# data[].attributes.headline
50 FREE graphic organizers — and how to make your own - Ditch That Textbook

# data[].attributes.subject
50 FREE graphic organizers — and how to make your own - Ditch That Textbook

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
50 FREE graphic organizers — and how to make your own

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Graphic organizers can help students gather their thoughts and customize to their needs. They are easy to make (or find) online and can be adapted for

# data[].attributes.headline
The Studio Thinking Project | Project Zero

# data[].attributes.subject
The Studio Thinking Project | Project Zero

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Studio Thinking Project | Project Zero

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Studio Thinking Project, funded 2001-2007 by the J. Paul Getty Trust, studied the kinds of habits of mind implicitly and explicitly taught in strong visual arts classes, and the classroom structures that facilitate this learning.

# data[].attributes.headline
Team Building Game: Picture Sequence Description | Icebreaker Spot

# data[].attributes.subject
Team Building Game: Picture Sequence Description | Icebreaker Spot

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I appreciate the Sequence icebreaker game for its ability to stimulate communication, creativity, and teamwork in a fun and engaging way. The game requires participants to describe pictures from a children's book or comic without directly reading the text, which encourages them to think critically and articulate their thoughts clearly. This aspect of the game helps warm up both thinking and talking muscles, making it an excellent icebreaker for new work colleagues or the start of a team-building day.

One of the reasons I enjoy this game is its versatility in catering to different age groups and interests. The game organizer can choose a source that fits the group, whether it's nostalgic children's books, like "The Tiger Who Came to Tea" or "Where The Wild Things Are," or action-packed superhero stories featuring Batman or Spider-Man. This customization ensures that the game is both enjoyable and relevant for all participants.

Additionally, Sequence promotes active listening and collaboration among team members. As players describe their images without showing them, others must listen carefully to understand and visualize the scene accurately. This process fosters an environment where individuals work together to make decisions and reach a consensus on the correct order of the pages. The game's structure encourages healthy debate and discussion, allowing participants to practice negotiation and compromise skills that are valuable in both personal and professional settings.

Lastly, Sequence can be easily adapted for larger groups or more competitive environments. By creating two sets of story pages and dividing the group into teams, the game becomes a race against time, adding an extra layer of excitement and challenge. Alternatively, the "Nightmare variant" introduces an element of humor and physicality, as players must act out their scenes in mime instead of describing them with words.

In summary, I like the Sequence icebreaker for its ability to encourage communication, collaboration, and creativity in a fun and adaptable format. The game's versatility and potential for customization make it an excellent choice for various age groups and settings, making it a valuable addition to any team-building or icebreaker activity.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Sequence is a team-building game where players describe and order picture cards from a book or comic. Great for communication and problem-solving skills.

# data[].attributes.headline
Art Effects Game: Boost Teamwork with Creativity | Icebreaker Spot

# data[].attributes.subject
Art Effects Game: Boost Teamwork with Creativity | Icebreaker Spot

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Art Effects Game: Boost Teamwork with Creativity | Icebreaker Spot

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Art Effects is a team-building game that enhances creativity and cooperation. Players describe items for their partners to draw without seeing it. Play competitively or non-competitively with paper, pencils, and random words.

# data[].attributes.headline
This site is intended to help fellow teachers by curating helpful information on the internet. Content is based on MAT courses and assignments plus rabbit holes I have been down. I hope it can be of some help. 

# data[].attributes.subject
This site is intended to help fellow teachers by curating helpful information on the internet. Content is based on MAT courses and assignments plus rabbit holes I have been down. I hope it can be of some help. 

# data[].attributes.body
Please feel free to comment on any one of the links if you used something and it worked or didn't.

# data[].attributes.headline
102 Instructional Strategies Examples (A to Z) (2025)

# data[].attributes.subject
102 Instructional Strategies Examples (A to Z) (2025)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Instructional strategies are the building blocks of a good lesson. They are the tools and techniques that teachers use to help students to overcome obstacles to learning and reach higher levels of knowledge and understanding.
Usually, teachers are required to list instructional strategies in a lesson plan or unit of work. By listing out your instructional strategies before a lesson begins, you can have a plan clear for how you will help your students to succeed. It also helps a person assessing your teaching to identify your ability to faciliate learning.

Below is my database of instructional strategies that I turn to when planning lessons and units of work.

Instructional Strategies Examples

1. Active Listening: Teachers explicitly model active listening by encouraging students to nod when they understand, ask open-ended questions of the person talking, and so on. This can help critical thinking and memory retention.

2. Anticipation / Guestimation - Students are asked to anticipate the outcomes of the next steps in a group or modelled task in order to encourage forward and process thinking. In anticipating results, students must consider the logical sequences of events in a thought experiment.

3. Authentic Learning - Lessons are designed in a way that something tangible, usable, and useful for the world is done or made. For example, through their unit of work, students actually produce an app that is released on an app marketplace (see also: authentic assessment).

4. Barometer - The teacher gets students to stand along a line that is seen as a continuum of beliefs about a position. For example, the teacher can use a wall - if the students stand on the far left they believe one thing, far left another, and middle is undecided.

5. Blended Learning - The teacher uses both online instruction and in-person lessons throughout the unit of work. Students might, for example, watch videos for homework then come into class to discuss and engage in active learning (see also: flipped learning).

6. Brainstorming - This strategy is used to encourage divergent thinking ('multiple possible solutions to a single problem'). In an open discussion session, the teacher asks students to share their thoughts, ideas or solutions - no matter how simple, complex, or out of the box. The teacher writes all idas on the board to give a visual representation of the initial thoughts and ideas of the class.

7. Chunking - Instead of delivering all the information at once, the teacher breaks down the lesson into achievable tasks of 'chunks'. After each 'chunk', the teacher checks and then gives further instructions. This can make an overwhelming task seem more achievable for students and prevent cognitive overload.

8. Cognitive Tools - Teachers use instructional technologies such as calculators, apps, wearable technology, and so on, to help stimualte higher-order thinking and learning among students. Students are expected to engage in higher-order thinking processes that they wouldn't have been able to do otherwise.

9. Concentric Circles - Like speed dating, students are asked to have quick one-to-one conversations with one another. The teacher gets students to stand in two circles - an inner and outer circle, with students facing one another. The outer circle rotates if the teacher wants students to rotate discussion partners.

10. Connect, Extend, Challenge: Connect-extend-challenge is a strategy commonly used at the end of a lesson to encourage reflection and further thinking. Students think about how to connect new knowledge to old knowledge, reflect on how they extended their knowledge in the lesson, and then pose challenging questions for future thinking.

11. Cooperative Learning (Group Work) - Integration of cooperative learning tasks into your lesson plan can help ensure students hear not only the teacher's th oughts on the topic, but also the thoughts of peers. According to sociocultural theory, talking to peers helps stimulate learning. Furthermore, cooperative learning involves working on common goals which helps with social skills, which will be beneficial for your students' development. See more: cooperative learning examples.

12. Create a Headline - Students come up with a catchy headline that captures the essence of what they learned (i.e. for a newspaper). This strategy encourages students to synthesize knowledge down to its core components.

13. Culturally Responsive Teaching - Culturally responsive teaching involves incorporating elements of students' cultural practices, beliefs, and traditions in lessons in order to engage and include culturally diverse students in the lesson.

14. De Bono's 6 Thinking Hats - The teacher has six different colored hats. Each hat represents a different way of thinking (analytical, creative, and so on).

15. Debating - Get the students to debate one another in order to pick flaws in arguments and help them refine their skills in constructing coherent arguments.

16. Democratic Vote - In democratic classrooms, students are encouraged to develop a democratic and socially conscious mindset. Having students vote on what, when, and how to learn (as well as classroom rules, and so on) encourages socially conscious thinking and empowers learners.

17. Demonstration - The teacher does a demonstration step-by-step of something that is too hard for the students to do on their own. This is usually done either to show how something is done to give students a theoretical understanding; or to precede students having a go themselves (see also: guided practice)

18. Devil's Advocate - Either the teacher or a dedicated student attempts to pick apart an argument or thought process by looking for weaknesses. They don't have to necessarily believe their critique, but should use critique as a way to strengthen or amend the original argument.

21. Directing Attention - Directing attention can help guide students down the right path. It can include strategies such as asking prompting questions and pointing at a visual aid.

22. Discovery Learning - This involves lessons where students discover new information and new knowledge through exploration and inquiry.

23. Emergent Curriculum - Teachers don't plan the whole curriculum in advance. Instead, the direction of the learning experiences is based on students' interests and motivations. This encourages intrinsic motivation and love of learning.

24. Environmental Manipulation - The classroom layout has a strong influence on learning. Desks in rows send a message that the class should maintain their focus on the teacher, while table groups will encourage peer learning.

25. Expert Jigsaw - The expert jigsaw method gets students into groups with each group becoming experts on one section of a topic. The teacher then jumbles the groups so there is one student from each original group in each new group. In other words, the new groups have one topic expert for each topic. The topic experts in each new group teaches the group about their topic.

26. Fill-In the Gaps (Cloze Passages) - Strategically leave out pieces of information to encourage students to actively think about (and predict) what should go where.

27. Fishbowl - A strategy for whole group discussion, students are split into two groups. The first group (usually smaller) have a discussion in the middle of the classroom. The second group sit around the outside and observe and take notes on the group's discussion.

28. Five Why's - To get students thinking more deeply about a topic, get them to as 'why' something is the case. Then, get them to ask 'why' to their answer, then the answer after that, then the answer after that - after reaching the fifth 'why', the answer will be deeper and closer to the issue underpinning the discussion.

29. Flexible Seating - Flexible seating or 'agile learning spaces' allow students the freedom to choose a workstation to work at while completing their tasks. It can be useful for inquiry based lessons because it allows students to move between research sations such as computer and library areas.

30. Flipped Instruction - Flipped instruction is a type of instruction where the students gather the lesson information before class (primarily through reading and watching videos) to maximize active student-centered learning time during class time (such as talking in groups and talking with the teacher). It gets its term from 'flipping' class work and homework.

32. Four corners - The teacher poses a problem or question that has four possible answers, posed as A-B-C-D multiple choice. Each corner of the room represents one possible answer and the students have to run to the corner that they think is the correct answer.

33. Gallery Walk - The classroom is set up as a gallery where students move through different areas and engage with a range of different activities, texts, and stimuli to learn about a topic.

35. Gamification - Gamification refers to the use of game-based elements in the classroom. These include elements like token economies, a point system, levelling-up, badges, and leaderboards.

36. Give One, Get One - Every student writes down a handful of key learnings, ideas, tips, or strategies based on the lesson. The teacher rotates the students in various pars, and each member of the pair gives one key learning and takes one key learning. It is a form of note-sharing that allows students to share key takeaways from lessons.

37. Graphic Organizers - The teacher uses visual organizers like flow charts, graphs, and tables to get students to visually represent what they are learning.

38. Group Roles - When giving students group work, the teacher asks students to assign each other roles to achieve accountability and transparency. This may help make the learning experience smoother.

39. Growth Mindsets - The teacher models a growth mindset in class, which is a mindset that involves self-belief that you can learn and improve. This is a useful instructional strategy when students recently experienced failure and feel disheartened.

42. Homework: Homework can be an instructional strategy for knowledge consolidation, repetition to commit information to long-term memory, or to introduce new knowledge in flipped learning scenarios.

43. Hot Seat - One student is placed on a seat in front of the class and the class asks them tough questions. The person in the middle can be answering questions on a topic they studied, or, can pretend they're a famous historical figure.

44. I Do We Do You Do Method - This three-step method involves the teacher modeling a task, then the class doing the task as a group (with the teacher), then the students getting to try the task independently.

46. Intentional Mistakes - The teacher intentionally makes a mistake in order to encourage students to be alert to errors or mistakes and get them excited about paying attention in class to 'catch' the teacher out making an error.

47. Just-in-Time Learning - This is a strategy that involves learning information that is relevant and pertinent to a task at hand. In other words, you learn things when you need to learn them. For an adult example, you'd learn accounting as soon as tax season arrives!

48. KWL Charts - Students are given charts split into three sections. The sections are: know, want to know, and learned. Students usually fill out the first two columns at the beginning of the lesson to present prior knowledge and curiosities. This can give context to the lesson and help the teacher to target the lesson at the right level for the students. At the end of the lesson, the students fill out the third column: learned. Ideally, they will be answering questions asked in the 'want to know' column.

49. Lesson Objective Transparency - The teacher starts the lesson by presenting the lesson objective. This can help students to understand the whole purpose of the lesson and the direction it's headed, which minimizes confusion.

50. Lesson Recording - Record the lesson in order for the students to review it at their own pace. This can help students learn at their own pace and may assist slower students to ensure they don't miss anything.

51. Manipulatives - Teachers use physical objects to represent abstract concepts, which helps students to visualize the learning content. This is common in math classrooms.

52. Metacognition - Students are encouraged to reflect upon their own thinking and learning to see if they could improve how they learn. For example, you could have students reflect on why they were distracted, how they could prevent procrastination, or whether they could have learned a task more effectively if they approached it in a different way.

53. Modeled Teaching - This strategy involves the teacher demonstrating how something is done so students have a 'model' to follow when they get a chance to do it themselves.

54. Multiple Intelligences - The theory of multiple intelligences proposes that students learn in different ways, be it musical, spatial, linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic, and so on. By giving students multiple ways of approaching a topic, you're leaving the door open to learning through multiple different perspectives.

55. Mystery Making - The teacher drips out data or information that is enough to spark curiosity and may have the answer embedded within it, but requires students to 'solve' the mystery or curiosity through critical and analytical thinking.

56. Non-Verbal Gestures - Non-verbal gestures are frequently used in classroom management - for example, when the teacher gives a warning glance to chatty students in the class. But they can also be used mid-lesson, such as giving a thumbs up or smile to indicate to a student that they are on the right track.

57. Note Taking (Cornell Method) - When watching a video or listening to a direct instruction lesson, have the students take high-quality notes by giving them Cornell method notepaper. This involves having unique columns for notes, recall, and summarization.

58. Open-Ended Questioning - The teacher asks questions that require elaborated responses rather than closed 'yes' or 'no' responses. This encourages students to articulate their thoughts. In the process, they sort and order their thinking.

59. Parent and Community Engagement - This strategy is valuable because engaging parents and the community gives students a chance to develop civic citizenship skills during their learning.

62. Pop Quiz - The teacher lets the students know there will be a surprise quiz at some point in the unit of work. This keeps the students on their toes, and encourages high expectations at all times. The quiz can also be used as a form of formative assessment.

63. Positive Reinforcement - Students are given rewards for positive behavior or for reaching high standards with the expectation that the positive reinforcement will encourage repetition of that behavior (see also negative reinforcement).

64. Poster Presentations - Students are given a small poster and asked to present everything they have learned about the topic on that poster. This gets them to put their ideas into a succinct and presentable way, and in the process, helps them to categorize and clarify their ideas.

65. Predicting - The teacher asks students to predict (guestimate, hypothesize) the outcome of an event, then conducts the experiment to find the result. This encourages students to think through logical causes, consequences, and probabilities.

66. Prior Knowledge Assessment - Before planning or teaching a lesson, the teacher conducts an assessment with the students to gauge their level of knowledge, which helps to ensure the content is at the right level for students' needs.

67. Project-based learning (PBL) - Lessons are designed around completing a project. In the process of making the project, student learn how to apply their knowledge in the completion of a real project.

68. Prompting - Prompting involves using strategic questions, cues, and visual aids to focus students' attention on valuable information. It keeps students on the right path and helps them overcome learning barriers.

69. Read Aloud - The teacher reads the text out loud to the class. This can be beneficial as an instructional strategy because it allows you to have students do a close reading of sentences, keywords, and images as a whole group.

70. Reciprocal Teaching - Reciprocal teaching requires students to take turns to teach one another. This gives students a chance to take the role of teacher which requires them to think about how to articulate concepts and break them down to their constituent parts. This helps both the 'teacher' and the 'learner' students.

71. Reflection-in-Practice / Immediate Feedback - Teachers encourage students to reflect while they work. For example, have students pause and reflect every 5 minutes on what they just did and whether it's going in the right track.

72. Role Play - Students take on a role and argue from that person's perspective. This allows students to think from divergent perspectives and become experts in specific aspects of a scenario.

73. Role Modelling - The teacher sets high expectations by modeling correct behavior. This is common in science labs, where the teacher follows safety standards diligently; or, is also common in behavior management.

74. Rote Learning - The teacher presents information that the student is expceted to learn by memory. This strategy focuses of memorization of facts and it common, for example, in learning the times tables. See also: banking model of education.

76. Self-Paced Learning - Students are given time and space to learn at their own pace. This reduces the likelihood that students will be forced to move on before knowledge is sufficiently consolidated and understanding is achieved.

78. Silent Conversation - A silent conversation requires students to write down their thoughts on a piece of paper (post-it notes work) and paste their thoughts onto a wall or poster. Students also respond to one another's notes to engage in 'conversation' through writing.

79. SIT: Surprising, Interesting, Troubling - A strategy students use to reflect upon a text. After engaging with a text (book, movie, etc.), students reflect on things in the text that they found surprising, interesting, and troubling. This can stimulate further discussion.

81. Sixty-Second Strategy - This strategy usually takes place in response to a student presentation. The class engage in three steps in under 60 seconds: respond, reflect, and review. Here's a great video on the strategy.

82. Snowball Discussions - Students start individually, then pair up for a discussion, then pairs join to create a group of four for a follow-up discussion. The group of four pairs with another group to make a group of eight, who then share notes, and so on. This culminates in a whole class discussion.

83. Spaced Repetition - The teacher re-introduces information after blocks of time with the intention of reinforcing the information at a later date when the students may be at risk of forgetting. By having to regularly re-engage with information, students may be more likely to commit the information to long-term memory.

85. Stimulus Materials and Props - The teacher uses materials and props which can be anything from posters on the walls to puppets, in order to stimulate learning.

86. Strategic Pauses - When speaking to the class, the teacher pauses at strategic moments to encourage the students to reflect, re-focus their attention, or attempt a task in their own minds before the teacher continues.

87. Student-Led Curriculum - A student-led curriculum in a curriculum that is not set in stone by the teachers, but allows students to choose the direction of learning. It's increasingly difficult to do this in the era of the 'crowded curriculum' where there is so much to teach each day jut to meet the core curriculum requirements.

