Teaching and Transitions: Navigating the Space Between

For most of us, transitions present a distinct challenge. The space between more noticeable happenings can be difficult to navigate, and that is true both in terms of overall life experience and with classroom practice. For example, students who are in transitional grades like sixth or ninth can struggle with new expectations and norms as the ways in which they learn shift. For all kids, regardless of age or stage, it can also be difficult to move from one subject or task to another if their teachers do not make a conscious effort to ensure that the transition is smooth. 

Think About Structure

Chaos tends to beget more chaos, which doesn’t help when momentum lags during a class period. Therefore, taking time to consider how each class is structured can make those transitional times a little smoother. One question to think about is how a class period is typically organized. If a clear answer doesn’t immediately come to our minds, this might represent an area of growth. For example, I tend to divide each lesson into chunks. Each class begins with framing, which includes sharing the daily objective and engaging students in an activator that prepares them for the next chunk, which is the new content for the day. The third and final chunk of class includes a short formative assessment (think exit ticket or summarizer) so that I can assess how well each student achieved the objective. 

The example above is just one way to structure a class; everyone has their own way of doing things. However, it’s important to have some type of plan for how the components of instruction flow into one another. Otherwise, during those moments between activities, students tend to drift and potentially become distractions to themselves or others, which interrupts the smooth progression of the class.

Use Time Wisely

The first five minutes of any class is a crucial time because the way we start learning each day gets students into the appropriate frame of mind. It doesn’t take long to get everyone focused, but maximizing the early minutes of any class is vitally important. For example, I once observed a teacher who used the first part of class to take attendance out loud and make announcements about upcoming events. As she did this, students were restless and loud, talking through much of what she did. Unfortunately, this teacher missed an opportunity to dive right into the learning for the day, especially when her operational items could wait for the last moments of class or (in the case of taking attendance, assuming she knew the kids in front of her) be done without calling on each student.

Framing the learning, which is briefly summarized earlier, is a preferable way to begin class. Students need to know not just what they are learning, but why they are learning it. That is the reason we share a clear, explicitly stated daily objective with them. In terms of the activator, it is also vital that students have an accessible entry point for learning. By stimulating their prior knowledge, everyone will have something to contribute to class. Using the first few minutes of class wisely helps to smooth out any rough transitions from one period to another and gets students ready for what is about to happen.

Be Explicit

It is human nature to assume that we are far clearer than is actually the case. Ideas that make perfect sense in our own heads sometimes do not translate to other people. To that end, students can struggle to understand why instruction looks a certain way unless we tell them. They might wonder why they’re doing a certain project, what is so important about the lab report, or why their teacher always asks them to engage in discourse each day. Rather than leaving them to wonder, it is our responsibility to tell them exactly why instruction is planned and executed the way that it is. 

Suppose, for example, that a teacher grades a unit test and discovers that most students in the class were unsuccessful on the same question. Rather than just undergo the process of reteaching that content, it helps to explain to students why they are learning this concept again, and why it is so important for them to grasp the information before everyone moves into the next unit of study. This explicit approach allows students to transition more seamlessly between topics and understand how various points in their learning connect.

Don’t Rush

While we like to save as much time as we can, moving too quickly can wind up wasting precious minutes. Think about the example above, in which a teacher gives a test and discovers that many students never learned the concepts. Sometimes, this issue occurs because there is a hurry to maintain pacing and “cover” course content. This concern is legitimate and should not be discounted as a possible barrier to student success. However, moving too quickly also creates conditions that necessitate going back and reteaching, which uses time unwisely in the long run and is far from ideal because disruptions tend to interfere with momentum, making for bumpy transitions from one thing to the next.

Proceed Mindfully

Just as adults benefit from mindfulness practices, so do kids. When students enter a classroom, they are usually coming from something that is completely different and distracting. Whether a student just had a conversation with a friend in the hallway (or perhaps an argument) or they are still thinking about the last class that just ended, it’s hard to start something completely new without any transitional time. Instituting a moment of mindfulness can help to bridge any gaps, whether we opt to start the period with some meditative breathing or to ask students a quick community-building question that helps them become a little more present. It doesn’t take long to help kids settle in, and they are usually much better equipped to jump into class after an intentional moment to regroup.

Teaching is challenging for a variety of reasons. In addition to considering what students need to learn, we also spend a lot of time determining how to best help all kids achieve learning outcomes. Part of any ideal lesson is not just grounded in the content we teach, but also in how we create movement from one part of learning to the next. By focusing on momentum and honoring the challenge of transitions by planning for them, we create classroom communities that run so much more smoothly for everyone involved. 

Written by Miriam Plotinsky, Education World Contributing Writer

Miriam Plotinsky is an instructional specialist with Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland, where she has taught and led for more than 20 years. She is the author of several education books with W.W. Norton and ASCD. She is also a National Board-Certified Teacher with additional certification in administration and supervision. She can be reached at www.miriamplotinsky.com or via Twitter: @MirPloMCPS

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