Hands On Heads Literacy Coaching 

Dear Principals, 

The other week, I received an enormous (and unexpected) amount of feedback following a post I shared online.

Often, teachers think they are explicitly teaching- but by no fault of their own, they are actually just explaining (I've been guilty of this too!) 

Explicit Teaching means: 

• Clearly stating the learning intention and success criteria (Hattie; Sharratt)
• Directly modelling the skill or strategy with think-alouds (Archer & Hughes)
• Providing guided practice with immediate feedback (Rosenshine)

Explaining means:

• TELLING students about the concept without SHOWING them how to do it (Hammond)
• Using teacher talk for majority of the lesson as the primary mode of instruction (Fisher & Frey)
• Assuming understanding without structured opportunities for practice (Rosenshine)

How can you tell the difference? 

Have your teachers asked themselves these 3 questions: 

1. Have I made the learning visible? Did I pick up a marker to write, draw, or annotate during instruction?Is there something tangible to show for it, like modelling example, anchor chart, or sample of writing—that I (and my students) can refer back to in future lessons?

    

2. Are students ready to apple the learning? 

   Can students confidently begin the independent or collaborative task straight away? 

   Or are they hesitant and unsure how to start, looking to me for further direction?

   (This usually looks like they don’t want to get started but they may not know what to do)

    

3. Have I actively checked for understanding? Did I pause to ask purposeful questions, prompt discussion, or use a quick check-in strategy (like turn-and-talk, thumbs up, exit ticket)?Do I have evidence that most students ‘got it’ before moving on to independent practice?

If you’re ready to transition your teachers away from explaining and towards explicit teaching, let’s see if we’re the right fit to make that happen. Learn more.