Pedagogy. 2nd Edition

Design techniques that have easy and difficult aspects or items.

Solicit responses to easier items from students who are below the norm and to harder items from those above the norm.

Try to design techniques that will involve all students actively.

Use judicious selection to assign members of small groups so that each group has either (i) a deliberately heterogeneous range of ability or (ii) a homoge- neous range (to encourage equal participation).

Use small-group and pair work time to circulate and give extra attention to those below or above the norm (see Chapter 12 on Group Work principles).

Student Talk and Teacher Talk

Give careful consideration in your lesson plan to the balance between student talk and teacher talk. Our natural inclination as teachers is to talk too much! As you plan your lesson, and as you perhaps script out some aspects of it, see to it that stu- dents have a chance to talk, to produce language, and even to initiate their own topics and ideas.

6. 
   Adapting to an Established Curriculum
   

Because this book is aimed at teachers in training, specific information about curriculum development and revision is not included here. The assumption is that your primary task is not to write a new curriculum or to revise an existing one, but to follow an established curriculum and adapt to it in terms of your particular group of students, their needs, and their goals, as well as your own philosophy of teaching.