inspiring ways. While sharing content is indeed important, it is equally important that teachers design a classroom structure that creates enthusiasm and excitement for learning. If teachers do not form a curious community of learners, the most crucial content will go unheard and unlearned. When teachers do not deliver content meaningfully, students get bored, tired, and frustrated. According to a 2010 German study, “Boredom ‘instigates a desire to escape from the situation’ that causes boredom” (Jason, 2017). Therefore, as students become increasingly bored, they look for ways to leave the classroom—the bathroom break, the trip to the nurse’s office, the phone call home, or even daydreaming—anything to escape.
While observing, listening, and learning with teachers in classrooms, workshops, and graduate classes, I have noticed an emphasis on the immediate delivery of content but not necessarily a structured method with which to deliver it, implement it, or assess it such that it holds students’ interest. Having such a structured method benefits both novice and veteran teachers because students will thrive knowing what the upcoming lesson will be about, how the teacher will implement that lesson, and how it will be assessed. For example, if a ninth-grade English lesson is focused on writing an academic essay, and the teacher introduces it in just those words, “Good morning students, today we will write an academic essay,” students might be unclear, overwhelmed, and anxious. They might have questions, like the following: What is an academic essay? How do I write one? What background do I need to know? How will I know if I’ve written a good one? Such questions can form a barrier to engagement when students aren’t confident in receiving answers. Before the content is even delivered to students, teachers can engage students to want to be a part of the learning process by establishing a structure in which students know they will receive a clear road map with an opportunity to ask questions about the directions, a chance to see a model of the finished work, and the opportunity to reflect on the process.
Designing an organized, engaging, and motivating classroom experience does not have to be overwhelming or worrisome. In this book, I present the FRAME model, which is an easy-to-follow protocol that will help teachers support all students of all abilities. FRAME is a helpful acronym that includes five components: (1) focus, (2) reach, (3) ask, (4) model, and (5) encourage. This protocol for teachers and students clarifies learning expectations and provides a consistent structure of support. FRAME eliminates wasted time and helps the teacher stay true to the lesson while students move systematically through the learning. By eliminating the element of surprise, teachers can set up students to feel enthusiastic, excited, and curious. In short, they will be ready to learn.
Teachers can apply FRAME in three distinct ways. First, they can utilize it within the first ten minutes of class; FRAME offers teachers and their students a comprehensible opener that ensures all students understand what is being asked of them during the lesson. Second, during the lesson, applying each component of FRAME offers students the opportunity to solidify their understanding of learning expectations and demonstrate what they are expected to know and be able to do. In essence, FRAME offers teachers a highly adaptable framework to structure learning for students that lets them develop understanding of learning goals and demonstrate that learning in real and relevant ways. Third, teachers can use FRAME to improve the efficacy of their own classroom instruction through peer observations and feedback. To facilitate this third process, the tool “FRAME Peer Observation and Feedback Form for Teachers” (pages 105–107) offers teachers a valuable resource to collaborate with each other on their journey toward implementing FRAME with their classroom instruction.
Over the rest of this introduction, I will introduce you to the individual components of FRAME, the audience I’ve designed it for, details about its creation, and a primer for what you can expect from the rest of this book.
The Components of FRAME
The following text briefly explains each component of the FRAME model; upcoming chapters will investigate these components based on the three specific usage scenarios I just outlined.
Focus
If you want optimal learning to take place, it’s vital that you focus your class on the goals for a day’s lesson. A focused and structured classroom, one that is prepared for learning, helps students take the guesswork out of what comes next. Derrick Meador (2018) explains, “A structured classroom often translates to a safe classroom, one where students can enjoy themselves and focus on learning. In a structured learning environment, students are more likely to thrive and experience personal and academic growth.” Using the FRAME model, the teacher establishes this focus by creating a learning intention and success criteria for each lesson that are student friendly and student centered; these help focus students of all abilities and all grade levels on their own progress and development.
Reach
Reach gives each student the personal attention that is so important in developing a sense of classroom community. Educator Janice Wyatt-Ross (2018) clarifies, “School leaders and classroom teachers should view their school or classroom spaces as culturally inclusive classroom communities where everyone is welcome.” Acknowledging each student’s presence with an engaging smile, individual eye contact, and his or her preferred name (pronounced correctly) supports a student’s sense of self within the community. When you reach out to them, your students will be energetic community members and know that you will meet their ideas, critiques, successes, and challenges with respect, empathy, and mindfulness as they learn to determine and become their best selves.
Ask
It’s no wonder teachers get discouraged when students don’t seamlessly move through a lesson; often, this occurs because students have no idea where the learning is going, a frustrating experience for both teacher and student. Students will succeed at staying true to the learning intention and the success criteria only if they understand what you are asking them to know and be able to do. Therefore, it is important to teach students how to ask questions and analyze the expectations for the work they will soon undertake. If students do not understand the work ahead, as Connie M. Moss, Susan M. Brookhart, and Beverly A. Long (2011) write, “The teacher will always be the only one providing the direction, focusing on getting students to meet the instructional objectives.” Teachers need to demonstrate how to ask robust questions and how to analyze the what of the learning intention and success criteria through a series of clarifying and probing questions. These clarifying and probing questions help students paraphrase the learning intention and success criteria, illustrating how to dive deep into the tasks ahead and why those tasks are valuable.
Model
When teachers model and provide instruction on the task, students are no longer unsure of what the finished product should include or how to arrive at it. When directions overwhelm students, or they get lost in the myriad steps to get their work done, they may become frustrated and check out. By modeling the process, the teacher takes the mystery and frustration out of students’ work. Additionally, Marlynn K. Clayton (2010) expresses that a teacher breaking down a task “sends the message that you value the process of learning, not just the products.” During this component, the teacher might show two or three pieces of the task along with the final product so that students visualize what the task is all about. For example, if the finished product is a data table showing the effects of climate change on water resources, an eleventh-grade environmental science teacher might begin with a list of how to shrink one’s carbon footprint; then, he might offer two or three scholarly websites as a way for students to gather information; and finally, he might show an example of what a completed data table looks like. Modeling is meant as a brief overview of the upcoming work (not a detailed demonstration) to help students visualize both the finished product and the steps necessary to get there so they see that they, too, can accomplish the learning intention. As literacy specialist Rebecca Alber (2014) suggests, showing the finished product first “can guide students through each step of the process with the model of the finished product in hand.”
Encourage
