THE INDIRECT METHODTM

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THE INDIRECT METHODTM
Opening Activity Your crazy principal, Dr. Weiner
just came back from a conference in Texas.
Weiners record is that he has nutty ideas that
dont really go anywhere. At his staff meeting,
he shows a three-minute clip of the television
show, Survivor. He asks everyone to take notes
about the clip and to keep in the back of their
minds, the notion that one can use television
shows to teach content areas such as Math,
Language Arts, Science and Social Studies
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Opener
After viewing the clip, he gives directions 1.
Get into even groups (4-5 members per group) 2.
Pick a topic, idea or concept that can be taught
using the clip 3. Weiner gives everyone 5 minutes
to do so and asks that the end product be in the
form of a quick presentation to the other groups.
There are multiple groans around the room. 4.
Being the delusional principal he is (with severe
attention issues, as well), he requires the
teachers not to introduce the topic to the
students first and then show the clip. He wants
to see if you can teach it without using words
that directly describe the concept, topic or
idea. For instance, if you are teaching,
Following Directions that you do not use the
words, Following Directions, instructions,
etc.). The student must figure it out. More
groans from the back of the room! 5. As usual,
his instructions are vague and cryptic and he is
desperately searching to find the DVD he just
showed to the teachers.its in the DVD player,
but no one says anything.. (spatial ordering)
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Opener
At the end of the first activity, one of the
teachers in the back row who never shows up to
staff meetings and does his own thing calls out,
Why dont you use this media stuff to teach the
kids how to behave? Everyone has a good
chuckle. Loser Harvie, coming out of his own
little loser world, remarks Mrs. Chantal, the
fourth grade team leader. Weiner is sensing his
is about to lose the crowd and asks them to do
another activity. Use it to teach a social
skill without using the words to directly
describe it. Make sure the lesson is
student-directed, he adds. His phone rings and
he leaves. He does not return. Harvie and Mrs.
Chantal wrestle each other to the ground while
the rest of the teachers watch.
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The INDIRECT METHODTmLesson Plan

• Show the clip
• Ask the students to tell you what happened in the
  clip (comprehension, understanding) Attention and
  Memory
• Ask the class some questions (starting with
  concrete ones and moving to more abstract
  questions) Higher Order Cognition
• Why was the one team/ person successful?
• Why was the other team / person not successful?
• What could have been done differently?
• What would you have done?
• Allow the students to direct the discussion
  (student-directed learning) Social cognition
• Only ask questions or make comments when the
  students go off topic. (teacher as the
  facilitator) Saliency Determination
• Teach the skill directly. (teacher as instructor)