Show them first: I do, we do, you do
Explicit modeling beats hoping they'll figure it out — especially with anything new.
Written with AI — this one isn’t Tammy. The Field Guide covers ground her videos don’t, and keeps to what’s well established. It doesn’t know your students, and nothing here overrides your school’s policy or your state’s law. · 1 min read
What to do
- For new material, model the thinking out loud first. Work an example and narrate every decision, including the ones that feel obvious to you.
- Then do the next one together, with students supplying the steps while you write.
- Only then let them work alone — and check the first attempt before they do twenty more.
- Worked examples help beginners far more than open-ended discovery does. Save the open problems for once they have the basics.
- Keep explanations short. Break a big skill into small steps and check understanding between them.
Why it works
Experts forget how much they know. A step that's automatic for you is a leap for a beginner, and when you skip modeling, students fill the gap by guessing — sometimes practising the wrong method twenty times. Handing over responsibility gradually means they rehearse it correctly from the start.
Try this tomorrow
Before tomorrow's lesson, solve the first example yourself and write down every step, including the ones you'd normally skip. That's your think-aloud script.
Watch out
“We do” is the step that gets skipped because it feels slow. It's also the step that catches misunderstandings before they become homework.
More from the Field Guide
Wait three seconds after you ask
Silence after a question isn't dead air. It's thinking time — and most of us cut it off.
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Make them remember, not re-read
Pulling something out of memory is what makes it stick. Build that into every lesson.
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Teach reading the way the evidence says
Beginning readers need explicit, systematic phonics — not guessing from the pictures.
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