Impact student learning and communication skills

take time to pause

The students we serve in our special education programs across District 287 have a variety of abilities and challenges, cultural differences, strengths, gifts, talents,a wide range of family situationsdiverse educational history, variety of needs or identified areas for continued growth.

Many of our students have been diagnosed with multiple disabilities. In addition, many have co-occurring mental health issues.

Many variables can impact

the ability to learn and the ability to

communicate

Staff have varied levels of knowledge and understanding regarding our students’ ability to process incoming verbal and nonverbal information, make sense of it and respond in a timely and effective manner

There can be singular or multiple reasons for our students’ difficulty in processing verbal or auditory information. Some examples include Auditory Processing Disorder Central Auditory Processing Disorder,Language Processing Disorder, processing challenges related to a

Traumatic Brain Injury, Autism, Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Medication can also impact our student’s ability to perceive, process and respond to different stimuli.

Additional variables that can impact processing abilityMental HealthPhysical HealthSleepDietStressEnvironmental NoiseInternal “Noise” ( multi-tasking, and

preoccupation with another situation)

Let’s take some time to explore

wait time

Processing incoming information refers to how quickly and accurately we can react to incoming information, understand it, think about it, formulate a response, and execute that response.

The speed and accuracy of information processing is not the same as intelligence.

It is possible to be very bright, yet process information slowly.

Information processing involves multiple cognitive tasks that take time.

Students need uninterrupted periods of time to process information; reflect on what has been said, observed, or done; and consider what their personal responses will be.

Why is it important to wait and allow students time to communicate?

Students with disabilities are often still learning how to effectively communicate.

They may need additional time to understand what is said to them.

They may need help knowing when to take a turn.

They may need additional time to figure out how to answer a question or make a request.

They may have vision or motor challenges that delay their response time or ability to locate and indicate what they want to say.

Mary Budd Rowe discovered that children's understanding is greatly affected by the nature of discourse or verbal interaction. The type of

discourse, she found, was determined by what she called

wait-time.

The concept of "wait-time“, as an instructional variable, was invented by Mary Budd Rowe (1972).

The "wait-time" periods she found -- periods of silence that followed teacher questions and students' completed responses -- rarely lasted more than 1.5 seconds in typical classrooms.

She discovered, however, that when these periods of silence lasted at least 3 seconds, many positive things happened to students' and teachers' behaviors and attitudes.

To attain these benefits, teachers were urged to "wait" in silence for 3 or more seconds after their questions, and after students completed their responses

Rowe discovered that there are two wait-time intervals:

The first occurs after taking one’s turnThe second is the interval after receiving a response

from another and before saying anything.

For the first interval, the average teacher waits 0.9 seconds.

The wait for the second interval is usually much shorter.

The first wait-time interval is important to allow a student to consider what has been communicated and to formulate a response.

The second wait-time interval is crucial to encouraging that student to continue and expand his/her response or, if in a group setting, time for another student to extend the idea.

Dr. Rowe did her research in hundreds schools. It has been replicated many times at all educational levels. The results have been extraordinarily and consistently the same.

Dr. Rowe discovered that if wait-times are increased to three to five seconds some good things happen: Responses change from a single word to longer pieces of information The inflection on the end of the response that says, “Am I right?” disappears. Self-confidence increases. Speculative thinking increases. Guessing, “I don't know,” and inappropriate / disrespectful responses decrease. Students “piggyback” on each other's ideas. The interaction becomes a student-student discussion, moderated by the teacher, instead of a teacher-student inquisition.

When staff mindfully wait in silence for 3 or more seconds at appropriate places, positive changes in their own interactive behaviors also occur:Their interactive strategies tend to be more varied and flexible. They decrease the quantity and increase the quality and variety of their communicative strategies – LESS question-asking and more genuine conversation occurs.They use communicative strategies that require more complex information processing and higher-level thinking on the part of students.

(continued)

Students ask more questions. Students propose more ideas / share more

information. Student thinking and communication improves. Classroom discipline improves. Teachers ask fewer questions. Teachers ask better questions, Staff increase the variety and quality of their

communicative strategies and promote higher-order thinking skills.