88. Student-Teacher Conference - The teacher takes time during individual work to go up to each student and have one-to-one time to give them differentiated support.

89. Summarizing and Paraphrasing - The teacher asks students to repeat back to them an explanation of the content, but in their own words, to demonstrate understanding and knowledge.

91. SWOT analysis - This strategy is useful when getting students to self-reflect. It encourages them to reflect on their strengths and weaknesses, as well as future opportunities and threats that they can prepare for.

92. Teaching to Mastery - The teacher retains the focus on one unit of learning until it is 'mastered' by the student. This may be a benchmark such as 90% in a test or success in a task three times in a row.

93. Team Teaching - Team teaching involves working with one or more other teachers. It can be good for splitting classes into small differentiated groups, splitting workloads between teachers based on areas of expertise, and increasing the amount of tailored support for individual students in the class.

94. Think Pair Share - Students spend one minute alone thinking about a topic, then spend one minute with a partner comparing their thoughts. Finally, the due share their thoughts with the whole class group.

95. Thumbs Down, Thumbs Up - A quick strategy to gather formative feedback, teachers simply ask for a thumbs up or thumbs down from the class to get instant feedback on whether they understand the information and are ready to move onto the next step in the lesson.

96. Two-Minute Presentation - The teacher assigns the students a task of conducting research and consolidating knowledge into a two minute presentation by the end of the lesson.

98. Visual Aids - Visual aids can include posters, handouts, pictires, and graphs that can help scaffold learning.

100. Word Wall - A word wall is quite simply a wall of words that are central for the subject being studied. This wall can act as a stimulus for learners who need only look at the wall to be spurred to think about key concepts or terms when writing or thinking about the topic.

101. Worked Examples - Providing students with worked examples can give them a clear mental model for what they should be aspiring toward. For example, presenting students with examples of A+ B and C- essays helps them compare and see the difference between good and bad work.

Conclusion

There are, of course, many more instructional strategies examples than those listed here. However, these ones can form a great start for finding instructional strategies to include on your lesson plan and start integrating into your teaching to improve your pedagogical skills and, ultimately, your students' learning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
102 Instructional Strategies Examples (A to Z) (2023)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Instructional strategies are the building blocks of a good lesson. They are the tools and techniques that teachers use to help students to overcome obstacles to learning and reach higher levels of knowledge and understanding. Usually, teachers are required to list instructional strategies in a lesson plan or unit of work.

# data[].attributes.headline
The Best Resources On Helping Our Students Develop A “Growth Mindset” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

# data[].attributes.subject
The Best Resources On Helping Our Students Develop A “Growth Mindset” | Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Photo Credit: Antoine Gady via Compfight
'Growth Mindset Starts With Us, Not With Them' is the first post in a two-part series at my Education Week Teacher column. Also check out Here Are The Movie Scenes That Readers Have Said Demonstrate A Growth Mindset - & I'm Still Looking For More My Growth Mindset Lesson s Usually Go Well, But What I Did Today Was The Best Yet (Student Hand-Outs Included)
The "question of the week" at my Education Week Teacher column this week is " How Can We Help Our Students Develop a Growth Mindset?" (NOTE: You can now read Carol Dweck's guest response to that question here). As part of the response, which will be published on Tuesday, I thought a "The Best..." list would be useful.

Carol Dweck, who identified the concept, will be one of the guests responding to that question, and several readers have already shared their ideas. There's still time to contribute yours....

You can find a specific lesson in my book, Helping Students Motivate Themselves, on how I incorporate the idea of a growth mindset in my classroom, and some of my other related ideas in my article in this month's edition of ASCD Educational Leadership, Eight Things Skilled Teachers Think, Say, and Do.

Here are my choices for The Best Resources On Helping Our Students Develop A "Growth Mindset":

Here are a few previous related "The Best..." lists:
The Best Posts, Articles & Videos About Learning From Mistakes & Failures The Best Resources For Showing Students That They Make Their Brain Stronger By Learning The Best Resources For Learning How To Best Give Feedback To Students The Best Resources For Learning About The Importance Of "Grit"
Here is a fabulous infographic on the concept.

Montgomery Schools also have a useful online packet.

Eduardo Briceño is the Co-Founder, with Dr. Carol Dweck, of Mindset Works:
Here's The "Growth Mindset" Article & Prompt We're Using As Part Of Our Semester Final
How To Give Good Feedback is by Annie Murphy Paul.

Here's an excellent interview with Carol Dweck. I learn from all of her work, but I found this one particularly interesting because she shared some thoughts I hadn't heard her say before. Here's one particularly useful excerpt:
Our Students Are Not Supermen & Superwomen
Changing Teens' Mindsets on Social Aggression is a useful Ed Week article.

Quote Of The Day AND Video: "We'll Score Goals When We Grow Old" Interesting New Study By Carol Dweck

Quote Of The Day: "Your Thoughts Can Release Abilities Beyond Normal Limits"

'Growth Mindset' Gaining Traction as School Improvement Strategy is from Education Week.

Daniel Coyle shared this video on Twitter. Even though it has a sports focus, it can very easily be applied to any area of learning:

Studies Offer Practical Ways to Bring 'Growth Mindset' Research to Schools is an Ed Week post about some recent studies. One of them featured having students read about the struggles experienced by famous scientists, as opposed by focusing solely on their achievements, and resulted in higher student motivation and academic achievement. Here's an earlier study done by the same researchers with Taiwanese students (the most recent research was with classes in New York) that reached similar conclusions and has a lot of interesting background information.

Teachers told: use 'not yet' in place of 'fail' when marking is from The Telegraph. It's about a new guide for UK teachers on how to help students develop a growth mindset.
Two Good Videos On How We Learn & How I Plan To Use Them In Class
New Research: Students Benefit from Learning That Intelligence Is Not Fixed is from MindShift.
Two New Sesame Street Videos On Social Emotional Learning Researchers See What A Growth Mindset Does To The Brain

Growth mindset and the educator. pic.twitter.com/6cn6JA3VmZ #Satchat #sunchat #edchat #edtech

- Teacher (@Primary_Ed) November 9, 2014

Video: New TEDx Talk By Carol Dweck Study Finds That Bilingualism Supports A Growth Mindset Quote Of The Day: I Think This Is The Best Article Carol Dweck Has Written Good Videos On A Growth Mindset, The Importance Of Learning From Mistakes & A Lot More Khan Develops Decent Lesson On Growth Mindset But, Come On, Can't They Create An Engaging Video? New Study Shows That Teaching About "Growth Mindset" Works At Large Scale - Or Does It? Three Useful Growth Mindset Resources The Limits To The Power Of A Growth Mindset (& The Dangers When We Don't Recognize Them)
The Educator and the Growth Mindset is from Jackie Gerstein and Metacognition Curriculum is an older post from Frank Noschese.

Test Your Mindset is an online interactive from Carol Dweck that I think would be useful to offer to students.

Helping Students Reach Their Full Potential with the Growth Mindset is by Dan Winkler and provides a pretty good, and short, definition of a growth mindset.

Here's a TED-Ed lesson using the above video.

Growth Mindset - More Evidence is from Alex Quigley.

There was a recent conference in the UK which featured Carol Dweck. It sounds like she made some interesting points, particularly around what she called a "False Growth Mindset." Here are some reports on that talk, along with other resources:

Praise the taking on of challenge, perseverance, new strategies, recovery from setbacks, says Dweck. Also praise improvement and learning.

- David Weston (@informed_edu) June 19, 2015

Why the 'false growth mindset' explains so much is from The Learning Spy. The Mindset Journey is from Drowning in the Shallow.

Math educators! @joboaler has developed a week of math lessons and #growthmindset videos: https://t.co/3mrdndn0pB https://t.co/S5HaESKAZ6 - PERTS (@pertslab) June 1, 2015

- David Dockterman (@dockterman) May 11, 2015

Quote Of The Day: Carol Dweck On "Nagging"

5 tips for instilling a growth mindset culture in your classroom. #growthmindset pic.twitter.com/lL1OrhmaKT #edchat #edtech #EYTalking #SLTchat - Teacher (@Primary_Ed) June 23, 2015

Guest Post: Growth Mindset Memes
Shaun Allison has written an exceptional post and created a great slideshow about the growth mindset. He graciously gave me permission to share his slideshow here:

Carol Dweck and Growth Mindset is a well-done and interesting thirty minute BBC interview with Carol Dweck and her associates

Why a 'Growth Mindset' Won't Work is a very good column by Peter DeWitt.

Growth Mindset and Testing/The Hunger Games. http://t.co/eVcabNJYjG #hungergames #mindsets #PBIS #charactered #SEL #schoolclimate #climate

- Learning Solutions (@CollabLearnSol) July 22, 2015

Quote Of The Day: "What Does This Experience Make Possible?" Growth Mindset - Don't Throw The Baby Out With The Bathwater Research Study On Humility Perfect For Students (& Useful For All Of Us)
When Pupils Talk in Absolutes: Understanding Mindset though Self-Narrative is by Sarah Donarski.

Carol Dweck: "Keep trying, you can do it" is nagging, Instead ask "What have you tried, what strategy shall we try next?" #ewaMotivation - Stanford Education (@StanfordEd) November 11, 2015

The Golden State Warriors & Social Emotional Learning
Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a Growth Mindset is from The International Literacy Association.

Positive Mindset May Prime Students' Brains for Math is from Ed Week.

Why Growth Mindsets Are Necessary to Save Math Class is from The Atlantic.

Carol Dweck has recently written several pieces on the dangers of a "false growth mindset." Here are a few:

Recognizing and Overcoming False Growth Mindset is from Edutopia.

What Having a "Growth Mindset" Actually Means appeared in the Harvard Business Review.

The Stanford professor who pioneered praising kids for effort says we've totally missed the point is from Quartz.

I Did My Best Job Teaching A "Growth Mindset" Today - Here's The Lesson Plan

Here's What My Students Think Of A Growth Mindset
Study: Learning About Failures Of Famous Scientists Improves Student Achievement
Amazon, Ed. Organizations Launch Blitz for "Growth Mindset" in Math is from Ed Week.

What I Learned About Growth Mindset When Students Taught Me is from Ed Week.

Grow Your Mindset! is an accessible article with audio support.

- Brainology (@Brainology) February 13, 2016

New Study Finds A New Twist On Growth Mindset - Overconfident People Don't Have It Carol Dweck Makes Strongest Statement Yet On Growth Mindset Misuse
Nurturing Growth Mindsets: Six Tips From Carol Dweck is from Ed Week.
Quote Of The Day: "Effort Is Not The Only Thing" - Carol Dweck On A Growth Mindset Mindset Scholars Network Website Is Key New Resource For Social Emotional Learning Does Your Principal Support Teachers Developing A Growth Mindset?
Carol Dweck talks about a growth mindset. You can read her contribution to my Ed Week column at Classroom Strategies to Foster a Growth Mindset
Quote Of The Day: LeBron James On A Growth Mindset We Did A Great 'Growth Mindset' Lesson With Our ELLs This Week - Here's The Lesson Plan Study: "you want to speak to the brilliance, but you also need to speak to the struggle"
3 Myths of Mindset is by Dan Haesler.
Opportunities & Dangers Of Big New Growth Mindset Study
Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset: An Introduction is a useful TED-Ed lesson.

Mindset Works has unveiled a redesigned website and lots of free resources.

Seven Common Growth Mindset Scenarios and Responses is from The Mindset Kit.

Ed Week has published a special report on a growth mindset:
Mindset in the Classroom: A National Study of K-12 Teachers Teachers Seize On 'Growth Mindset,' But Crave More Training
Introducing Growth Mindset in Math is from Runde's Room.

How Microsoft Uses a Growth Mindset to Develop Leaders is by Carol Dweck.

How to Integrate Growth Mindset Messages Into Every Part of Math Class is from MindShift.
New Carol Dweck Interview On Having A "False Growth Mindset"
Growth mindset: practical tips you may not have tried yet is from The Guardian.
New Study Connects Growth Mindset & "Bouncing Back" From Mistakes
PERTS from Stanford is offering a free two-hour online program to promote a growth mindset to all ninth-graders. It's definitely worth a look.

Growth mindset is on a firm foundation, but we're still building the house is by Carol Dweck.

Is Mindset Theory Really In Trouble? is from New York Magazine.

Young Adult Novels That Teach a Growth Mindset is by Robert Ward.

Four Teaching Moves That Promote A Growth Mindset In All Readers is from MindShift.

Growth mindset, performance avoidance, and academic behaviors in Clark County School District is a long report worth a quick review.

Growth mindset: teaching panacea or classroom pitfall? is from TES.

I Want to get Better at... Growth Mindset Next Year is from The Teaching Channel.

Are You Getting Growth Mindset Wrong? is from The HuffPost.

I love this poster on developing a growth mindset community from @joboaler, @FeldsteinShelah, and @mathschristine.
https://t.co/9BuR6JURF9 pic.twitter.com/GA3nO8PKLG

- Robert Kaplinsky (@robertkaplinsky) June 17, 2017

Misinterpreting the Growth Mindset: Why We're Doing Students a Disservice is by John Hattie.

An Introduction to Growth Mindset from Character Lab on Vimeo.

What If Students Have More Confidence in Growth Mindsets Than Their Teachers? is from Ed Surge.
New Study Suggests That Motivation & Growth Mindset Are Most Important Factors For Student Success
Reduce Bullying by Cultivating Growth Mindsets is from Mindset Works.

Research every teacher should know: growth mindset is from The Guardian.

Praise the effort, not the outcome? Think again is by Carol Dweck.

Bruce Lee is a cult hero to many students, so the article Bruce Lee Used This Ancient Philosophy to Break Through His Limits (and Find Remarkable Success) could be a hit. It appears in Inc., and focuses his having a growth mindset.
Elmo Teaches The Power Of "Yet"
What Do Schools Fostering A Teacher "Growth Mindset" Look Like? is from The Shanker Institute.

New Stanford Study: A Positive Attitude Literally Makes Your Brain Work Better is from Inc.
Results Just Unveiled Of Big New Growth Mindset Study Co-Authored By A Ton Of Well-Known SEL Researchers
How to Integrate Growth Mindset Messages Into Every Part of Math Class is from MindShift.
Important Reminder That We Need To Praise Process To Support A Growth Mindset Carol Dweck's New Response To Critiques Of Growth Mindset New Study Shows Learning About Growth Mindset At Start Of Ninth-Grade Increases Resilience New Study Finds A Growth Mindset Intervention Effective When It Highlights Impact On Brain
Got Growth Mindset? 5 Pinterest-worthy Ways to Make It Visible in Your Classroom is from Teach Learn Grow.

Study: Promoting growth mindset in teachers may pay dividends for students is from Education Dive.

Growth Mindset In Learning Neglects "Fixed" Mindset In K-12 Math Curriculum Design is from Sunil Singh.

A growth mindset will help you handle setbacks - of any size is from The Seattle Times.

Is Growth Mindset the Missing Piece in the Equity Discussion? is from Ed Surge.

#Teachers, are you looking for #growthmindset videos to share with your #students? Check out @MindsetWorks video library at https://t.co/f4eHYISGY1 #BackToSchool2018 #educators #learn #edchat #edchatie pic.twitter.com/9GRujK5fyL

- Mindset Works (@MindsetWorks) August 29, 2018

Having a Growth Mindset Makes It Easier to Develop New Interests is from The Harvard Business Review.

But as the authors themselves point out, small effects may be educationally important if they cost little to achieve. Moreover, the meta-analysis did not consider important moderators of effect such as age, and the sensitivity of outcome measures to the effects of instruction...

- Dylan Wiliam (@dylanwiliam) November 8, 2018

STUDENT-WRITTEN GROWTH MINDSET STORIES HERE ARE EXAMPLES OF WHAT STUDENTS WROTE ABOUT A GROWTH MINDSET GROWTH MINDSET IN ACTION
STEM faculty who believe ability is fixed have larger racial achievement gaps and inspire less student motivation in their classes is from Science Magazine.
THIS QUOTE IS A GREAT ONE FOR SHOWING THE IMPORTANCE OF A GROWTH MINDSET

When we praise children for their intelligence, we tell them that this is the name of the game: Look smart, don't risk making mistakes.

- willunfollowforfood (@iunfollowanyway) April 2, 2019

Nurturing a Culture of Growth is from Psychology Today.

Building Growth Mindset in the Classroom: Assignments From Carol Dweck is from Ed Week.
TWO FREE ONLINE PROGRAMS FOR TEACHERS & STUDENTS - ONE ON STUDENT ENGAGEMENT & THE OTHER ON GROWTH MINDSET
If you've found this list helpful, you might want to consider subscribing to this blog for free.
RESULTS OF BIGGEST MINDSET STUDY FINDS POSITIVE IMPACT

IN DEFENSE OF CAROL DWECK (a thread):

Given the current discussion about Carol Dweck and growth mindsets, I'd like to add my two cents. Of course, I'm COMPLETELY unbiased, since she has been my mentor and friend for almost 15 years. (1/12) pic.twitter.com/8UVpEytDZk

- Dr. Allison Master (@AllisonMaster) August 9, 2019

A Proof Point for the Value of Growth Mindsets is from FutureEd.
VERY INTERESTING VIDEO: "HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED - THE LOCUS RULE" THIS IS PROBABLY THE BEST & MOST ACCESSIBLE REVIEW OF GROWTH MINDSET RESEARCH THAT YOU'RE GOING TO FIND
Growth Mindset for Mentors is from Mindset Kit.

MindsetWorks offers a number of useful free resources.

Psychologist Carol Dweck: 'Everyone is a work in progress' is from The Financial Times.

Here's how a new study titled "False growth mindsets" is described:
This research snapshot summarizes a project led by Nicholas Buttrick as part of the National Study of Learning Mindsets Early Career Fellowship. In a sample of 9th grade mathematics teachers, the project explores the concept of false growth mindset - a belief that effort alone can lead to improvement regardless of other factors like effective learning strategies and help-seeking. NOT ONLY CAN IT BE MOTIVATING TO HAVE A GROWTH MINDSET, BUT NEW STUDIES FIND LEARNING ABOUT OTHERS WHO HAVE IT CAN BE MOTIVATING, TOO
Growth Mindset vs. Fixed + Key Takeaways From Dweck's Book is from Positive Psychology.
HIGHLIGHTING SCIENTISTS WHO SUCCEEDED MORE THROUGH EFFORT THAN BRILLIANCE ENHANCES STUDENT MOTIVATION IN SCIENCE YOU WON'T FIND A BETTER GROWTH MINDSET QUOTE THAN THIS ONE FROM A RUGBY STAR
6 Ways a Crisis Can Help You Cultivate a Growth Mindset is from the Harvard Business Review.

