TL;DR: Teachers should gather students for reflection and check understanding in the last few minutes of class to ensure everyone met the objective and address any confusion. Ten favorite ways to wrap up a lesson include exit tickets, 3-2-1 summaries, sentence-phrase-word reflections, stop and jot activities, captioning visuals, AEIOU reflections, rock-paper-scissors reflections, What’s In the Cards reflection protocol, quiz games, … Read More
Why (and How) I Wrote Curriculum During Summer Break
TL;DR: Summer break can be a great time to create or update lessons. Spending time on curriculum while energized can benefit both you and the students in the new school year. I love the clearly defined break for summer vacation. At the end of each year, I was always ready for well-deserved time off. At the same time, I always … Read More
Supporting Student Productive Struggle
In This Post: The definition of student productive struggle. Why productive struggle is important for students. Ways to promote productive struggle in your classroom, from planning to implementation. This week some of our school leaders and intervention professionals held a fall data meeting. One of the discussions, besides progress or increased needs, focused on the productive struggle of learners. Productive … Read More
4 Ways to Engage Students With Your Community
In This Post: Community engagement is an incredibly valuable experience for students. Four ways to incorporate community engagement into your classroom or in your role. I have learned a number of different strategies for teaching over the last few years. I’ve taken a deep dive into mastery learning and explored gamification. I have dabbled with badging. I have dissected personalized … Read More
Using Words to Cultivate Classroom Community
In This Post: The value of words to build classroom community. One activity to cultivate a meaningful, positive classroom community. The importance of keeping your classroom community strong. Words are powerful. Powerful in the way they are strung together to say something, in the tone and demeanor in which they sound or look, and in the way they can make … Read More