Provider to Facilitator: Diagnostic Self-Test

As a teacher, are you currently a provider, a facilitator, or somewhere in between? These 15 questions will help you find out.

To get the most helpful results, answer the questions so your response accurately represents your current teaching attitudes and practices. Choose responses that you can substantiate with evidence, not the ones you think are the “right” answers.

Enjoy!

To answer the questions, slide the arrow to the answer that you feel is the best answer.

Teacher's Approach to Content

I can show evidence that I’m working to be an expert in:

The content I teach
How to teach the content I teach
How to be a lifelong learner of the content I teach and beyond

A only

Both A and B

A, B, and C

Teacher's Approach to Content

In preparing lessons, I'm mostly focused on:

Presenting standards-based content in an organized, engaging format.

Creating clear, option-rich learning pathways through standards-based content.

Teacher's Approach to Content

How often do I learn things in class and tell the students about what I learn?

Rarely

Often

Teacher's Approach to Content

My lessons include plans for the following outcomes:

Students covering the required material
Students demonstrating mastery
Students learning how to be better learners

A only

Both A and B

A, B, and C

Teacher's Approach to Content

I can demonstrate how my instruction connects the curriculum with:

Learning standards
Local and state tests
Real-world experience

A only

Both A and B

A, B, and C

Teacher-Student Relationship

In my classroom, when do teaching and learning happen?

Teaching happens when I’m talking to students and learning happens when they’re listening to me or working.

Students and teacher are engaged in teaching and learning whenever they listen and speak to each other about the content and how to approach it.

Teacher-Student Relationship

A diagram of my students’ relationship with me and the content material would look like this:

Teacher-Student Relationship

A student asks, “Teacher, is the right word height or heighth?” I reply:

Height. Heighth isn’t a word.

Good question! How about looking it up in the dictionary?

Good question! What do you think is the best way to find out the answer? And when you do find it, will you teach the class so that anyone else who has the same question will know the answer and how you found it?

Teacher-Student Relationship

In establishing classroom rules, routines, and procedures (or standard operating procedure-SOPs):

I present students with clear, specific, fair SOPs, but I don’t invite much student input.

I teach students how to drive the process and own the outcomes for creating effective classroom SOPs.

Teacher-Student Relationship

As I help individual students, do I find myself taking over their pencil/tablet/laptop?

Often

Rarely

Teaching Tools/Strategies

I use direct instruction:

With all students at the start of every lesson--and then whenever it’s necessary as students are working.

Just enough to get students going, and mainly for when they need guidance. I also invite students to provide direct instruction.

Teaching Tools/Strategies

If I owned a restaurant and all my students came in for lunch, I would:

Serve them all the same main course, with a couple options for side dishes.

Give students the menu and let them choose what to eat.

Invite the students back into the kitchen to help make their own (and each other’s) dinners.

Teaching Tools/Strategies

To motivate students, I rely primarily on:

Extrinsic factors (point systems, tokens, punishment).

Intrinsic factors (aspects of the learning activities themselves that generate student engagement).

Teaching Tools/Strategies

Besides simplifying my work and teaching students important skills, I use technology to broaden the choices that students can make for how to demonstrate their learning.

Rarely

Often

Teaching Tools/Strategies

In terms of the audience for student work:

I’m almost the exclusive audience and consumer of my students’ work.

I create learning activities that involve members of the community.

Self-Test Results

Instructions

Click each bar in the results graph for specific feedback. If your result for that bar is closer to the facilitator than the provider level, it will provide an explanation of how you’re acting as a facilitating teacher. If your result is closer to the provider level, you’ll receive a suggestion for how you can adjust your practice towards more of a facilitator approach. Below the bar graph is an option to view all the suggestions and success descriptors from the Provider to Facilitator Self-Test, not just those associated with your individual results.

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Teacher's Approach to Content

Teacher-Student Relationship

Teaching Tools/Strategies

Look for ways to improve your teaching methods and model being a lifelong learner for your students.

You model how to be a learner to your students.

Consider building in more options for student choice and voice in your lessons.

You offer your students choice and voice in their learning.

Find opportunities to share with your students what you learn as their teacher--and as a co-learner.

You’re not just a teacher, you’re a co-learner with your students.

Enrich your lesson with opportunities for students to evaluate and improve their learning skills.

You’re giving students opportunities to evaluate and improve their learning skills.

Make plans to include learning activities that connect students with real-world experiences.

You connect student learning activities with real-world experiences.

Look for opportunities during class in which you can step off the stage, so to speak, and invite students to teach each other.

Students and teacher exercise autonomy and purpose in sharing roles of teacher and learner.

You see yourself as a mediator between students and the learning material. How can you draw students in to engage as directly as possible with the content?

You help students take ownership of their learning.

Practice refraining from providing students with information or guidance that they can obtain themselves--especially from each other. You may even want to ask students to help remind you of your goal.

You foster self-directed learning in your students by refraining from telling them things they can find out on their own or with each others’ help.

Consider ways of inviting student input into establishing or revising your classroom rules, routines, and procedures.

You encourage student responsibility for their learning environment by involving them in setting up class rules, routines, and procedures.

When you’re tempted to take over students’ work because they’re taking too long with it, try putting your hands behind your back and coaching students from the “sideline.” You may want to ask a student who knows what to do to step in as the “teacher.”

You promote student autonomy and accountability by resisting the urge to take over their learning when they’re stuck.

Try varying your use of direct instruction, especially at the start of class. Ask yourself, “what’s the absolute minimum of information they need from me right now before they can move to the next step?”

You provide “just-in-time” direct instruction so students aren’t slowed down or confused by information they don’t yet need.

Try asking yourself, “Am I feeding students with this or teaching them how to feed themselves?”

You teach your students how to learn instead of just teaching them what to learn.

Consider procedures or activities for which you currently use extrinsic motivation that you could experiment with re-structuring to involve intrinsic components, like increased student input, game features, a problem to solve, etc.

Your students often experience intrinsic motivation and are self-driven in their learning.

Seek guidance to find apps that can help students create meaningful demonstrations of their learning.

Your use of technology gives students greater options for approaching content in innovative ways.

Explore connections with community members (businesses, professional organizations, parents) that can provide real-world purpose for student projects.

You connect with community members in ways that create real-world purpose for your student work.

Domain	What I Can Do to Shift from a Provider to a Facilitator