A growth mindset of interest can spark innovative thinking is from Eureka Alert.

Nurturing students' growth mindset-Lessons from research is from the International Baccalaureate.
Big New Report On Growth Mindset Benefits
Set yourself free by developing a growth mindset toward anxiety is from Psyche. I am sometimes wary of offering a growth mindset as a cure-all, but it's an interesting article.

Teacher Mindsets Help Explain Where a Growth-Mindset Intervention Does and Doesn't Work is from Psychological Science.

Here's a line from Reading Struggle Stories of Role Models Can Improve Students' Growth Mindsets (this study is not behind a paywall):
These findings reveal that reading struggle stories of role models can improve the growth mindsets of undergraduates and graduates.
Testing Growth Mindsets in Real Classrooms is from Psychology Today.

Growth-Mindset Intervention Delivered by Teachers Boosts Achievement in Early Adolescence is a new study.

Changing Mindsets Can Protect Teens from Stress is from Psychology Today.

This next resource looks particularly interesting, though it's a year old and I can't believe I'm just learning about it: Carol Dweck and David Yeager initiated something they're calling a Global Mindset Initiative last year with the publication of several open access papers.

One paper the two of them coauthored: Global Mindset Initiative Introduction: Envisioning the Future of Growth Mindset Research in Education
Global Mindset Initiative Paper 1: Growth Mindset Cultures and Teacher Practices
Global Mindset Initiative Working Paper 2: Designing an Intervention to Motivate Growth Mindset-Supportive Teaching Practices is another one.
Global Mindset Initiative Paper 3: Measuring Growth Mindset Classroom Cultures
I learned about them through a good article in Greater Good Magazine, How to Create the Right Environment for Students to Develop a Growth Mindset.

Growth Mindset is from Character Lab.

The Myths and Facts Teachers Need to Know About Growth Mindset is from Ed Week.

This Twitter thread is essential reading for anyone interested in a Growth Mindset.

PROOF POINTS: Does growth mindset matter? The debate heats up is from The Hechinger Report.

My latest for American Educator examines the evidence on growth mindset. My take:
1. Theory is right
2. Effect is small
3. Interventions can change it (on avg., obv.) but it is NOT easy
4. Said change is sensitive to context (chars of school, tchr) https://t.co/nplddHW5TM

- Daniel Willingham (@DTWillingham) December 7, 2022

This May Be The Best & Most Useful Article I've Ever Read About A "Growth Mindset"
You might want to also view the over nine hundred other "The Best..." lists.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Best Resources On Helping Our Students Develop A "Growth Mindset"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Photo Credit: Antoine Gady via Compfight 'Growth Mindset Starts With Us, Not With Them' is the first post in a two-part series at my Education Week Teacher column. Also check out Here A...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Sierra Bohamera on Instagram: "Comment “FLAG” and I’ll send the link straight to your DMs! 🚩 #worksheet #lessonidea #reviewidea #teacheridea #teacherspayteachers #teacherspayteachersresources #review"

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
1,585 likes, 553 comments - thattrendyteacher on December 15, 2024: "Comment “FLAG” and I’ll send the link straight to your DMs! 🚩 #worksheet #lessonidea #reviewidea #teacheridea #teacherspayteachers #teacherspayteachersresources #review". 

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.embed_code
View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sierra Bohamera (@thattrendyteacher)

# data[].attributes.headline
Classroom Resources | National Portrait Gallery

# data[].attributes.subject
Classroom Resources | National Portrait Gallery

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Reading Portraiture, A Guide for Educators

This Learning Lab collection was designed so that educators can use portraits as a springboard for a conversation in their classrooms. Portraits present insights into history and biography, prompt writing in the classroom, inspire students to create self-portraits, and even offer great ties to science and mathematics. In this guide, you will discover how to teach students to spot visual clues in artworks and then analyze them, similar to dissecting a historical document. Teaching students to use close reading skills with portraiture will produce a rich and memorable investigation of both the subject and the artist.
Smithsonian Learning Lab >>

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Portrait Gallery has a variety of resources for the classroom that have been developed to complement our exhibitions.

# data[].attributes.headline
Classroom Resources | National Portrait Gallery

# data[].attributes.subject
Classroom Resources | National Portrait Gallery

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Reading Portraiture, A Guide for Educators

This Learning Lab collection was designed so that educators can use portraits as a springboard for a conversation in their classrooms. Portraits present insights into history and biography, prompt writing in the classroom, inspire students to create self-portraits, and even offer great ties to science and mathematics. In this guide, you will discover how to teach students to spot visual clues in artworks and then analyze them, similar to dissecting a historical document. Teaching students to use close reading skills with portraiture will produce a rich and memorable investigation of both the subject and the artist.
Smithsonian Learning Lab >>

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The Portrait Gallery has a variety of resources for the classroom that have been developed to complement our exhibitions.

# data[].attributes.headline
Indigenous artists in Alaska continue to grow formline art with the help of serigraph printing - The Anchorage Museum

# data[].attributes.subject
Indigenous artists in Alaska continue to grow formline art with the help of serigraph printing - The Anchorage Museum

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Indigenous artists in Alaska continue to grow formline art with the help of serigraph printing - The Anchorage Museum

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By John Hagen, Curator of Indigenous Arts and Initiatives Anchorage Museum

# data[].attributes.headline
100 Powerful Affirmations for Teachers to Stay Positive and Focused

# data[].attributes.subject
100 Powerful Affirmations for Teachers to Stay Positive and Focused

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Innertune Blog ⏐ What You Think, You Become.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Have you ever wondered how much of an impact your mindset has on your teaching day? As an educator, you pour your heart and energy into your students, often forgetting about your well-being. But the truth is, taking care of your mind and spirit is just as important as teaching your lessons. That's where teacher affirmations can help. They're simple, positive reminders that can shift your perspective, ease stress, and keep you motivated, even on tough days.

In the fast-paced world of education, it's natural to feel overwhelmed sometimes. Teacher affirmations act as gentle nudges, reminding you of your strength, resilience, and ability to inspire those around you. Making them a regular part of your day can boost not only your mood but also your impact in the classroom. Let's dive into how these affirmations can support you in your teaching journey.

Affirmations for Motivation and Passion

Affirmations for Patience and Calmness

Affirmations for Confidence and Self-Worth

Affirmations for Work-Life Balance and Well-Being

How Teacher Affirmations Can Shift Your Teaching Mindset

How often do you stop and appreciate the amazing work you're doing? It's easy to get caught up in the day-to-day grind, but teacher affirmations give you a chance to pause and reflect on your strengths. They help you focus on the good and remind you of the incredible impact you're making in your students' lives. When you work these affirmations into your routine, you're not just boosting your mental clarity and emotional well-being. You're also creating a positive ripple effect that benefits your students, too.

The Lasting Impact of Teacher Affirmations on Educators

Teacher affirmations can be a little dose of encouragement and positivity that you turn to every day. When you make a habit of using them, you'll start to feel more confident, less stressed, and even more passionate about teaching. They're simple, but incredibly effective, especially when those tough days roll around. Adding affirmations to your routine doesn't just lift your spirits. It also brings a more positive vibe into your classroom, which your students will feel too. Take it one affirmation at a time, and you'll see how it transforms not only your teaching but also how your students respond to the energy you bring.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
100 Powerful Affirmations for Teachers to Stay Positive and Focused

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn how powerful teacher affirmations can uplift your mindset, reduce stress, and inspire both you and your students for a better teaching experience.

# data[].attributes.headline
10 Daily Affirmations for Teachers | Teach For America

# data[].attributes.subject
10 Daily Affirmations for Teachers | Teach For America

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 Daily Affirmations for Teachers | Teach For America

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Honest reflection can help you become a better teacher, but if you find yourself feeling resigned or disheartened, it’s time to embrace a growth mindset.

# data[].attributes.headline
Educator Rights Speaking Up for Public Schools and Students

# data[].attributes.subject
Educator Rights Speaking Up for Public Schools and Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
You have the greatest freedom of speech and other protections when you are advocating off duty and away from school.

When you are off duty, you generally have the same rights as any other person to advocate for your views, support your candidates of choice, march and attend protests, sign petitions on issues you care about, and communicate with your elected representatives about those same issues.

Whenever you are involved in any of these activities, you should be clear that you are speaking and acting for yourself or for your union, not on behalf of your school.

If you are writing something that members of the public might see, for example a letter to the editor or a Twitter thread, include a disclaimer that makes clear you are speaking only for yourself and/or for your union, and not as a school representative.

For example, "The opinions and positions expressed are my own and do not necessarily reflect my school district's position, strategies, or opinions."

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Educator Rights Speaking Up for Public Schools and Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
You have the greatest freedom of speech and other protections when you are advocating off duty and away from school. When you are off duty, you generally have the same rights as any other person to advocate for your views, support your candidates of choice, march and attend protests, sign petitions on issues you care about, and communicate with your elected representatives about those same issues.

# data[].attributes.headline
5 Steps for Effective Advocacy in Public Education | Arizona Rural Schools Association

# data[].attributes.subject
5 Steps for Effective Advocacy in Public Education | Arizona Rural Schools Association

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 Steps for Effective Advocacy in Public Education | Arizona Rural Schools Association

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
by Cole Young, M.Ed Superintendent, Mohave Valley School District #16 As the MVSD Superintendent, I see advocacy in education as stepping into a whole new world—a world where storytelling (communicating) becomes just as important as teaching math or science. It’s about painting a picture of our students’ successes, our schools’ achievements, and our district’s vision. It’s storytelling at its finest; let me tell you, it’s a game-changer.

# data[].attributes.headline
Movement in the Classroom: Enhancing Student Engagement and Learning - Untapped Learning

# data[].attributes.subject
Movement in the Classroom: Enhancing Student Engagement and Learning - Untapped Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Incorporating movement into the classroom is not just a way to break the monotony of traditional teaching methods; it's a scientifically-backed strategy to enhance student engagement, motivation, focus, and overall well-being. Research consistently shows that physical activity has incredibly positive effects on the brain, including improved memory and brain function, enhanced focus and attention span, and significant relief from stress and anxiety.

1. Improved Memory and Brain Function: Physical activity increases blood flow and oxygen delivery to the brain, particularly to the hippocampus, which plays a crucial role in memory and learning. This increased oxygenation stimulates the release of neurotransmitters that support cognitive functions and promotes the generation of new brain cells. The results, in layman's terms? After physical activity, people are primed for better memory, comprehension, and information retention: all key cognitive abilities to support effective learning.

2. Enhanced Focus and Attention Span: Integrating exercise and movement into students' routines can significantly enhance their focus and attention. After physical activity, students show an improvement in focus that can last up to several hours. Incorporating short movement breaks, like walks, stretching, or quick games, can actually help students perform higher academically, especially those who struggle to maintain attention.

3. Stress and Anxiety Relief: Exercise stimulates the release of endorphins: hormones that promote well-being and reduce the perception of pain. These endorphins can reduce stress and alleviate symptoms of anxiety. Regular activity can improve self-esteem, enhance sleep quality, and promote clearer mental function, helping students (and everyone else!) maximize their cognitive capabilities.
The Evidence
- Numerous studies support the benefits of movement in the classroom. At Untapped, an example we reference at least weekly is the research from Dr. John Ratey's bestseller, Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain. The book dives into a study that took place in Naperville, IL. After implementing daily physical activity for students, Naperville High School saw remarkable improvements in science test scores, in addition to higher state rankings in math and reading.

- Similarly, studies conducted by Western Governors University and published in Pediatrics have demonstrated that regular exercise boosts academic performance, reduces stress and anxiety, improves sleep, and elevates self-esteem among students.

- A study published in Pediatrics showed that students with ADHD who exercised 30 minutes every day for 12 weeks demonstrated significant improvements in attention and memory.
Behavior Management in the Classroom with Movement
Classroom movement time should be a vital part of the school day, similar to math, reading, or any other subject. Many teachers are uncomfortable with the thought of students' movement due to potential behavior management concerns. That's valid! To maintain order and maximize the benefits of movement, consider these strategies:

Educate students about the benefits of movement for their brains and bodies.

Help them understand how movement can improve their focus, memory, and learning experience.

Enforce students to take ownership of their learning by participating in movement activities.

Set Clear Expectations and Practice

Establish rules and appropriate behaviors for movement time.

Allow students to practice the transition in a controlled manner.

Gradually increase the complexity and length of movement time as students become more comfortable and can transition back quickly.

Use precise praise and a warm and strict approach. Acknowledge and reinforce positive behaviors during movement activities but quickly hold students who go off track accountable.

Use Multiple Modalities to Regain Attention - Here are techniques we have seen work to transition from movement back to learning:

Ring Bell and Verbal Reminders: Signal the end of movement time with a distinct bell or chime. Pair the auditory cue with clear verbal instructions for the next activity. Practice the attention-getting routine regularly to build muscle memory.

Music and Verbal Reminders: Play a specific song to indicate the transition period. Gradually lower the volume as students settle back into their seats. Provide verbal cues during the music to guide students through the transition.

Consider Putting Engaging Content or Positive Reinforcement After Movement

Use the post-movement time for collaborative or interactive tasks that benefit from heightened engagement.

Plan exciting or challenging activities immediately following movement breaks to capitalize on increased focus and energy.

Positive reinforcement will be needed after a smooth transition from movement to learning activities. Also, remind them that the class will receive more movement breaks with smooth transitions.

The research is clear: exercise benefits students, especially neurodiverse students. It aids their learning, sharpens their focus, and mitigates stress and anxiety. As educators, incorporating movement into classroom routines can significantly improve student learning, focus, and overall well-being. This approach supports academic success and fosters a healthier, more engaging learning environment.

As an educator, you work tirelessly to support your students' growth and success. Thank you for all that you do. Let Untapped help your staff develop strategies to improve all students' executive function skills.
For More: Ways to Use Movement in Teaching Importance of Movement Movement and Learning Exercise and the Brain Regular Exercise Changes Brain

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Movement in the Classroom: Enhancing Student Engagement and Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Incorporating movement into the classroom is a strategy to enhance student engagement, motivation, focus, and overall well-being.

# data[].attributes.headline
More Than a Dozen Ways to Build Movement Into Learning | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.subject
More Than a Dozen Ways to Build Movement Into Learning | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Physical activity that amplifies learning can have a powerful effect on retention and engagement-it's also fun.

Allison Shelley for the Alliance for Excellent Education

When researchers at Texas A&M University gave standing desks to 34 high school students, they discovered that after consistent use, standing while learning delivered a significant boost to students' executive functioning skills-the sorts of cognitive skills that allow kids to manage their time, understand and memorize information, and organize thoughts in writing. Even small amounts of movement, this emerging research revealed, can deliver a positive impact on learning: Neurocognitive testing of the standing students, the pilot study notes, showed a 7 to 14 percent improvement in their cognitive performance, a noteworthy impact for such a simple intervention.

Infusing classrooms with physical activity-or at least the option of some movement, at student discretion-isn't just good for kids' bodies, it's also a powerful tool for improving learning and focus and reducing classroom management issues. And yet, from kindergarten through high school "students spend most of their academic lives at a desk," says educator Brad Johnson for The Washington Post, an arrangement that is meant to increase their focus and academic productivity, but can actually create kids who are "bored, off-task, disruptive or otherwise disengaged."

There are many smart, innovative ways to build movement into lessons and the research increasingly supports getting kids moving in schools to promote better physical health, provide the types of breaks that reset our cognitive processes so that we can learn anew, and even link our physical bodies to our cognitive insights to encode learning more deeply. From intentionally aligning curriculum with movement to improve retention, to planning frequent and active brain breaks to clear working memory, here are more than a dozen ways educators and researchers are pairing learning with movement.

INTEGRATING MOVEMENT IN THE CURRICULUM

Incorporating gross and fine motor activities across many subject areas makes a lot of sense, particularly to teach foundational concepts. In math classes, for instance, you can create chalk grids on the playground and have children walk sloped lines, stopping to discuss and walk the line's "rise" and "run," or you can use hand and arm gestures to teach a broader range of mathematical concepts like tangents and cosines. Here are a few more ways educators are injecting movement into lessons.

In Science, Becoming a Liquid: Science teacher and instructional coach JaShan Wilson turned social distancing requirements into an opportunity for her students to "use their own bodies to model movements, test phenomena, and engage with the curriculum."

For lessons on matter and particle movement, for example, she asks students to "act like solids, liquids, or gases," and then "switch it up as in Simon Says until all students sped up, slowed down, or vibrated in order to represent how matter moves." For a unit on energy, Wilson's students examine the transfer of energy by making wave movements with their arms. "The more energy they apply, the higher the amplitude," Wilson notes. Engaging students in these "human labs," as Wilson calls them, delivered impressive academic results: Her students did better on formative assessments and "continued to utilize the movements and reference the activities, which showed how they connected the concepts to them permanently."

Playing Basketball Math: In a six-week study involving 757 Copenhagen elementary school students, researchers had half the students do math while playing basketball. The other half studied math in class as usual, and played basketball solely as a regular gym activity.

The kids who played while doing math did tasks like "counting how many times they could sink a basket from three meters away versus at a one-meter distance," and then added up the numbers, says Linn Damsgaard, one of the study's authors. Among the students who played basketball while doing math, the researchers reported a 6 percent boost in math mastery; a 16 percent increase in intrinsic motivation; and a 14 percent improvement in "perceived autonomy," or self-determination, compared to peers learning in the classroom.

Student Thespians: When researchers asked 8-year-olds to mimic the words they were learning in another language by using their hands and bodies to act out the word's meaning-by spreading their arms and pretending to fly while they learned the German word for airplane, for example-the students were 73 percent more likely to recall them, even two months later.

