Teachers Changing Teaching

How Can We Use Front-loading to Introduce Rather Than Answer?

July 13, 2021 Jamie Collins, PhD, Natalie Davey, and Rachel Evans Episode 9
How Can We Use Front-loading to Introduce Rather Than Answer?
Teachers Changing Teaching
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Teachers Changing Teaching
How Can We Use Front-loading to Introduce Rather Than Answer?
Jul 13, 2021 Episode 9
Jamie Collins, PhD, Natalie Davey, and Rachel Evans

In this episode, Jamie expounds upon the idea of frontloading before reading a class text.  If reading is meant to be a learning, exploratory, and organic process, what is the purpose of frontloading before students read a text? Jamie discusses her philosophy of providing students with broad historical and contextual details and waiting to discuss other matters until they naturally come up in the text. Too frequently we have equated struggle with stupidity in our classrooms and have taken this responsibility and ownership away from students. How can we instead use frontloading to introduce rather than answer?

Today at school, consider this: When you engage in frontloading, are you answering the very questions that the text seeks to address? What is too little or too much frontloading?



Show Notes

In this episode, Jamie expounds upon the idea of frontloading before reading a class text.  If reading is meant to be a learning, exploratory, and organic process, what is the purpose of frontloading before students read a text? Jamie discusses her philosophy of providing students with broad historical and contextual details and waiting to discuss other matters until they naturally come up in the text. Too frequently we have equated struggle with stupidity in our classrooms and have taken this responsibility and ownership away from students. How can we instead use frontloading to introduce rather than answer?

Today at school, consider this: When you engage in frontloading, are you answering the very questions that the text seeks to address? What is too little or too much frontloading?