process, these activities summarize the current lesson, provide it context, and build anticipation for the next. Properly implemented, they will help you establish and maintain course momentum. Reinforcing what students have learned, closure activities also serve as an assessment tool with which to evaluate your students retention level—Did they get it?—as well as your own effectiveness.”   (http://teaching.colostate.edu/tips/tip.cfm?tipid=148).

How do lesson closures relate to TPEP?
Allowing a few minutes for a brief summary and student assessment and/or reflection not only meets Criteria 6.1, “Self-assessment of learning connected to the success criteria,” but also meets 6.3, “Formative Assessment Opportunities”; 6.5, “Student use of assessment data”; and 3.2, “Ownership of Learning.”  All of this for a brief time-out to synthesize the day’s learning!

Next week:  Fun ideas to liven up your closures