In ELA and social study classes, having kids partake in skits may feel like it's inviting chaos, but the body will often remember what the mind forgets-and getting students to act out historical events or scenes from works of literature can help them remember the information, grasp the basic elements of drama, or provide them with a new opportunity to listen to the sounds and rhythms of written and spoken language.

Drawing It Out: Even indifferent or unpracticed artists benefit by drawing what they've learned, a 2018 study concluded, resulting in retention rates that were double the rates of when kids wrote or read.

When a student draws a concept, they "must elaborate on its meaning and semantic features," the researchers explain, while engaging "in the actual hand movements needed for drawing"-a rich mixture of cognitive and physiological activities that encodes learning more deeply and is a "reliable, replicable means of boosting performance."

The drawing doesn't have to be expert-level: even stick figures or crude shapes accompanied by annotations will do, and data visualizations work similarly to hand-drawn pictures. You can assess learning by allowing kids to try one-pagers that demonstrate their understanding of a topic through art; incorporate more graphs and statistical modeling into math and science classes; have students draw models of solar systems or cells in science classes; or let students create travel journals to document any learning journey graphically.

ACTIVE BRAIN BREAKS

Research shows that when students take brief, active breaks throughout the day, it increases productivity, creativity, and social skills. "When we take a brain break, it refreshes our thinking and helps us discover another solution to a problem or see a situation through a different lens," writes Lori Desautels, an assistant professor at the Butler University College of Education. "The brain break actually helps to incubate and process new information," says Desautels.

So plan for frequent breaks (we've included a few ideas to get you started) and keep them active and social-a brisk walk around the perimeter of the classroom, a quick stretch, an energizing freeze dance.

Brain breaks for younger students: Try wiggle breaks where kids stand and wiggle each arm and leg in succession or opposite sides, where kids blink one eye while snapping fingers on the opposite side and then reverse the exercise. For energizing breath, have students pant like dogs with their mouths open and tongues out for 30 seconds, hands on the belly, then breathe briskly for another 30 seconds with mouths closed. Easier still: invite kids to jump in place like they're on a trampoline; or keep it really simple with a quick crab walk around the room.

Brain breaks for older students: Try a wave, starting at one end of the room with students standing and raising their arms; or have them get out of their chairs for a whole-body stretch or for a brief walk around the room. They can also pass a ball around for a quick game of catch, practice a few yoga poses like tree pose or warrior II, or very simply, ask them to hop on one foot, then switch to the other foot for a minute or two.

MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT MOVEMENT WHILE LEARNING

Doodling, Fidgeting, and More: There's often confusion about movement that is not directly related to learning. While drawing a plant cell or creating a pictorial representation of a scene from a novel will deepen retention and result in more durable learning, when students doodle during lessons-by drawing elaborate cartoons while an unrelated lesson is in progress, for example-the research, and the cognitive science, suggests that learning is compromised.

In a 2019 study during which students were asked to doodle-which the researchers defined as "drawing that is semantically unrelated to to-be-remembered information"-while they learned, they showed "poorer free recall for words encoded while free-form doodling compared to words that were drawn or written."

Multitasking divides our attention, a finite cognitive resource, and makes us less proficient at both tasks. But there's a wrinkle here, too: There is some evidence that activities that require very little attention, like fidgeting or listening to soft background music (but probably not loud or attention-gobbling music), don't divide our focus to the same degree. Being tolerant of a certain amount of fidgeting or a pair of headphones is an important accommodation for students who might otherwise need to get out of their seats entirely, or might struggle with focused, demanding tasks like homework. In the end, the more distracting any task is to the lesson, the less likely learning is to stick.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
More Than a Dozen Ways to Build Movement Into Learning

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Physical activity that amplifies learning can have a powerful effect on retention and engagement-it's also fun.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Information on gamification and how to do it Gamification vs. Game-Based Learning: What's the Difference? - theknowledgeguru Made with play: Game-based learning resources How teachers can gamify Science - The Tech Edvocate How to create an educational escape room for your class - Classcraft

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It’s easier than you think to bring the fun and excitement of a game play in to your classroom. Whether it’s the latest video game craze, a beloved

# data[].attributes.headline
ACES resources/Trauma Informed EducatorsThursday 25 - Google Slides

# data[].attributes.subject
ACES resources/Trauma Informed EducatorsThursday 25 - Google Slides

# data[].attributes.headline
National Association for Music Education (NAfME)

# data[].attributes.subject
National Association for Music Education (NAfME)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
National Association for Music Education (NAfME)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
NAfME is an association where all people are heard, seen, and feel they belong throughout their lifelong experiences in music.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
National Council for the Social Studies is pleased to offer a limited number of registration scholarships to educators who have never been able to attend the NCSS Annual Conference in the past for lack of financial support. Teachers from across the United States and its territories are welcome to apply.

# data[].attributes.headline
No-Cost Summer Travel for Teachers | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.subject
No-Cost Summer Travel for Teachers | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
As summer approaches, do you find yourself daydreaming about how you will spend your long summer months as a civilian? I enjoy enriching the minds of students for ten months, but as summer draws nearer, I yearn to act as the learner, preferably at someone else’s expense. Fellowships, workshops, seminars and service travel can provide you with intellectually stimulating learning opportunities while on the road.

# data[].attributes.headline
NCTE - National Council of Teachers of English

# data[].attributes.subject
NCTE - National Council of Teachers of English

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) is a professional organization dedicated to "improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education.

# data[].attributes.headline
5-Minute Film Festival: Travel for Teachers | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.subject
5-Minute Film Festival: Travel for Teachers | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5-Minute Film Festival: Travel for Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Whether you have the resources to travel internationally or just take a short trip, traveling can be enriching both personally and professionally for educators. Watch the videos in this playlist for some ideas!

# data[].attributes.headline
Amplifying Indigenous Experiences | PBS All-Stars Lessons | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.subject
Amplifying Indigenous Experiences | PBS All-Stars Lessons | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Amplifying Indigenous Experiences | PBS All-Stars Lessons | PBS LearningMedia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Students will watch three episodes of the UNLADYLIKE2020 series of 26 short films and explore the similarities in issues affecting these women while also identifying the qualities that made them unique. The lessons are about finding common threads between the women, and also between the past and the present. This student-centered lesson follows the ‘5E’ instructional model. Students will explore the lives of these incredible figures through a gallery walk, discuss their findings, research events of the present, and create their own gallery walk to present their research.
Objectives: Students will aim to...
• engage in past and present Indigenous people and identify incidents related to culture, land, citizenship, and health;
• explore, analyze, and create with the topics presented in UNLADYLIKE2020;
• explore the topics presented in the UNLADYLIKE2020 episodes, analyze them, and work together to create from them;
• identify the specific examples of each figure’s experiences with culture, citizenship, land rights, and health, and discuss the figures’ achievements;
• elaborate on issues related to culture, citizenship, land, and health by connecting past events and present events related to these topics;
• evaluate the knowledge gained from the activities surrounding Indigenous people and culture and determine steps in moving forward with this knowledge.
About the Authors:
Sarah Dahl: Watching students learn, and contributing to their knowledge base, brings Sarah Dahl more joy and accomplishment than any other career could. Whether her students are 15 or 55 she is motivated by every opportunity to help her students become themselves. Having taught English Language Arts for the last 13 years, Sarah finds herself constantly challenged by her ever changing student body. Each year presents something new and exciting to design, execute, and revise, and not all careers have such opportunities. In the last two years, Sarah has taken on the challenges of integrating more technology into her classroom, and in the last few months she has had the opportunity to work closely with colleagues to empower them to do the same. Sarah finds the rewarding part of teaching is to work closely with colleagues in the integration of 21st century skills. Sarah has worked closely with her PBS Teacher Ambassador and leads a professional development group that helps teachers find ways to use technology in their lessons.
BJ Garcia: BJ is a seventh and eighth grade math teacher at Crownover Middle School in Texas. BJ received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree from Texas Tech University, but a few years after graduating college decided to change career paths. He has been teaching math and coaching football in Denton ISD for the last 13 years. BJ believes becoming an educator is truly the best job, because he is able to coach students in the sports that he loves, and shape minds in the classroom. BJ enjoys finding meaningful ways for students to make connections between math and the real world. He has a passion to create STEM based lessons that challenge students’ creative side. The goal for his classroom is to make learning irresistible to his students. In 2015, BJ was named Teacher Of The Year. His desire to grow professionally has led him to teach a variety of Summer STEM camps, participate in collaborations with the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow program and write several grants to enhance student learning in my classroom.

# data[].attributes.headline
Decolonizing the Map: Creating the Indigenous Mapping Collective

# data[].attributes.subject
Decolonizing the Map: Creating the Indigenous Mapping Collective

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Decolonizing the Map: Creating the Indigenous Mapping Collective

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Learn about reclaiming Indigenous lands through mapping and the Indigenous Mapping Collective.

# data[].attributes.headline
Thanksgiving | National Museum of the American Indian

# data[].attributes.subject
Thanksgiving | National Museum of the American Indian

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Thanksgiving | National Museum of the American Indian

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The NMAI fosters a richer shared human experience through a more informed understanding of Native peoples.

# data[].attributes.headline
Incorporating Simple, Student-Designed Assessments in Middle and High School | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.subject
Incorporating Simple, Student-Designed Assessments in Middle and High School | Edutopia

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
These assessments increase student accountability and provide a way to personalize learning without a lot of extra time and effort.

Student-designed assessments and personalized learning are two popular trends in education that often come across as complicated and overwhelming for many educators. These practices are difficult to figure out how to begin, but there are practical ways to incorporate them without requiring a lot of additional prep time through a focus on simple student-designed assessments.

Student-designed assessments are where students have a say in how they will be assessed and/or what will be on their assessment. In this case, simplified student-designed assessments are those that do not require any additional technology nor in-depth planning on the part of the teacher. Instead, these assessments are created in 15-20 minute chunks in the class period and do not require the use of new platforms, technology, or complicated steps.

There are three useful and practical methods I use on a regular basis in my classes that are effective, no matter the students' level or age, and are applied across different content areas.

3 Means of Student-Designed Assessments

1. Pick and choose. This is good for the class or teacher who is new to this concept. As you approach an upcoming assessment, give students a series of practice questions (or tasks). Have groups identify a few questions that they feel everyone should be able to do (the "baseline questions") and others that would be a challenge-but doable (the "challenging"). Then, quickly scan what they chose and compare it to what is already on the assessment or what is planned.

Do the students seem to understand what they should know? If yes, then the assessment could go well. If not, perhaps some re-teaching or extra review would be necessary.

2. Create a question/task. This is similar to the task above, but with more creativity. Have students think of a topic that you have been studying. In small groups or pairs, students actually generate a few questions, prompts, or tasks in the same categories mentioned above: baseline and challenging. They can submit this to you through small groups or as part of a whole-class meeting. You can use these to generate your questions for the assessment.

What universally surprises educators with this approach is that students can identify what they all should know and recognize doable challenges as appropriate assessment questions. When they take the assessment, there is a stronger sense of accountability-since they had a part in generating it. I have found that, as a result, they will give very thoughtful and engaged answers.

3. Rubric descriptors. This one can be tricky to do with some classes, and I would suggest doing this after you have done one of the activities above. You give groups a blank rubric for an upcoming performance-based assessment. Have students come up with bullet point items of what "meets expectations" looks like. Then, as a class, you discuss those, and you can generate a descriptor for that section of the rubric together.

Depending on the class' ability to focus, you then fill in the other sections of the rubric. When students actually do the task (where they will be graded on the rubric), there's a stronger sense of what they should be able to do since they created the expectations.

Benefits and Challenges

There are some obvious benefits to incorporating simple student-designed assessments into your pedagogical practice.

Ownership. While you obviously may need to gently nudge students to appropriate questions or rubric descriptors, this allows students to feel that they have a voice in the process.

Demonstration of knowledge. Creating an assessment allows students to show what they understand and is an assessment in and of itself. Even if students are identifying potential questions, they are still showing that they understand what's relevant to the topic of study, and this requires critical reflective skills.

Time efficiency. Making assessments can be time-consuming, as is re-teaching content when students do not perform well on assessments. Therefore, taking any steps at the onset to mitigate either of these outcomes can be beneficial for teacher and student alike.

There are also obvious challenges to implementing this into a classroom, but the good news is that these can be overcome.

Knowledge of content area. Students may feel that they are unable to generate questions for an upcoming assessment due to their lack of knowledge about the content area. However, with guidance from classmates, most students should be able to at the very least identify questions or tasks that they should be able to do.

Lack of curriculum control. Some educators don't have a lot of control over what will be on an assessment, so letting students design the assessments is challenging. However, the process discussed here could then be used as a way to review topics that will be assessed and you can reinforce those critical topics through discussion.

Tips for Implementation

Interested in giving this a try? Here are my best suggestions for incorporating student-designed assessments in your classroom on a regular basis.

Start small. For many educators, the first option of picking and choosing questions is the easiest.

Be concise. This does not need to be an extensive classroom activity. Allot 15-20 minutes maximum for the activity, and move on with the rest of the instruction.

Use the questions. If you want to create buy-in and ownership in the process, the students need to see that their feedback is useful.

Make it timely. Do this enough in advance to address any confusion or be willing to adjust the date of the assessment.

In conclusion, a more personalized learning (and assessment) experience does not need to be complicated nor stressful. As educators, it can be difficult to relinquish some of the control that we have in the classroom. However, perhaps sharing some of this control with our students can lead to a more personalized and engaged experience.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
These assessments increase student accountability and provide a way to personalize learning without a lot of extra time and effort. Student-designed assessments and personalized learning are two popular trends in education that often come across as complicated and overwhelming for many educators.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Arrange a Whole Staff Kagan Cooperative Learning Workshop

# data[].attributes.headline
Icebreakers You Won't Hate - My Art Lesson

# data[].attributes.subject
Icebreakers You Won't Hate - My Art Lesson

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An ice breaker is an activity, game, or event that is used to welcome and encourage conversation in a class. It's the beginning of the year getting-to-know-you activity. An icebreaker can run the gamut from painful and awkward to fun and engaging. A well-done icebreaker can go a long way to set a positive vibe for the rest of the school year, so pick your icebreaker carefully! So, here we have compiled a list of some tried and true creative ice breakers to set you off on a positive first day.

Trading Cards

This starter is great because (1) it lets people self-define, (2) it gives people a "personality" outside the classroom (3) it gives students quick snapshots of multiple players (since they see many cards as they're being passed around), and (4) it creates memorable visuals that give people conversation pieces as the class progresses.

Number of Players
Unlimited

Duration of Play
0-15 minutes

1. Give the students or "players" access to large-scale index cards and markers.

2. Ask them to take 5-10 minutes to create a personal "trading card"-one that includes a quick self-portrait, a nickname for their "player," and one thing about themselves that people in the meeting aren't likely to know.

3. Have the players pass the trading cards around the room in no particular manner or order. Tell them to read each trading card that falls into their hands and hold onto one they might ask a question about. They can keep passing until they find one.

4. Ask for volunteers to read their player's name and nickname and then to ask that person a question related to the little-known fact on his card.

5. Let the player who was chosen elaborate on the question he was asked. The player can then opt to ask the person whose card he's holding a question, or he can pass and you can request another volunteer.

6. Keeping going around until the players appear to be sufficiently warmed up. You'll have to read the room on how much they are enjoying the icebreaker. If possible, make it through the entire class.
Strategy
Simply to have fun and get to know each other. Bonus, keep the cards and use them to randomly select students for classroom jobs and such.
*Adapted from gamestorming.com
Low-Tech Social Network

The object of this game is to introduce event participants to each other by co-creating a mural-sized, visual network of their connections.
Number of Players
Large groups work best.
Duration of Play
25 minutes to create the first version of the network; the network remains up for the duration of the class and may be added to, changed, or studied throughout.
How to Play
To set up the game, all participants will need a 5×8 index card and access to markers or something similar to draw their avatar. They will also need a substantial wall covered in butcher paper to create the actual network.

1. The teacher gives the participants clear instructions: "As a group, we are going to build the social network that is in the room right now. We're going to use this wall to do it. But first, we need to create the most fundamental elements of the network: who you are. Start by taking your card and drawing your avatar (profile picture) that you'll be uploading to the network. Save room on the bottom of the card for your name."

2. Create the avatars. After a short period of time (and probably some laughter and apologies for drawing ability), the participants should have their avatars and names created. At this point, the emcee may add a variation, which is to ask the group to also write two words on the card that "tag" who they are or what they're interested in at the event.

3. Make the connections. Next, the teacher directs players to stand up and bring their cards and a marker to the butcher paper wall, then "upload" themselves by sticking their card to the wall.

4. The next task is simple: find the people you know and draw lines to make the connections. Label the lines if you can: "friends with" or "went to school with" or "went mountain climbing with." This continues for a time and is likely to result in previously undiscovered links and new friends.
*Adapted from gamestorming.com Strategy
The initial network creation will be somewhat chaotic and messy, resulting in a mural that has a lot of spaghetti lines. Over the course of the event, participants may browse the network. Encourage this, and see what new connections are made.

* Adapted from gamestorming.com

Passion Tick Tac Toe
Number of Players

Large groups work best.
Duration of Play

25 minutes or more, flexible to home many "winners" you want to allow.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ice breakers you won't hate - My Art Lesson

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An ice breaker is an activity, game, or event that is used to welcome and encourage conversation in a class. It's the beginning of the year getting-to-know-you activity. An icebreaker can run the gamut from painful and awkward to fun and engaging. A well-done icebreaker can go a long way to set a positive vibe [...]

# data[].attributes.headline
10 Fun First-Day Art Room Get-To-Know-You Activities - The Art of Education University

# data[].attributes.subject
10 Fun First-Day Art Room Get-To-Know-You Activities - The Art of Education University

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 Fun First-Day Art Room Get-To-Know-You Activities

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
10 Fun First-Day Art Room Get-To-Know-You Activities Relationship Building % %

# data[].attributes.headline
Composition Basics (Teacher) | NEH-Edsitement

# data[].attributes.subject
Composition Basics (Teacher) | NEH-Edsitement

# data[].attributes.headline
10 Neat Ways to Group Students in the Art Room for Collaborative Projects - The Art of Education University

# data[].attributes.subject
10 Neat Ways to Group Students in the Art Room for Collaborative Projects - The Art of Education University

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
10 Neat Ways to Group Students in the Art Room for Collaborative Projects

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
10 Neat Ways to Group Students in the Art Room for Collaborative Projects Differentiation % %

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
If I am continually vexed by any one question in education it is ‘how can we enhance student motivation?’ Of course, I do not have the answer, and if there is one it is multi-faceted, complex and, frankly, not going to be solved in this blog post. From my position

# data[].attributes.headline
Teaching Discussion Sections | GSI Teaching & Resource Center

# data[].attributes.subject
Teaching Discussion Sections | GSI Teaching & Resource Center

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Discussion sections provide opportunities for collaboration and active learning that do not always take place in a traditional lecture context. The role of section goes beyond clearing up any confusion remaining after the course material has been presented in lecture. Section also provides students with the opportunity to discuss, ask questions, and apply course content, resulting in deeper learning.