Importantly, the research on pacing within interactions suggests that increasing wait time “is easier to describe than to do.”

“ when teachers wait for three second or more, especially after a student response, there are pronounced changes in student use of language and logic as well as in student and teacher attitudes and expectations, (quoted in Cazden, 2001, p. 94).

Let’s review some of the positive outcomes of

increased use of wait time:

   

1.Teachers’ responses exhibit greater flexibility, indicated by the occurrence of fewer communication errors and greater continuity in the development of ideas.

2.Teachers ask fewer questions, but when they do, they are more cognitively complex and thoughtful.

3. Teachers become more adept at using student responses—possibly because they, too, are benefiting from the opportunity afforded by the increased time to listen to what students say.

4. Expectations for the performances of certain students seem to improve, and some previously invisible students become visible.

5. Students are no longer restricted to responding to teacher questions - they get to practice a variety of communicative strategies such as sharing expanded or related information, expressing ideas and opinions, clarifying concepts, thinking aloud reacting, as well as responding,”

Cazden, 2001

“Think-time"

a distinct period of uninterrupted silence by the teacher and all students so that they both can complete appropriate information processing tasks, feelings, oral responses, and actions.

Skillful Use of Think-Time...

There are few instructionally sound reasons for not allowing at least 3 seconds of silence.

Staff should deliberately and consistently wait in silence for 3-5 seconds or longer.

Staff should ensure that all students also preserve the disturbance-free silence so that both the students and teacher can consider and process relevant information and then act accordingly. The skillful use of think-time contributes significantly to improved teaching and learning.

Clearly, in making a shift in wait time, staff are doing far more than simply waiting longer.

They are rethinking the kinds of questions and comments they formulate, and their expectations for student interaction / participation.

They are promoting the development of language and communication skills.

Research suggests that one of the most effective ways to encourage children to communicate is to pause and wait. The use of this strategy . . .

clearly marks the opportunity for the student to communicate

clearly indicates that the student is expected / invited to communicate

Provides additional time for the student to understand what is said

Provides additional time for the student to formulate a message

Notice Our Cultural ContainerWe live in a fast paced, information-seeking

society Time expectations for giving and receiving

information have and are drastically changingMost people grew up in families, schools, and

communities where wait time in conversation was uncomfortable

We use all kinds of fillers – verbal and nonverbal to fill the “pauses”

Most people like others who can deliver information quickly and succinctly

To support our students with processing challenges staff can use wait time.

What can our students learn / do to help themselves?

Strategies for our students to learn and use . . .

1. Ask for more time (to sort out and process verbal information), e.g. ’I need a minute’ and/or use a generally understood gesture

2. Express the need to have staff slow down the rate of incoming information, - staff use strategically placed pauses to insure longer time for processing

e.g. ’Wait a minute’, “Could you slow down please?’, etc.

3. Ask for revisions and clarification e.g. ’Can you say that in another way?’, ’I don’t understand’

4. Ask for visual(s) or hands-on demonstration (to augment verbal message / instruction)

e.g. “Can you show me”, “Would you write that down”?, “Is there a picture, chart or visual summary?”.

5. Take responsibility for letting other(s) when a message has not been understood

e.g. “I didn’t get that, could you say it differently?”

6. Request need for a physical change in location when environment is too noisy or busy or multiple interactions occurring simultaneously, etc. - the environment interferes with processing, the ability to listen / focus.

e.g. “It’s too noisy / busy in here for me to think - can we find a quieter or calmer place to talk?” 

Because of processing challenges, many of our students need to continue to expand and refine their self-advocacy skills and develop compensatory strategies to assist them in various settings. Our work is to help them figure out what works best for them, encourage increasing responsibility so they can become more and more successful and independent.

Take a moment now . . .What was modeled and encouraged in your family, school etc. growing up

What are you taking away

As a team . . . What are we doing to mindfully support our students?

Track your impact overtime

positively impacts student learning and

communication