Unfortunately, more often than most of us like to admit, this is not the case. One reason why this occurs is that we often forget to model what we want from our students. Students need to see examples of high-quality work so they will have examples to follow. When they have these quality examples in front of them, they are more likely to reproduce similar items.
Some teachers think that modeling means that you are doing students' work for them. This is not the case. It simply means that you are showing them what you expect.
For example, let’s say that you are looking for a new job and need to update your resume. The first thing most of us would do is go online and study samples of well-written resumes. This provides us with clues as to whether or not we are on the right track with our own resumes. We then would take the high quality samples we found online and use it to guide our own writing. The end result is a much better resume.
Why would students need anything different? If you are teaching students how to write a thesis statement, then show them examples of high-quality thesis statements. Then write one for them. Let them see you struggle and verbalize for them what is going on in you head. When they hear what you are thinking as you progress through the writing process, they will imitate you while they are writing.
If you have assigned a science experiment, model the steps they need to take before they begin. If they watch an expert carry out the steps correctly, they are more likely to complete them correctly and gain a greater understanding than if they just read instructions in a manual.
Modeling is an important part of teaching, yet is also a part that is often overlooked. While it is unnecessary to model every assignment in a class period, it is helpful to model as much as possible. When students see expert work, they are more likely to produce expert work.