GSIs often express concerns about the challenge of balancing "discussion" against "covering the material." In finding the right balance, remember that applying the concepts to the facts and working through questions and problems together may be a more effective use of time than repeating the lecture or imparting new information. Take some time to think about classroom discussions in which you have participated. What made the discussions successful or unsuccessful?

This section contains a wide range of tips and resources for maximizing student learning in your discussion section. However, several pages in this portion of the Teaching Guide for GSIs provide useful information and strategies for managing discussions in any kind of class. You may also find relevant advice in other Teaching Guide chapters, such as Pre-Semester Preparation, Grading, Student Writing, Five Ways to Improve Your Teaching, Academic Misconduct, and the Teaching Effectiveness Award Essays written by GSIs.

In This Section

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discussion sections provide opportunities for collaboration and active learning that do not always take place in a traditional lecture context. The role of section goes beyond clearing up any confusion remaining after the course material has been presented in lecture. Section also provides students with the opportunity to discuss, ask questions, and apply course content, resulting in deeper learning.

# data[].attributes.headline
Berkley Graduate Teaching & Resource Center

# data[].attributes.subject
Berkley Graduate Teaching & Resource Center

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Discussion sections provide opportunities for collaboration and active learning that do not always take place in a traditional lecture context. The role of section goes beyond clearing up any confusion remaining after the course material has been presented in lecture. Section also provides students with the opportunity to discuss, ask questions, and apply course content, resulting in deeper learning.

GSIs often express concerns about the challenge of balancing "discussion" against "covering the material." In finding the right balance, remember that applying the concepts to the facts and working through questions and problems together may be a more effective use of time than repeating the lecture or imparting new information. Take some time to think about classroom discussions in which you have participated. What made the discussions successful or unsuccessful?

This section contains a wide range of tips and resources for maximizing student learning in your discussion section. However, several pages in this portion of the Teaching Guide for GSIs provide useful information and strategies for managing discussions in any kind of class. You may also find relevant advice in other Teaching Guide chapters, such as Pre-Semester Preparation, Grading, Student Writing, Five Ways to Improve Your Teaching, Academic Misconduct, and the Teaching Effectiveness Award Essays written by GSIs.

In This Section

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discussion sections provide opportunities for collaboration and active learning that do not always take place in a traditional lecture context. The role of section goes beyond clearing up any confusion remaining after the course material has been presented in lecture. Section also provides students with the opportunity to discuss, ask questions, and apply course content, resulting in deeper learning.

# data[].attributes.headline
Microsoft Word - Glow and Grow Self Reflection

# data[].attributes.subject
Microsoft Word - Glow and Grow Self Reflection

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Listen to my interview with Michael Linsin here or read a full transcript.

When I was a teacher, classroom management was not my strongest suit. I relied heavily on forming good relationships with my students, thereby preventing misbehavior. This worked about 90 percent of the time; I really didn't have a whole lot of behavior problems. Unfortunately, the way I dealt with that other 10 percent was rather haphazard: Far too often, I defaulted to the "Wait till there's a problem, then react" mode.

If I had known about Michael Linsin back then, if I'd had access to the stockpiles of advice he shares on his website, Smart Classroom Management , I would have done things differently.

For you, though, it's not too late. If you haven't already discovered Michael Linsin or Smart Classroom Management, this will be a good day for you. Because a few weeks ago, Michael and I spent close to an hour talking on Skype. I asked him to share his advice for teachers implementing a classroom management plan for the school year.

For those who want the quick version, I have pulled the four most important points he made-four keys to setting up and implementing a classroom management plan so that it really works-and summarized them here.

My biggest classroom management mistake was that "wait and see" mentality I mentioned before. I never really had a clear plan, and I don't remember ever giving more than a few minutes to explaining my rules and procedures to students. Honestly, I didn't want them to think I was mean, or boring, or lame. I wanted to talk about the good stuff on day 1, not bog students down with a bunch of negativity.

And year after year, that bit me in the butt. It's not that I had badly behaved students, but my lack of clear structure made my job way harder than it had to be. If I'd set up and communicated a clear behavior plan at the beginning of each year, I know I would have enjoyed teaching a lot more.

A classroom management plan should not be complicated. All you need are rules and consequences.

Classroom Rules

Linsin recommends creating a short, simple list of rules. "It's important just to think about how you can protect your students' right to learn and also protect your freedom to teach. You want to think about all those behaviors from your experience that are interfering with those two goals, and you create a set of rules as boundaries that protect that freedom."

In his basic classroom management plan , Linsin recommends including the following rules:

1. Listen and follow directions.

2. Raise your hand before speaking or leaving your seat.

3. Keep your hands and feet to yourself.

4. Respect your classmates and your teacher.

Now I'll tell you this: I have always had my doubts about simple lists like this, because I felt they were way too open to interpretation (and misinterpretation). Too much gray area. But that's because I didn't understand how to effectively implement a simple list of rules. Now I do, and I'm going to get into that in Key 2. But first, the consequences.

Classroom Consequences

To accompany the simple list of classroom rules, Linsin recommends a short sequence of consequences for breaking the rules:

1. Warning

2. Time-out

3. Letter home

Linsin acknowledges that these rules and consequences are pretty standard, and he does not insist that all teachers stick to his specific choices. "There is no magic in the rules and consequences themselves," he says. "It's how you present them and then how you fulfill them."

That's where the magic starts to happen.

This is not the same as "going over" the rules. That's just reading off a list and basically telling students what you expect. While that's better than nothing, it isn't enough. If you want students to really understand exactly how they should behave and exactly what will happen if they don't, you need to teach your behavior plan as you would any other piece of content. The bulk of this, Linsin says, can be accomplished through detailed modeling of appropriate and inappropriate behaviors.

"Model those rules so there are no misunderstandings about what they mean, and what behaviors they cover. You would model from your perspective as the teacher and as a student, so you may be sitting in a student's chair with the students surrounding you showing them precisely how to raise their hands."

Linsin urges teachers to be excruciatingly specific in this modeling. "The more detailed you are, even to a ridiculous degree," he says, "the more effective and powerful it is. I may show them the actual bend in the elbow of how to raise their hand, the finger placement..."

And after you model the behavior, have the students model it back for you. "You may have the whole class showing you how to raise their hand, how to get up to get a tissue. You may have one model, and then you'll have five model, and then you'll have them all model at the same time."

Although this kind of detailed teaching takes time at the beginning of the year, it ultimately saves you time and frustration later. And it may not be necessary to teach ALL the rules on the very first day. "Let's say you have time to only model one rule," Linsin says. "If you model it in a highly detailed way, it transfers. They begin to understand that you're going to expect that with everything. The first routine you teach of the year, you want to teach the heck out of it, to a remarkable, ridiculous level, because you're not so much teaching the routine, you're teaching how to do things the right way. You're teaching excellence. You're setting the tone of 'This is how we do it here. We do things the right way, and we pursue excellence in everything we do.'"

When it's time to enforce your rules and consequences, establish some professional distance between you and your students. Execute your plan without getting emotional about it. Linsin advises teachers to be "incredibly personable with the students, and build really close relationships, but when it comes to classroom management, you're an unfeeling robot almost. Or a referee on a football field. You call them like you see them."

For a lot of teachers, this is easier said than done. I know it was for me. When students misbehaved, I did kind of take it personally. My heart believed that if they respected me, if they cared about me, then they wouldn't talk when I was talking, they wouldn't fool around when they were supposed to be doing something else. It upset me, and I'm sure that showed on my face and in my voice. It added an extra layer of tension and compounded the problem, making the interaction more about the student and me than about the behavior.

It would be far more effective for teachers to train themselves to perceive misbehavior the way Linsin does.

"It's not me," he tells himself. "It's a choice they're making, and there's a consequence for that choice. I'm not going to take it personally. I'm not going to feel like that student is doing that because of me."

He urges teachers to treat infractions quickly and with no emotion. "I believe in never lecturing, scolding, any of that kind of stuff, because every time you do it, it just makes managing your classroom more difficult."

Although making sure students have razor-sharp clarity of your behavior plan is essential, it's just as important to make students want to be in your class.

"You have to sell your program," Linsin explains. "My number one goal is not that at the end of the day that they know the rules and consequences. It's that they're happy and excited to be part of the class. That they run home to their parents and say, 'Oh my gosh. I have the best teacher. I have this awesome class. We're going to do this and that this year. It's going to be great.' Because that's what's going to give you the leverage. The classroom management secret is to create a classroom that students love being a part of."

So spend lots of time that first day getting students excited about the year, about the learning they're going to do and the community they will create. "The idea of classroom management, of my website, is not just to get through the day," Linsin says. "It's to create an experience those students will remember for a lifetime ." ♦

Michael Linsin is the author of several books on Classroom Management: Dream Class , The Classroom Management Secret , and The Happy Teacher Habits *. His most recent publication is an e-book, The Smart Classroom Management Plan For High School Teachers .

* Some of these are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I get a small commission from Amazon at no extra cost to you.

There's a lot more where this came from.
Join the Cult of Pedagogy mailing list and get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration-in quick, bite-sized packages-all geared toward making your teaching more effective and fun. You'll get access to my members-only library of free downloadable resources, including my e-booklet, 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half, which has helped thousands of teachers spend less time grading. If you are already a subscriber and want this resource, just check your most recent email for a link to the Members-Only Library-it's in there!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Classroom Management: 4 Keys to Starting the Year off Right

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How to set up and implement a classroom behavior plan that really works, with advice from Smart Classroom Management's Michael Linsin.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Listen to my interview with Michael Linsin here or read a full transcript.

When I was a teacher, classroom management was not my strongest suit. I relied heavily on forming good relationships with my students, thereby preventing misbehavior. This worked about 90 percent of the time; I really didn't have a whole lot of behavior problems. Unfortunately, the way I dealt with that other 10 percent was rather haphazard: Far too often, I defaulted to the "Wait till there's a problem, then react" mode.

If I had known about Michael Linsin back then, if I'd had access to the stockpiles of advice he shares on his website, Smart Classroom Management , I would have done things differently.

For you, though, it's not too late. If you haven't already discovered Michael Linsin or Smart Classroom Management, this will be a good day for you. Because a few weeks ago, Michael and I spent close to an hour talking on Skype. I asked him to share his advice for teachers implementing a classroom management plan for the school year.

For those who want the quick version, I have pulled the four most important points he made-four keys to setting up and implementing a classroom management plan so that it really works-and summarized them here.

My biggest classroom management mistake was that "wait and see" mentality I mentioned before. I never really had a clear plan, and I don't remember ever giving more than a few minutes to explaining my rules and procedures to students. Honestly, I didn't want them to think I was mean, or boring, or lame. I wanted to talk about the good stuff on day 1, not bog students down with a bunch of negativity.

And year after year, that bit me in the butt. It's not that I had badly behaved students, but my lack of clear structure made my job way harder than it had to be. If I'd set up and communicated a clear behavior plan at the beginning of each year, I know I would have enjoyed teaching a lot more.

A classroom management plan should not be complicated. All you need are rules and consequences.

Classroom Rules

Linsin recommends creating a short, simple list of rules. "It's important just to think about how you can protect your students' right to learn and also protect your freedom to teach. You want to think about all those behaviors from your experience that are interfering with those two goals, and you create a set of rules as boundaries that protect that freedom."

In his basic classroom management plan , Linsin recommends including the following rules:

1. Listen and follow directions.

2. Raise your hand before speaking or leaving your seat.

3. Keep your hands and feet to yourself.

4. Respect your classmates and your teacher.

Now I'll tell you this: I have always had my doubts about simple lists like this, because I felt they were way too open to interpretation (and misinterpretation). Too much gray area. But that's because I didn't understand how to effectively implement a simple list of rules. Now I do, and I'm going to get into that in Key 2. But first, the consequences.

Classroom Consequences

To accompany the simple list of classroom rules, Linsin recommends a short sequence of consequences for breaking the rules:

1. Warning

2. Time-out

3. Letter home

Linsin acknowledges that these rules and consequences are pretty standard, and he does not insist that all teachers stick to his specific choices. "There is no magic in the rules and consequences themselves," he says. "It's how you present them and then how you fulfill them."

That's where the magic starts to happen.

This is not the same as "going over" the rules. That's just reading off a list and basically telling students what you expect. While that's better than nothing, it isn't enough. If you want students to really understand exactly how they should behave and exactly what will happen if they don't, you need to teach your behavior plan as you would any other piece of content. The bulk of this, Linsin says, can be accomplished through detailed modeling of appropriate and inappropriate behaviors.

"Model those rules so there are no misunderstandings about what they mean, and what behaviors they cover. You would model from your perspective as the teacher and as a student, so you may be sitting in a student's chair with the students surrounding you showing them precisely how to raise their hands."

Linsin urges teachers to be excruciatingly specific in this modeling. "The more detailed you are, even to a ridiculous degree," he says, "the more effective and powerful it is. I may show them the actual bend in the elbow of how to raise their hand, the finger placement..."

And after you model the behavior, have the students model it back for you. "You may have the whole class showing you how to raise their hand, how to get up to get a tissue. You may have one model, and then you'll have five model, and then you'll have them all model at the same time."

Although this kind of detailed teaching takes time at the beginning of the year, it ultimately saves you time and frustration later. And it may not be necessary to teach ALL the rules on the very first day. "Let's say you have time to only model one rule," Linsin says. "If you model it in a highly detailed way, it transfers. They begin to understand that you're going to expect that with everything. The first routine you teach of the year, you want to teach the heck out of it, to a remarkable, ridiculous level, because you're not so much teaching the routine, you're teaching how to do things the right way. You're teaching excellence. You're setting the tone of 'This is how we do it here. We do things the right way, and we pursue excellence in everything we do.'"

When it's time to enforce your rules and consequences, establish some professional distance between you and your students. Execute your plan without getting emotional about it. Linsin advises teachers to be "incredibly personable with the students, and build really close relationships, but when it comes to classroom management, you're an unfeeling robot almost. Or a referee on a football field. You call them like you see them."

For a lot of teachers, this is easier said than done. I know it was for me. When students misbehaved, I did kind of take it personally. My heart believed that if they respected me, if they cared about me, then they wouldn't talk when I was talking, they wouldn't fool around when they were supposed to be doing something else. It upset me, and I'm sure that showed on my face and in my voice. It added an extra layer of tension and compounded the problem, making the interaction more about the student and me than about the behavior.

It would be far more effective for teachers to train themselves to perceive misbehavior the way Linsin does.

"It's not me," he tells himself. "It's a choice they're making, and there's a consequence for that choice. I'm not going to take it personally. I'm not going to feel like that student is doing that because of me."

He urges teachers to treat infractions quickly and with no emotion. "I believe in never lecturing, scolding, any of that kind of stuff, because every time you do it, it just makes managing your classroom more difficult."

Although making sure students have razor-sharp clarity of your behavior plan is essential, it's just as important to make students want to be in your class.

"You have to sell your program," Linsin explains. "My number one goal is not that at the end of the day that they know the rules and consequences. It's that they're happy and excited to be part of the class. That they run home to their parents and say, 'Oh my gosh. I have the best teacher. I have this awesome class. We're going to do this and that this year. It's going to be great.' Because that's what's going to give you the leverage. The classroom management secret is to create a classroom that students love being a part of."

So spend lots of time that first day getting students excited about the year, about the learning they're going to do and the community they will create. "The idea of classroom management, of my website, is not just to get through the day," Linsin says. "It's to create an experience those students will remember for a lifetime ." ♦

Michael Linsin is the author of several books on Classroom Management: Dream Class , The Classroom Management Secret , and The Happy Teacher Habits *. His most recent publication is an e-book, The Smart Classroom Management Plan For High School Teachers .

* Some of these are affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I get a small commission from Amazon at no extra cost to you.

There's a lot more where this came from.
Join the Cult of Pedagogy mailing list and get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration-in quick, bite-sized packages-all geared toward making your teaching more effective and fun. You'll get access to my members-only library of free downloadable resources, including my e-booklet, 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half, which has helped thousands of teachers spend less time grading. If you are already a subscriber and want this resource, just check your most recent email for a link to the Members-Only Library-it's in there!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Classroom Management: 4 Keys to Starting the Year off Right

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How to set up and implement a classroom behavior plan that really works, with advice from Smart Classroom Management's Michael Linsin.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How To Handle Students Who Do Nothing Smart Classroom Management

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I’ve been writing here at SCM for 15 years. 748 articles. 12 books and e-guides. Above all else, this takes focus. Which, in this day and age, I have to protect like a rare orchid. Otherwise, I’ll lose the ability to shut out distraction ... Read more

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
8th grade ceramic comedy/tragedy masks based on Ancient Greek art Every teacher has experienced kids being disrespectful at one time…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How To Handle Aggressively Disrespectful Students Smart Classroom Management

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I often hear from teachers who in long missives describe awful behavior towards them. They describe angry, argumentative, and aggressively disrespectful students. Students who tell them off and try to disrupt and sabotage their class. Students who roll their eyes and refuse to look ... Read more

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I've talked about how to avoid getting discouraged by these kinds of behaviors, and how to not give up on apathetic kids.

But I haven't addressed practical responses in the moment to student attitudes:

How should you respond to the little things students do that are rude, disrespectful, or just annoying?

What should you do for minor behaviors that don't necessarily warrant some kind of consequence, but that you can't let slide every time?

Is there a way to keep kids from eye-rolling, teeth sucking, muttering under their breath, and so on?

What do we do about bad attitudes?

