#A DENARIUS HOW TO#
#A DENARIUS FULL#
#A DENARIUS PLUS#

The video ends with his voice dropping into a quieter, almost suspenseful tone: вЂњHow can we prove that this is not a squareвЂ¦вЂќ Subtext: we are going to honor that much-improved definition by applying it right away.ДЄnyway, itвЂ™s a beautiful clip. But he also validates AaronвЂ™s work by applying it. HeвЂ™s appreciative and warm but itвЂ™s clear that he expects mastery of his students. Denarius doesnвЂ™t make a fuss over the improvement.Some meta-awareness mixed with retrieval practice and high standards.

Denarius even prompts him to make sure he described both of the things he left out of his answer. Instead of just saying: WhatвЂ™s the definition of a square? Denarius brilliantly asks: вЂњWhatвЂ™s the difference?вЂќ In other words he asks his student to descrbe the difference between what he originally said and what was fully correct.

Now the No Opt Out: back to Aaron to ask him for the answer to make sure heвЂ™s got mastery now.

#A DENARIUS PLUS#

Plus itвЂ™s retrieval practice for Anastasia too. Denarius could have given the definition himself, of course, but itвЂ™s better coming from a classmateвЂ“kids demonstrating knowledge and making classmates smarter is a good thing. She gives a definition that is 100% complete. Denarius then asks Anastasia to fill in the gaps.

#A DENARIUS FULL#

вЂ80% correctвЂ™ gives Aaron credit for what heвЂ™s done but makes the line between that and full credit clear. Instead of filling in the blanks of the answer himself and rounding up, Denarius notes that itвЂ™s a solid start but needs more. By starting with a Cold Call he makes his use of it predictable and builds a strong incentive to be engaged. Those students are always more likely to know and by Cold Calling he gets better data.

In asking, Denarius has gotten a good sense for the level of understanding of a typical student in classвЂ“as opposed to the students who raise their hands to tell him. ItвЂ™s an invitation to a real conversation and so Aaron is not rattled by it. This is a great time to encode key concepts in long-term memory. Having done that he starts with a bit of retrieval practice, asking Aaron, via Cold Call, what the definition of a square is. The class is setting out to prove that a given quadrilateral is not a square. ItвЂ™s kind of a No Opt Out master clip.Д®A.вЂ™Quadrilateral.вЂ™Clip2764 from TLAC Blog on Vimeo. ThatвЂ™s how I felt last week when I watched this clip of Denarius Frazier using No Opt Out in his Geometry class at Uncommon Collegiate High School so I wanted to share it right away.

#A DENARIUS HOW TO#

ItвЂ™s a case study in how to apply a tool to advance learning and it pushes your understanding of the idea even a little moreвЂ“you see it and think: Yes, thatвЂ™s what I was trying to describe all along, even if you never quite did.You see it and you say: вЂњYes. Every once in a while, you come across an example of a teacher using a technique in the classroom that captures almost everything you wanted to say about itвЂ“Why a teacher would use it.

A denarius