I don't want to settle for trite, rehashed info, so I reached out to Robyn Jackson, founder of Mindsteps Inc, because I knew she could take this conversation to a deeper level. Robyn was a National Board Certified English teacher in Maryland, just outside of Washington DC, and has since been an administrator, adjunct professor, consultant, and speaker. She's been championing equity, access, and rigor for over 15 years.

Robyn is seriously one of my favorite experts in the education space, because she has a deeper understanding of human behavior and motivation than anyone else I know, and she always keeps it real. I've had the pleasure of seeing her speak in person a few times and I just hang on her every word-there's so much good info there. She has this lovely way of uncovering the root problem and also calling you out on your own mess instead of allowing blame-shifting.

I highly recommend using the audio player below to listen to the full interview, but even if you'd rather read, grab a pad of paper because you're going to want to take notes.

Want to listen to Robyn instead of read? Download the audio below!

Is it even possible to create a class culture in which kids don't get an attitude or disrespect you over minor things (especially at the secondary level)?

Absolutely. In fact, how depressing would it be if that weren't possible? I don't just believe it's possible, I've seen it, and I've seen it with all kinds of kids.

I spend a lot of time in schools, and I'm in all kinds of schools - urban schools, suburban schools, rural schools, schools in the US, schools in other countries. I've seen it happen, but creating that kind of classroom culture is not easy. I don't have anything like, "All you have to do is ___ and you can have that kind of culture." There are a lot of things that go into it, including not just the personality of the students, but the personality of the teacher.

One of the things I shrink from whenever we talk classroom management issues is espousing a particular strategy because those strategies work if you have a particular personality. They don't work with some personalities. We often don't factor in who we are when we're thinking about grabbing strategies and applying them. There is no key that says if you're this kind of personality, this strategy will work, and if you're that kind of personality, this strategy will work. It's a lot of trial and error.

The teachers I've seen pull off this off created a classroom culture that is a good fit for their own personality and the personality of the kids involved. I think that both are really important, and I think it's often a missing link that people have when they're trying to figure out how to create that classroom.

They think there's some magic bullet: "I must not be doing something right," or "I saw another teacher," or "I read something that this teacher said, and it worked for them. Why isn't it working for me?" We don't factor in who we are and how much of a difference that plays in whether or not a strategy will work.

What are appropriate consequences for kids who show disrespect?

I think we have to distinguish between disruptions and disrespect, because not every disruption is disrespectful. I don't think teachers should tolerate disrespect, ever. That always has to be addressed. But a disruption may not be a sign of disrespect. I think we have to be really clear about the difference. I'm trying to think of a clean, easy distinction, but oftentimes there isn't one. One person's disruption is another person's disrespect.

But typically I consider: Is the child trying to challenge my authority in the classroom? Is the child doing something in direct disregard for something that I've directly told them to do? That feels more like disrespect. Is a child being a teenager? Then that's a disruption.

So disrespect I never ignore. Disruptions, I may or may not ignore them. I may not directly address them right away because I might be able to redirect that student, or I may be able to get that student re-engaged. I think that that's the difference. We have to be really careful about how we interpret student behavior, because a lot of times in our frustration, we end up interpreting things as disrespect that were never intended to be disrespectful.

How do you keep yourself from taking students' misbehavior personally?

I still struggle with not taking it personally, even though I know better. Somebody's attitude rubs me the wrong way or does something that I feel is disrespectful when really there's something else going on, and rather than taking the time to figure that out before I respond, I just react, and say, "Hold up. No. Wait a minute."

Especially now, because a lot of times when I'm teaching or doing demonstration lessons, there's a lot riding on that demonstration. I'm coming in and showing people how to do something, and I'm the supposed expert. And when somebody does something that's a disruption or is blatantly disrespectful, it's hard for me to step out of, "Wait a minute. You are challenging me. You are a 13-year-old. How dare you?" Or, "Wait a minute. I've got to show people that I know what I'm doing, so I can't allow you to have any ground in my classroom."

Those are short-term solutions. And you might be able to quash the rebellion in the moment, but you have lost the war, because classroom management/discipline is supposed to be about helping our students become better at managing the learning and managing themselves.

When we sacrifice that bigger goal for a temporary win, we create other problems down the line, and it doesn't even feel good to us. It doesn't. We think it's going to solve that issue of that, "I feel disrespected," and it doesn't. It doesn't solve either of the issues. It just quashes the rebellion at the moment.

How do you show the class you're in control without escalating the situation?

When you make the wise decision to not escalate things in the middle of class and to address it later, it's tough when the student tries to get the last word. There's something inside of us that finds it hard to walk away from something like that. We immediately worry that our other students are going to think, "Oh no. Look, he got away with it."

This is a hard situation, and it's hard to take the long view of things. Students won't think that he got away with it if you are effective in that post-classroom conversation, and the next day he comes to class and he's well-behaved. So you have to think about it from that perspective and remember: don't sacrifice the war because you want to win a small skirmish. You're fighting a bigger war.

I hate to use war language when we're talking about dealing with children, and I say "children" but I mean teenagers. I taught secondary-I'm not talking about third-graders here. I'm talking about that 16-year-old who's being a jerk in class and doing it for attention, and at that moment, he is being disrespectful, right? So how do you deal with that?

The first thing is that you have to keep in mind the longer game. Is the goal of that exchange to prove to the other students that you're in charge, especially when so many things can go wrong, or are there other ways to show students that you don't tolerate that kind of behavior?

For me, I think that if you let it go right then and there, as bad as that feels, and you settle it when you talk with that student later on, and then that student comes to class the next day and is well-behaved and the students see that that student is being respectful to you - then what students are going to think is, "Whoa. She must have let him have it in that other conversation. She's not somebody you mess with," and they leave it alone.

If you don't settle it in that follow-up conversation, then that's when students start getting the idea that that behavior is tolerated. Students are always watching, yes, but you aren't tolerating that behavior now. What you're not doing is getting in the last word, and eventually that student looks ridiculous, especially if you remain calm and you remain in control of the classroom.

That's the struggle: Remaining calm, because I know what that feels like in the moment. I've had those situations where you're sitting there and you're thinking, "Oh no. What are the kids going to say? Do I respond? Do I not respond?" And unfortunately, there's no manual for this because kids come up with all kinds of things that we're not prepared for. There's no way to prepare for it other than this:

At all times, remain calm. At all times, remain in control. You don't worry so much about what the other kids are going to think, because you are in control, even of that situation. It's one thing if that student is doing something and you're cowering in a corner. It's another thing if students see you choosing to ignore that behavior. It's not that you are tolerating or they can get away with it. What students will see is that you've made a choice to ignore that behavior.

How do you show students you are CHOOSING not to engage?

A long time ago I wrote a couple of blog posts, and the title of the series was, Are You a Discipline Problem? And it was directed at teachers. It wasn't to blame teachers, but it was to make this point: A discipline problem is anything that disrupts instruction. Anything. Which means that a child can be a discipline problem, but it also means that a teacher can be a discipline problem.

When you choose not to escalate the situation as a teacher, you choose not to become a discipline problem, because the moment that you start getting in the last word with that student, you now are playing that student's game. What you're trying to do is get the student on your page, not get on the student's page. If the teacher follows up with the student, gets that student back on track, then that's what the class is going to see-that's the permanent, lasting effect that students will notice.

You can make it clear to the other students that you are choosing not to engage. Even in how you ignore, you can look at the student sadly, shake your head, and then keep moving with what you're doing and get everybody back on track. And that will look like you're just, "Poor pitiful little thing. You have no idea what you're in for when I talk to you after class." You can do that, and that shows that you remain in control.

If the student's trying to get you to react, and you do, then you're playing his game. You just have to remember: W ho's in charge? I am. That means you just let the "last word" stuff go, even though it feels horrible to do so. But you don't have to just let it go and act as if it didn't happen. You can acknowledge it without engaging in it.

You can look at it and shrug your shoulders and keep moving with what you're doing. Then everybody knows you saw it, you've chosen to ignore it, and you've handled it without escalating it.

How do you find a "teacher look" that works consistently?

Some teachers are tough teachers. I'm the kind of teacher that I could stop a kid in his tracks with a look. I've looked at kids before, a kid started getting smart with me, and I looked at her, and she immediately said, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" But that's who I am, right?

There are some people who haven't found their teacher look yet, or whose look isn't as ferocious, and so they shouldn't try the look. Because if kids don't buy your look, if there's no conviction behind it, then all students are going to do is say, "You can look at me all you want ... " That can escalate things.

So whatever you do, commit to it, but make it fit who you are. Some teachers look disappointed, some teachers look sad but not cowed. Some teachers look at them and say a certain word. "The look" can mean a lot of different things. It could be there's just a look, or maybe it's body language.

Or maybe you respond with humor. Some teachers might say, "Aw, do you need a hug?" and then the rest of the class laughs. So you have to figure out who you are, and that's why it's so important to do something that's consistent with your personality, and not try to be the teacher with the look, if that's not who you are. You have to find what works for you.

Will ignoring disruptive behavior just make it worse?

There's a way to deal with the behavior without escalating it, without saying a word, that lets everybody know the student is going to be dealt with. He has not won, and everyone including him knows it-you're just choosing to ignore it.

And if you make the choice to ignore it obvious, that's the difference. It's when we don't make that "ignoring choice" obvious that there's a problem. When kids aren't sure: "Are you ignoring it or did he beat you into submission with his words? Which one is it?"

So I think it's important that you have to make that choice obvious, however you choose to do that, but you don't have to engage it or escalate it.

I think that's the thing that they don't teach us about deliberate ignoring: you don't ignore it as if you don't see it. You're just ignoring it as if, "I'm not going to deal with it at this time." And is students see that choice, then you are still in control of your classroom.

What happens when you try to tell parents about a behavioral situation, and they think you should accept being treated like a doormat?

Oh, no, never, never, never. Not just because "no one deserves to be treated like a doormat," I just think it's hard for kids to learn in that kind of environment where they feel like they're in control of the classroom. It just hurts you and it hurts the kids, so never accept being treated like a doormat. But what do you do instead?

As a teacher, I had parents cussing me out, I had parents slamming down the phone and hanging up on me saying, "You handle school, I'll handle home. If you can't do your job, why are we paying taxes for you?" I've had parents come up to the school and lay me out. I've had administrators who have capitulated to parents' demands.

I've also had the other side of the coin as an administrator where parents are calling the school, and the child can do no wrong, and how dare you? I've had parents get off the phone with me, leave work, and drive up to the school in order to just yell at me in person.
I've learned over the years that there are a couple of things you can do to enlist parent support: 1. Be proactive. At the very beginning of the year, outline what the expectations are, and also explain how you're going to support that student.
That way the idea of handling it in-house is re-couched as, "When things get out of line," or "If things get out of line, here's how I'm going to help and support your child. And here are the ways that you can help me support your child," so that you lay out the expectations: "When I give you a call, this is the script, this is how I expect you to handle it."

You lay it out before things go badly, so that you have precedent there, and it's not the first time parents are encountering your expectation for their support. You've laid out what that looks like to you, you've had that conversation with parents ahead of time. You can do that at back-to-school night or in other ways.
2. Get the story to the parent before the child does.
If something happened in school that day, make the call home. Email is not enough, because parents may not read their email before they talk to their child, so you really want to get to the parent. Whoever gets to the parent first controls the story.
3. If you can't get to the parent first and s/he is angry, let the parent vent BEFORE you talk.
When parents are yelling at me like it's my fault, I don't interrupt. I let them vent, and when they are done yelling, then I will come in and talk. I've been yelled at by a lot of parents because I hold my kids at pretty high standards, and not all parents are supportive of that. So let them vent and hear them out, because in their complaints you'll always find the way to their hearts.

I hated it when parents yelled at me and screamed at me. If parents are being disrespectful, they're cussing you, they're calling you outside of your name, you can stop the conversation until they can calm down, and then solicit some support.

But in most cases, they're like, "I don't know why you keep calling me. I feel like I'm doing my work at home. If you can't handle it ... " If it's that kind of thing, hear it out. In that is a plea for help. Basically, that parent is saying, "I am having enough struggle controlling him at home. I don't need more of this."
4. E nlist parents as partners rather than tattling on their kids.
I think that's the most important thing. Parents may be accustomed to the school calling home about their child, and it feels like you're tattling, or it feels like you're saying their kid's not a good kid. So I try to talk about what I'm doing and why I'm doing it, and use the language of the goals that the parents have for their own children.

How do you convince parents that the consequence you chose was appropriate and get their support?

Once I had a situation with a father in which he didn't believe the son should be suspended. I said, "I know this feels like punitive for your son and you don't think he deserves it, but let me talk to you about what I'm hoping. Tell me what are your hopes for the kind of young man that you want your child to be."

And he started talking to me about that, and then I said, "You know, I have some of those same hopes for him, and this is why I think it's really important that he is suspended, because this isn't punitive. I want him to learn a lesson, and I think we've gotten to the point where the only way he can learn this lesson is that he have a consequence that's dire. And in giving him a consequence on this level, we save him from having to face an even more dire consequence later on. We have to get this behavior out of him."

And so I talked to the father not just as, "Your child did this, and therefore he's having this consequence," but also shared the thinking behind the consequence. I'm not asking him to handle something, which I think puts a lot of parents on a defensive kind of posture. I'm saying, "Here's what I'm doing in support of the type of child that I think we're both hoping that your son becomes, and here's what's behind it." And every time I've done that - and I've had to do it quite a bit - I've secured the support of the parent.
And when you do that sincerely, it's really hard for parents to resist someone who cares so much about their child that they're taking the time to apply the discipline, even when the parent doesn't agree.
When you don't have the support of the parent, when it seems like they feel their child can do no wrong, you need to talk about the discipline not as a punishment. You connect it to the goals that the parent has for the child, to the challenges the parent may be having with the child. When you show the parents that this is not a punishment (that's what they're protecting their child from, punishment), you're teaching them that this is another learning opportunity.

What happens when your approach totally backfires - how do you figure out what you should have done differently?

One of the things that I find really challenging is that people will bring situations to me and they'll say, "What should I have done?" And the truth is, I don't know. I wasn't there.

And quite frankly, things happen so quickly in the classroom, it's hard to do a postmortem. It's hard to say, "You handled this correctly," or "You did it incorrectly." There are just so many moving parts.

When I see teachers out there who are sincerely trying to support students, I wish that I had a tactic, a magic word, something that I could give them that works every time, but I've not found it.

When I can't find the magic thing that works every single time, I always fall back on the principle that I should change my perspective and look to discipline as another learning opportunity. It's something that I would treat with the same rigor that I use when planning any other lesson.

When I'm planning my consequences and my responses, I plan it with the same intention that I would plan a learning activity. I think about what I want the child to ultimately learn from engaging in this disciplinary activity with me or working with this child to manage behavior. It relieves me of some of the natural, human feelings around how the child is behaving at that moment.

And it's a hard thing to hold onto. I'm not perfect at it. But every time I've done it that way, I have found a way to reach the child. And every time that I haven't done it that way, I look back with regret on how I handled things.

No time to finish reading now? Download the audio and listen later on the go!

How do you respond when nearly half the class is talking over you?

I stop. I mean, what's funny is, it's not just kids. It happens to me when I train teachers, too. I stop. I just stop. Sometimes it may take four or five minutes, depending on the class. If I'm walking in cold, I might not do this ... but I'll tell you what I don't do.

I don't say, "I'm not going to talk as long as you're talking," because then they're like, "Fine. We don't want to hear from you anyway, thank you." So I don't set myself up for that response, but I stop and I talk about why.

I try to make a case for why what I'm saying is more important, and try to secure their respect. But I don't talk over kids. I don't just keep going, especially when it's half the class. And I don't try to say anything smart either because that's just a setup. I just stop. And when people get quiet, I start talking again.

How do you respond to profanity - when kids are just casually conversing with each other and you hear a curse word?

Oh, no. I'm old-fashioned. People have to work on their own tolerance. Nowadays the language is so profane, but my kids know how I am about this from the beginning. A lot of times I don't have to say anything. A lot of times it's just a part of how they speak, and they catch themselves, and they're like, "Oops."

When I was younger, when I first became a teacher, I was trying to charge 10 cents every time somebody cursed, but that creates a lot of problems, so don't do that!

What I try to do now is just set an atmosphere in the classroom where kids know that's not appropriate, and then when it happens, I just stop, and I say, "Can you rephrase that using the language of the classroom?" And kids do, and they apologize, because they know that that's not something that I really like in the classroom.

What do you do when a student refuses to comply with a really simple request, like "put your phone away" or "sit down"?

When a student refuses to comply with a simple request, most of the time there's a bigger issue at stake. It's not just about the request-there's something else going on. And a lot of times it doesn't have anything to do with you on that particular day. They're going through something else.

So if they refuse to comply with a simple request, I'm not going to stop instruction until I force them into submission. I'm going to get instruction going and then check in with the kid, because if not, that's how you get those blow-ups. That's how you get the kids who just go off.

If it's a simple request like "put your phone away", and they don't do it, I move on. I say, "OK, I'll deal with you in a second." I get everybody else moving so that the learning in the classroom doesn't stop, and then I deal with that student.

The exception is if it's become a big disruption (like if they're loudly playing a game on their phone, and it's interrupting everybody else's learning), because then I'm going to have to deal with it right away. They've created a bigger issue. But if it's just simply, "My phone's out. I'm not putting it away right now, and you can't make me," then let me get everybody else started so I as the teacher don't become the discipline problem. And then once I've got everybody moving where they need to go, then I'm going to go deal with that student, and at that point, it's not about the phone.

One of the things I learned from Cynthia Tobias, who has this great book on strong-willed children, is when strong-willed kids don't comply with a simple request, ask the question, "How come?"

So I say, "Put your phone away," and then the student just doesn't do it or says no, and then I say, "How come?" calmly. And a lot of times that gets them talking so I can find out what else is going on. They'll say, "I'm talking to my mother - my grandmother is sick," or "I don't feel like it." "OK, why not?" You get them engaged in conversations that can help you figure out what's going on and help you deal with the real issue, and not make the phone the issue.

How do you respond to kids who are volatile and belligerent when they're spoken to about their behavior - those who can't accept correction?

Oftentimes I'll say, "We can't continue to do this. I have a job, and you've got a job. And a lot of times you're reacting in ways that, to me, feel out of proportion for what I'm asking you to do. So I need to know what's going on with you, and we're going to have to figure out something else that you can do instead, because that particular reaction doesn't work. You're allowed to have a reaction, but let's find one that will work in the classroom. "

Then we figure out something that works. With some students, I've had to do "antiseptic bounces." So I might say, "OK. Our arrangement is that if you're getting to the point where you feel like you can't behave in this classroom, then you can go sit in the back of Ms. So-and-So's classroom and finish your work there, and Ms. So-and-So knows you're coming." The student goes in her room, and sits in the back. I've found that that works with some of the really volatile students.

Others have a safe word that they say when they feel like they're about to go off. And when I hear that word (it's something that's just between me and the student), I say, "OK," and I back off. The student then gets himself together and we address the issue when he's calmer.

I have to work it out with the student so that we have an agreement. Then once you have that agreement, you can hold them accountable to the agreement, even when you can't hold them accountable to the behavior and to the behavioral expectations of the classroom.
You have a bigger end game than that moment when you feel disrespected. And you're not just teaching that student: every student who witnesses it learns something, too.
What's the most important thing you try to remember about student behavior, attitudes, and disrespect?

So, you have to be very careful about how you respond to student behavior and address it. Because in that moment, whether you realize it or not, you are teaching. You want to make sure that you're teaching the right lessons in every interaction. It's not just that student: everybody's watching, and everybody's learning.
Want to learn more from Robyn Jackson? Visit mindstepsinc.com, or check out her (amazing!) book, Never Work Harder Than Your Students and Other Principles of Great Teaching. This post is based on an episode from my weekly podcast, See blog posts/transcripts for all episodes Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes Subscribe to the podcast in Stitcher Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers. A podcast is like a free talk radio show you can listen to online, or download and take with you wherever you go. I release a new 15-20 minute episode each Sunday and feature it here on the blog to help you get energized and motivated for the week ahead.
I think when you take that principled approach, you cut down on a lot of the disciplinary issues that happen in the classroom so they never even come to the surface. You never even have to deal with them when you set up a classroom in that way.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to respond to rude, disrespectful student attitudes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I've talked about how to avoid getting discouraged by these kinds of behaviors, and how to not give up on apathetic kids. But I haven't addressed practical responses in the moment to student attitudes: How should you respond to the little things students do that are rude, disrespectful, or just annoying?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Managing Disrespectful & Rude Behaviors in the Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Let’s talk about disrespectful behaviors in the classroom. The child who talks back. The student using their cell phone, even after being told to put it away. The kid who refuses to do their work, and even loudly tells you, “no!” when you try to politely give some encouragement. The student who joke

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.embed_code
Managing Disrespectful & Rude Behaviors in the Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
American Consortium for Equity in Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Motivate Students Who Act Like They Don’t Care | Equity in Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
By Dr. Allen N. Mendler, originally published in the October, 2021 issue of Equity & Access Nobody is Born Unmotivated Parents of toddlers know something is very wrong developmentally if they aren’t constantly chasing their tiny explorer all over the house, erectingKeep Reading How to Motivate Stude…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Behavior management strategies in the classroom can be undermined by a few students who thrive on being disruptive. Trying to manage a classroom and teach while a student is being rude and disruptive is a challenge many classroom teachers face. To compound the problem even more, some of these students are diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder {ODD) and don't usually respond to typical behavior management strategies.

As a former school social worker, students were frequently sent to my office for misbehaving in class. Unfortunately, this meant that they missed valuable instruction time. When they did return to class, they couldn't keep up with the lesson. They would resume their disruptive behaviors and again would have to leave the classroom. Sadly, for many students, this is a common cycle.

Initially, when these students were sent to me I felt pressure to 'fix' them and send them back to class ready to learn. The truth is, there is no quick fix to manage children who are chronically rude, oppositional, and defiant. However, there are behavior management strategies that can decrease the frequency and intensity of their negative behaviors. The key is to implement these strategies appropriately and consistently.

Additionally, it's important to have realistic expectations. It would be wonderful if after a week of implementing these behavior management strategies that defiant students stop disrupting the class. However, that's not likely to happen. Change won't occur overnight. Behavior management strategies aren't magic and educators aren't miracle workers.

As mentioned before, some disrespectful students will have a diagnosis of Oppositional Defiant Disorder while others won't. The good thing is that these behavior management strategies will work for those students without an ODD diagnosis.
Understanding Opposition Defiant Disorder (ODD)
ODD is a common mental health disorder among children and adolescents. According to the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, ODD is "a pattern of disobedient, hostile, and defiant behavior directed towards authority figures." Some common behaviors often exhibited by children diagnosed with Oppositional Defiant Disorder includes:
* Frequent temper tantrums
* Excessive arguments with adults
* Refusing to comply with rules and requests
* Often questions rules
* Deliberately upset and annoy others
* Overly sensitive and easily annoyed by others
* Blames others for their mistakes
* Frequent outbursts of anger and resentment
* Spiteful attitude and revenge seeking
Behavior Management Strategies for Working with Rude, Defiant, and Oppositional Students
It's important to remember that the goal of many oppositional and defiant students is to feel in control. If they feel threatened in any way, they will rebel, manipulate, and push limits until they believe they are in control. Here are a few behavior management strategies those working with oppositional students can implement to avoid power struggles.

1. Intervene at the first sign of trouble. When you are able to address a problem behavior as soon as it starts, you can prevent negative behaviors from escalating. For example, maybe a student starts tapping the chair of the student sitting in front of him with his foot. Rather than ignore this behavior, you can ask the student kicking the chair to help you with another task. You want to make sure the task is something they don't mind doing. Preferably something that makes them feel important.

2. Address student in private. Kids who are oppositional and defiant love to put on a show. If they feel attacked or embarrassed in front of their peers they will up the ante and show out. It's helpful to correct their behaviors out of earshot of other students. This might look like you walking by the student's desk and whispering your directive to him or her.

3. Plan ahead. If a child is known to be oppositional and defiant in certain situations (i.e. during school assemblies), make a plan ahead of time as to how you will handle the situation. It's hard to know how to react to a problem when you are caught off guard. When you have a plan in place, you are less likely to react to the student or take their behaviors personally.

Moreover, oppositional children thrive off control. You don't want to find yourself in a position where you are unsure of what to do and end up battling for control to maintain order in the classroom.

4. Be clear about rules, expectations, and consequences. Even though oppositional kids will test the limits no matter what, it's important that they have a clear understanding of the rules and consequences for not meeting expectations. Clear rules and expectations allow you to be consistent in how you respond to disruptive students.
Some kids may need frequent reminders to help them remember the rules and benefit from having them posted or frequently reviewed.

5. Remain calm. It's no secret that oppositional students are great at getting under people's skin. They have a knack for pressing buttons and alienating others. They will challenge your authority by any means necessary, and that includes making personal attacks. Sometimes it's difficult to keep a cool head when a child is referring to you by every name in the book except for the one that's yours. In these moments, it's important to remain calm and not react to the student.

The minute you let a defiant child get under your skin, you've lost control of the situation. The worst part...they will know it and will take complete advantage. Especially if they have a captive audience. Whatever you do, stay calm.

6. Praise positive behavior. When kids are rude and disrespectful it can be difficult to build a positive relationship with them. According to psychologist Carolyn Webster-Stratton, founder of The Incredible Years Series for Parents, Children, and Teachers, children who are oppositional develop poor relationships with teachers due to their aggressive and disruptive behaviors. Webster-Stratton (1993) found that because of their negative behaviors, oppositional students received less encouragement and support from their teachers.

Although it's important to address bad behavior, it's equally as important (or even more so) to recognize and praise disrespectful students when they exhibit positive behaviors. When students only get attention for acting out, they learn that if they want attention, all they have to do is misbehave. It doesn't matter that they're getting negative attention. What matters is that someone is paying them attention period.

Additionally, praising positive behaviors reinforces the behaviors you want to see and encourages the student to behave in that manner more often.

7. Maintain a positive home-school connection. It's no surprise that parents of disrespectful and oppositional students get lots of phone calls home. However, when parents are only contacted when their child is misbehaving, it can be demoralizing. They may avoid calls and not show up for meetings because they assume you are going to bash their child. Understand that many parents struggle with guilt and view their child's poor adjustment as a sign that they are inadequate parents.

You can remedy this by being empathetic towards parents. Don't just call to complain about their child. Every now and then make a positive call home notifying parents of something positive their child did. Send an e-mail to check-in on how things are going at home with their child. Taking these extra steps reassures parents that you value their child and don't just see them as a behavior problem. Parents won't feel judged by you and will be more receptive to collaborating and supporting your efforts to help their child.

8. Create a calm down area. Having a calm down area in the classroom gives students a chance to use their coping skills to self-soothe. It also allows them to stay in the classroom during instruction time. Of course if a student is out of control (i.e. yelling, throwing things, etc.) sending them to a calm down area won't help. Here are some tips for using a calm down area effectively.

9. Develop a safety plan with school officials. Sometimes it's necessary to call in reinforcements when a student escalates to a point where they are a threat to you, other students, and themselves. Establish a safety plan with school officials and counselors for how to safely contain students when they escalate from being disrespectful to being destructive or physically aggressive.

This might be that you have the other students leave the classroom while disciplinary personnel de-escalate the situation. Whatever your plan, review it periodically to make sure everyone understands their role.

10. Create self-care plan. Working with kids who are rude and disruptive is draining to say the least. These students can test your patience and cause you a great deal of stress. Practicing regular self-care helps you manage your stress levels, promotes positive well-being, and prevents burnout. Check out these helpful self-care tips to get you started on creating a self-care plan.

What are some behavior management strategies you use when working with rude, defiant, and oppositional students?

If you like this article, you might also like:
Helping Kids Learn Stress Management Helping Parents Create A Growth Mindset Home Environment
Remember to pin for later

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Behavior Management Strategies For Disrespectful Students That Work - Kiddie Matters

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
These behavior management strategies have proven effective when working with rude, disrespectful, and oppositional students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
NASBE - National Association of State Boards of Education

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Before COVID, 40 to 60 percent of students were showing signs of disengagement in learning, according to national surveys. The signs included lack of participation and effort, acting out and disrupting class, disaffection and withdrawal, and reliance on superficial learning strategies that do not lead to deep learning.1 The pandemic exacerbated students' disengagement, especially among the most vulnerable youth. In a November 2020 survey by EdWeek Research Center, over 80 percent of teachers said that student motivation and engagement had declined since the pandemic.

The better news is that an explosion of research, policy, and practitioner work has led to greater understanding of student engagement and has uncovered practices that get students actively engaged in the classroom.8 By adopting them, schools can help all students develop the skills, competencies, and values they need to graduate and transition to adulthood. Students can thus avoid a host of problems related to disengagement: low achievement, high dropout rates, alienation, and lack of motivation. And state policymakers can create the policy environment that makes engaged classrooms a reality for all students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Targeted interventions and savvy classroom practices, coupled with supportive state policy, can draw disengaged students back in.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Discover 12 strategies for improving student engagement and learn how to take your student’s learning to the next level.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
1. Build Relationships: Connect with students on a personal level. Show genuine interest in their lives, hobbies, and strengths.

2. Embrace Different Learning Styles: Offer diverse activities and materials like visual aids, group projects, debates, or technology integration to cater to various learning styles and keep things interesting.

3. Make it Relevant: Connect lessons to real-life applications and their interests. Show them how what they're learning can be used outside the classroom, sparking curiosity and relevance.

4. Offer Choice and Ownership: Give students some control over their learning experience. Let them choose topics, projects, or presentation formats.

5. Break it Down: Divide complex tasks into smaller, manageable steps. Provide clear instructions and offer support throughout the process to avoid overwhelm and build confidence.

6. Celebrate Progress: Recognize and acknowledge even small improvements and achievements.

7. Incorporate Movement: Short bursts of physical activity can increase focus and engagement.

8. Collaborate with Parents and Guardians: Communicate openly and regularly with parents or guardians. Share strategies and involve them in their child's learning journey.

9. Seek Professional Help: If you're struggling to reach a student, don't hesitate to seek support from counselors, learning specialists, or other professionals.

What Tools And Strategies Can New Teachers Use To Create Effective Learning Environments?

Experienced teachers can observe, listen, and understand their students. They use this information to decide where students should sit, who can work well together, who might struggle with homework, and how to motivate them to participate in learning. These skills usually develop over time with experience.

New teachers who are just starting can use various tools to learn about their students. They can use forms, surveys, and questionnaires to gather information. They can also ask other teachers for advice. They can seek parents to understand their student's discrepancies. Listening to students can also be very helpful. Teachers can even ask students how they should be assessed or what problems they face.

How Can Veteran-Educators Interact With Students?

Some veteran teachers struggle to adapt and need support to acquire the necessary skills for their students to succeed. While veteran teachers bring a wealth of experience to the classroom, reaching disengaged middle schoolers often requires a shift in approach. This might involve stepping outside their comfort zone by seeking professional development in areas like social-emotional learning and diverse learning styles. Observing other teachers or collaborating with colleagues can also spark fresh ideas. Rigid, traditional methods might alienate some students. Veteran teachers can introduce interactive activities, group projects, technology integration, or even gamified learning to cater to different learning styles and make lessons more engaging.

It's also crucial to recognize that disengagement can sometimes be a symptom of deeper challenges. Partnering with counselors, specialists, and parents can help veteran teachers understand and address any underlying issues hindering student engagement, such as personal struggles, learning disabilities, or bullying. By embracing these practices, veteran teachers can move beyond traditional methods and become more effective in reaching and supporting disengaged middle schoolers, fostering a positive and engaging learning environment for all.

Try Not To Get Into Arguments With Students

The most important thing is not to let things get worse by getting into arguments or tension with the student. The timing of your communication is also critical. Many of these students have much more experience getting a reaction from new teachers. Some students are good at getting teachers to back off and keep their distance. But when you keep your distance, there are reduced chances of interaction with these students. Punishing or other tactics seem like fixing the problem, but they usually don't help.
Emmer, Evertson, and Worsham (2003) suggested three ways to talk to students who are often unengaged:

Positive Approach: This means talking to students without attacking them or making them feel bad.

Good Listener: It's about listening to students' voices and making them feel heard and understood.

Problem Solving: This is about finding solutions to problems together.

These are just a few ways can help you keep talking to unengaged students and stop them from feeling pushed away.

Clarity And Patience Are the Key to Building Successful Relationships

Patience is essential in dealing with students and classroom situations. Patience and regular practices might be helpful in situations and can change the overall thinking of school avoiders. If you are interested in the top middle school concerns, check out, "The Biggest Problem with Middle School and How You Can Fix It. " The more teachers practice and work on it, the better they get at helping their students succeed in their lives and managing their classrooms.
References
Emmer, E. T., Evertson, C. M., & Worsham, M. E. (2003). Classroom management for secondary teachers (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Paciotti, B., & 24, teresa on J. (2018, July 6). Middle School Students & School Library Lessons. Looking backward - no sweat library lessons & management that works. https://lookingbackward.edublogs.org/2018/07/06/middle-school/

Secondary Education, 35(1), 5-15.

Walsh, F. (2006). A middle school dilemma: Dealing with "I don't care." American

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Don't Give Up on Disengaged Students: Tools & Strategies for Success | Educational Innovation 360

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Are you interested in supporting disengaged learners? Try these strategies so you can move beyond traditional methods and effectively support all students, fostering their success and creating a more inclusive learning community.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Welcome!

ANGELA WATSON

Founder/Editor-in-Chief

Join over 92,000 teachers who receive our Sunday night emails, and get inspired + informed for the week ahead. Sign up here:

Welcome!

ANGELA WATSON

Founder/Editor-in-Chief

Join over 92,000 teachers who receive our Sunday night emails, and get inspired + informed for the week ahead. Sign up here:

What's Truth for Teachers all about?

We're a collective of educators who collaborate around a shared set of values and purpose.
Explore All Articles

Diverse perspectives

We feature K-12 teachers with a wide range of identities, lived experiences, teaching experiences, and educational contexts. We seek to highlight voices that are often missing from the dominant narratives in education.

Sustainable workloads

We help teachers use mindset and productivity tools to create balance and find a sustainable approach to their workload. We prioritize energy-giving tasks to help teachers maintain their enthusiasm and creativity.

Teacher + student agency

We find the overlap between what's best for educators and what's best for kids, and support teachers in activism and advocating for positive change in their classrooms, schools, and communities.

Holistic wellbeing

We work to create schools that prepare kids to be informed, conscious citizens, and we value more than just the academic instruction, as the physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing of children and educators are interconnected.

Mission
Statement

The encouragement, motivation, and practical teaching strategies you'll find here are grounded in these core beliefs:

We believe classroom teachers have a unique and essential expertise that must be centered in discussions about education. Decisions about teaching should not be made without teachers. So, we use our platform to amplify the voices of classroom practitioners.

We seek out a diversity of perspectives and honor the wide range of experiences teachers have in K-12 schools. We focus on teachers in the United States, but welcome and learn from the voices of educators around the world. We encourage them to speak openly and transparently about all they are experiencing.

We believe in the relentless pursuit of truth by uncovering history, facts, and experiences that have been obscured or whitewashed. We look to see whose perspectives are missing from common narratives and how that's shaped what we believe is true. We are constantly learning and growing, and sharing that process with other educators.

We believe that who teachers ARE matters just as much as what they DO. Therefore, we focus not only on professional development, but also personal development. We delve deeply into topics of mindset, unpacking personal bias, habits for strong mental health, and overall teacher wellbeing. The goal is to provoke self-examination and help educators be the best true version of themselves.

We work to be inclusive but aren't afraid to take a stand on divisive issues when needed. When deciding whether to tackle a controversial topic, our guiding question is, "Who benefits if we choose to stay silent about this?" We stand with folks in the margins and work for justice, accountability, and equity.

We believe in a humanized approach to education, addressing not only the needs of the whole child but the whole teacher. The physical, emotional, and mental wellbeing of both children and educators is our central concern, and does not come secondary to academic goals.

We believe the status quo is not best serving the needs of teachers or kids, and push one another to reimagine what's possible. We do not believe in martyring ourselves to meet impossible expectations or overburdening students with irrelevant assignments and excessive testing. Instead, we support teachers in focusing on what makes the biggest impact for kids, and setting boundaries on how much time they-and their students-dedicate to less impactful tasks.

We believe there is a huge overlap between what's best for kids and what's best for teachers, and work to offer solutions that serve the best interest of both. Kids learn best from happy, supported, balanced teachers. So, we reject the tendency to pit teachers' needs against those of students, and instead look for the alignment between them.

We believe teaching is inherently impacted by the larger political, cultural, societal, and institutional frameworks that our schools operate within. So, we don't shy away from discussing current events, and work to inform and equip educators to navigate systemic challenges.

We believe that a free high quality public education is not only the right of every child, but essential for the greater good of a nation. We respect parental choice, and support teachers working in private and charter schools. We also have a deep passion for strengthening our public school system through equitable learning conditions for kids and sustainable working conditions for educators.

We actively look for solutions that make teaching more effective, efficient, enjoyable, and equitable. We seek to help teachers find a sustainable approach to their work in order to maintain their enthusiasm and creativity. We support them in identifying practices that make the best use of class time and help meet the needs of all students, without burning out.

We believe our mission is up for questioning but not up for debate. We invite healthy discussion initiated in good faith for the purpose of clarification. We encourage pushing one another's thinking to include additional perspectives. And, we welcome all educators in this space. In the interest of cohesion and forward progress, we focus on the needs of educators who share our core values. We do not compromise the work of our community to center the perspectives of those who are disinterested in (or opposed to) our goals.

If you feel energized and excited after reading this ... you've found your community of educators. We're glad you're here!

Sign up to be part of this community, and we'll send you an encouraging message every Sunday night.

Read Mission Statement CLOSE

EXPLORE BY TYPE

Resources from Angela Watson

As founder of Truth for Teachers, Angela has created a growing collection of articles, podcast episodes, online courses, books, and curriculum resources designed to help educators live a more purpose and conscious life:

Latest Articles

See what our writers are sharing

We speak honestly about the realities of the educational system, and discuss practical ideas that are working currently in classrooms around the nation.

Meet our Writers

Iowa City,
IA

16 Years
Experience

Jennifer is currently working with students and teachers on building-wide academic inclusion. Her passion is building literacy supports that include...

Learn More About This Writer

ENROLLING NOW

Maximize your contractual hours, so you're not working endlessly on nights and weekends.

Our 40 Hour Workweek programs offer online personal + professional development for educators who want to focus on what really matters and simplify the rest.

Over 48,000 teachers have used 40 Hour to get organized, streamline routines, give kids ownership of the classroom, and be truly intentional about how they use their instructional, contractual, and personal time.

We also offer a 40 Hour Instructional Coaching program and 40 Hour Leadership for school administrators to help shift norms and expectations school-wide.

What teachers are saying

Angela's podcast is my motivation each week! She has not forgotten what it's like to be in the classroom. Every teacher will appreciate her words of encouragement.

A.Y.

What teachers are saying

I love how Angela simplifies things. I have not mastered that skill yet. Soooo glad to feel like I'm on the path to a normal life and schedule. Getting closer! (So not there yet, but I'm ok with that as long as I am making progress and not stuck in the same rut I've been in for THIRTEEN years!!!)

Abigail Sarmiento

What teachers are saying

Angela is not only an advocate for teachers, she is the voice of hope, a soundboard for truth, and the guru of positive thinking and practice in a challenging profession. Listening to Angela is like detoxing for the teaching mind and soul; a recommended prescription for anyone in the profession.

Ava W.

What teachers are saying

I have followed Angela for years through her books and website. She has a way of looking for the positive without denying the issues we face. I enjoy her practical solutions and pro-active ideas.

Christine

What teachers are saying

The topics Angela chooses to address are those matter to teachers. With so many struggles and challenges we face, she provides realistic advice. She's that voice that reminds you of your worth and value as an educator.

E. Lopez

EXPLORE ARTICLES BY CATEGORY

What kind of resource
are you looking for?

LISTEN AND SUBSCRIBE

Truth for Teachers Podcast

Our bi-weekly podcast has received over a thousand 5 star ratings + 9 million downloads. You can support our work by subscribing in your favorite podcast app for free!

If you enjoy this, check out the NEW Truth for Teachers Daily Encouragement Podcast. New & exclusive episodes drop daily from Mon-Fri (approx. 20 eps each month)! Each one is a 3-5 minute uplifting message and is ad-free. You can also interact with Angela and other subscribers via QA, polls, voice messages and more in Spotify! Cancel anytime.

See all Podcasts

Meet our Founder

Angela Watson, Editor-in-Chief

Angela is a National Board Certified educator and has a masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction. She created the first version of this site in 2003, when she was a classroom teacher herself. Now with 11 years of teaching experience and more than a decade of experience as an instructional coach, Angela oversees and contributes regularly to the resource collection here, and hosts the Truth for Teachers podcast. Angela also provides coaching and consulting services, creates online courses, and designs curriculum resources.

Angela believes in challenging the narrative of the overworked and unappreciated educator who sacrifices to the point of burnout. Through the Truth for Teachers writers collective, she aims to center the voices of classroom practitioners in finding more sustainable approaches to high-quality K-12 education.

Join our
community
of educators

If you are a teacher who is interested in contributing to the Truth for Teachers website, please click here for more information.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Truth for Teachers: Real talk from K-12 educators

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Check out our growing collection of articles, podcast episodes, online courses, books, and curriculum resources designed to help educators live a more purpose and conscious life.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In my travels and conversations with educators from coast to coast, there is a resounding panic from teachers feeling unprepared and ill-equipped to support disengaged students.

The following three scenarios are the most common based on my observations as a teacher coach and literacy specialist:

Scenario One: Students are sleeping, moody, or completely disengaged in class.

Scenario Two: Students have a hard time staying in class. They are always in the bathroom, hallway, locker, or constantly asking for breaks during instruction (even right after a "break").

Scenario Three: Students struggle to control emotional outbursts, resulting in verbal and physical altercations with adults and other students.

If any of these three scenarios are happening in your classroom, I'm going to dig deep into each one and discuss the context for each type of behavior, along with some tried and true strategies to re-engage students and keep them engaged in their education for the rest of the school year.

All the strategies I will be sharing are rooted in SEL (Social Emotional Learning), Restorative Practices, and Equity best practices for K-12 educational settings. If you'd like to learn more about these three frameworks, links are at the bottom of this article.

But first, two reminders:

Reminder #1: Stay student-centered

Before we start, you'll probably notice my student-centered language in each scenario. This is part of the process of re-engaging students. Checking in on our own mindset toward students is a critical step that a lot of educators tend to skip because they honestly don't think they need to do it.

However, think about how you describe students who fall asleep in class to another colleague, for example. Which of these descriptions sounds like you?

Teacher A: " Jonathan is ALWAYS sleeping in class. He never does any work and he's going to fail my class! Sleepers never prosper. If he's going to sleep in class every day, I'm just going to let him. His parents must not make him go to bed on time. "

Teacher B: " Jonathan has really been struggling to stay awake in my class lately. I'm concerned that he is falling behind with his assignments and grades. I'm going to have to figure out something I can do to support him and get him back on the right track."

You may think to yourself that you've been both Teacher A and Teacher B at different points this year, or in your career. You may think there's no harm in venting about Jonathan the way that Teacher A did, if we come back around to addressing the issue like Teacher B.

The issue with the words used by Teacher A is that by the end of that statement, the teacher has already made a handful of assumptions about Jonathan and his family. They have also already decided that Jonathan's situation can't be changed for the better and they will not be going out of their way to try.

Teacher B, on the other hand, admittedly does NOT have the answer to the problem in this conversation. Supporting students who are struggling is a year-long process that will require the teacher to be proactive, communicative, and supportive to both the student and their family at various points in the year. Teacher B understands this and yet understands that there are some things they can try to help Jonathan get re-engaged with his education.

I should also note here that in some cases, students will need more support than you provide just within your classroom. Lean on your school social workers, psychologists, and special educators to give you suggestions and referrals when needed for students who have needs beyond what you can provide.

Reminder #2: Don't take it personally

For all the students described below, it's almost NEVER personal towards the teacher. More likely than not, you are NOT boring your students to sleep or chasing them out of your classroom!

Teachers who come to me with questions about students who sleep or refuse to do work often have already tried a plethora of things to get students motivated. They've usually already implemented class-wide systems to positively reinforce student behavior with team points of some sort, and there's one or two students who are still not responding the way the teacher hoped.

If you already have a supportive classroom culture in place but you still have students disengaging from the learning, the first step is to look for patterns in the behavior:

Are they going to sleep as soon as they come in in the morning, or are they waiting until it's time to complete an undesirable task in class?

Do they leave class at the same times every day, or does it depend?

Do they put their head down ALL day, or are they up and participating during activities like Physical Education or recess?

These types of questions will help you narrow down when and how often you need to step in with your additional support.

Now, let's look in-depth at how to address each of the scenarios I identified at the beginning of the article.

How to motivate and engage reluctant learners

What to do when: Students are sleeping, moody, or completely disengaged in class

There will certainly be cases where a student sleeping is due to something serious going on in the home, and if you suspect this is the case you should reach out to your administration for the appropriate next steps before you do anything else. Student safety and care comes first. However, I caution teachers often on assuming students who sleep are doing so because they aren't getting enough sleep at home.

Most of the time, disengaged students are often simply craving connection.

They may not feel like they are truly part of your classroom community for one reason or another. They may be experiencing bullying. They could be struggling with their own mental health and are unsure how to ask for help. They may be struggling academically and are embarrassed to be "found out." Once you know what is hindering your student from feeling like part of your classroom community, you can make your plan for support accordingly.

Disengaged students need the adults in their life to not only create safe spaces for them, but also to encourage and invite them into those spaces daily.
They need to be reminded every single day that they are an important part of your classroom community, that you care about them and their ideas, and that you will be there to support them if they start to struggle throughout the day.
You can do this easily during morning meetings when students are typically still awake and alert. Build in a daily affirmation routine that all students will benefit from, but particularly the students you are focused on supporting. A quick online search for "daily affirmations for students" will get you started with videos and activities that you can choose based on the age of your students, but the idea is simple! Spending just 2-3 minutes each day engaging with affirmations will help students understand and see their own value within the classroom.

Beyond your morning meeting routine, your students will need proactive, planned check-ins with you or another trusted adult. They may be motivated to try to stay engaged, but become quickly frustrated and shut down before you get the chance to offer them redirection or encouragement. Their learned habit of shutting down has protected them from feeling frustrated, but that means they don't have much in the way of coping skills to work through challenging tasks.

Conference with these students individually about growth mindset to help them understand that they may not be able to complete the task independently YET, but if they keep working at it, they will be able to soon!

Share with them things that you do when you get frustrated by something, such as take a few deep breaths, take a short break, or ask for help from someone else (identify peers or adults who can help).

You may feel like everything you are doing stops working when your student comes in and goes right to sleep one day after a few weeks of working hard. Don't be discouraged!

This doesn't mean your student has given up all over again, but it does mean they need more check-ins and possibly additional coping strategies. This type of student support is a "roll with the flow" kind of support that will change and evolve throughout the year in response to what your students need.

What to do when: Students have a hard time coming to class or staying in class.

Students may seem to always be in the bathroom, hallway, or locker, or constantly ask for breaks during instruction. With older students, they may even cut/skip classes altogether.

Many of the strategies described above for students who sleep or refuse to work in class will apply to students who leave class as well. Students who have built a habit of wandering the school building when they are frustrated or faced with an undesirable task can be challenging to re-engage, but with the right level of pro-active planning, you can help your students see the importance of staying in class and engaging in the learning with the rest of their peers.

For students struggling to stay in class, a little bit of positive attention goes a LONG way. Students will often leave class to seek out something that they would rather do instead. They want to feel successful, challenged, or validated more so than the rest of their classmates.

I find that having a direct, respectful, open conversation with students (yes, even in elementary school!) about their actions is the best first step. In the conversation, you will want to ask at least these three questions, and pay careful attention to their answers:

1. "I've noticed you ask to go to the bathroom every day when it is time for word work. How do you feel when it's time for us to do our ____ lessons?" Make sure you name the behavior that you've noticed, without judgment. This lets students know that you are aware that their actions are intentional, and it allows you to have an honest, non-defensive conversation.)

2. "When it's time for us to do our ___lessons, is there a place in the room that you would like to sit?" This won't work for every student, but often a preferential seating change for the part of the lesson or subject that students struggle with the most can offer a quick fix.

3. "I want to help you stay in class so that you can learn the same ___ as your classmates. What do you think we should do to help you stay in class during this time? "This lets students know that you are still holding them to the same expectations as their peers, but that you are willing to take extra steps to make sure they feel supported. Most likely they won't know exactly what they need you to do (they will probably shrug or tell you they don't know), but the point of this question is to let them know that you have some ideas to share, and they are part of the process of deciding which strategies to try. I let students know that whatever strategy we agree on together will be used for at least two weeks, and then we will check in again to see if it's working for them or not.

What to do when: Students struggle to control emotional outbursts, resulting in verbal and physical altercations with adults and other students

First things first: If students are a danger to themselves or to others, you will need to go through your administration team to follow the appropriate protocol for keeping yourself and your students safe. Once any immediate safety concerns have been addressed with the support of your administration, then your work on supporting students experiencing emotional dysregulation can begin.

It's unclear yet whether we are seeing an increase in emotional or physical outbursts from students, or if we are just hearing more about it from our collective media and social circles. Regardless, many of the strategies described from the first two scenarios can be used as first steps for students struggling emotionally as well!

If you have worked through those strategies and still find students struggling to regulate their own emotions appropriately, you may need some slightly more sophisticated systems in place.
I like to think of support for emotional regulation in four stages:
Stage 1: Name it

In this stage, students need language to describe the emotions they are feeling. This stage needs to be proactively planned out, ideally WITH the student, like the conference in Scenario Two. Together, decide on the emotions that most OFTEN lead to an outburst (usually anger, frustration, or even sadness). They need a sentence to say out loud to you or another trusted adult to let you know what they are experiencing. "I" statements are a great tool we can teach children here.

"I feel _____ when _____ happens in class."

"When we ______, I feel ______."

"When you or a classmate _____, I feel ______."

This helps students start to identify their own triggers and be more aware of them as they continue to develop emotionally. Don't assume that because a student is in High School that they already know how to do this! Teach them anyway. Even if they do "know," just like adults sometimes, they may benefit from a reminder to embrace a healthier habit.

Stage 2: Express it

Imagine getting a distressing phone call in the middle of your workday (I'm sure many of us have experienced this). Now imagine that your principal or administrator knows what happened, but still expects you to pick up your next class on time from the cafeteria in five minutes. For students who struggle with emotional regulation, their emotions can feel as intense as that phone call. Expecting students to take a five-minute break and go on like nothing happened is unreasonable and can be more harmful for students who have experienced trauma or adverse childhood experiences.
Instead, students need a safe place and manner to express the emotion they are feeling.
Students may need to leave your classroom to meet with a social worker or psychologist when they are experiencing an emotional outburst, but there may be times when service providers are unavailable to them. My "cool down corner" is usually a relaxing space with cushions, a comfy chair, or even a couch where students can go when they need more than a minute or two to get themselves together.

Once you have the space designated, you'll want to have a bin or a folder of age-appropriate activities or fidgets that students can use while they are in the corner. It will be important to norm the use of this space and those materials with your entire class (everyone has a bad day sometimes!) and make sure students don't take advantage of the system.

While we want to give students the flexibility to determine when they will be "ready" to rejoin the class, there needs to be structure and parameters for the system to work long-term. Decide with specific students (ahead of time) whether they will need 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or 15 minutes to rejoin class if they need an emotional break.

Explain that if they feel they will need more than 15 minutes to decompress, they will need to check in with you to see if another trusted adult is available (they would ideally meet with their social worker or psychologist if this is the case, but a "buddy teacher" could be just as effective if they have a good relationship with another teacher in the building).

Stage 3: Let it go

The goal of emotional regulation is of course to be able to rejoin class, feel calm, and ready to learn. Teach your class ways to welcome students back from an outburst with kindness and understanding. Teach them not to pepper the student with questions the moment they come back, but rather to give space when it's needed. Explain to students that when their classmates come back to the group, they may need some support and that it's okay to ask their friends what they need. Even with younger elementary students, I watch them support and uplift one another after the most disruptive moments - let them surprise you with their empathy.

Your students will most likely be ready to rejoin class in an unceremonious way. If their outburst did no harm (no one was hurt or verbally assaulted), I will allow them to rejoin class and move on. However, if harm was done, my students know that before they can rejoin class (or before the end of the day depending on the situation/student), they need to right their wrongs.

Stage 4: Make it right

If a teacher (yourself included) or a student was harmed physically or mentally during your student's outburst, it is important for your entire classroom community that the harm is repaired in some way. If only one or two people were affected, a private restorative conversation is needed. If most or all of the class was affected, a restorative circle with the group is needed. During these conversations, you have three goals:

1. Establish the harm done

2. Decide how to make it right

3. Make it right

The student who caused the harm needs to be completely de-escalated before this conversation. Keep your discussion centered on the three goals above. If an apology is all that is needed (as determined by the person affected negatively), the apology can happen and the class can move on. If something was torn or broken and needs to be repaired, come up with a plan to fix it with the student. This is teaching students accountability for their actions in a way that doesn't humiliate or shame them.

I always end conversations with students the same way. I remind them that they are a part of our classroom community and that they matter to me. I let them know that it is okay to feel the way that they feel, there is nothing wrong with having emotions. I also let them know that in school we must respect one another's boundaries and it's not okay to take out how you feel on another person.

Final thoughts

It's my hope that at least one of these strategies helps you reach your students in new meaningful, supportive ways.

While the strategies above are meant to give you a place to start, you may need to come back to this list throughout the year for new things to try over time.
Remember that our students are not static characters in a television show.
They are complex humans with emotions, stress, and triggers just like adults. Most of all, they are children who need the adults in their lives to model appropriate responses to stress for them as much as possible.

Instead of looking at students in terms of their "problems," we must look at students in terms of their needs whether they are academic, social, emotional, or physical. If we can embrace the idea of authentically supporting the "whole-child" sitting in our classrooms, many of the disengaged behaviors we are seeing will lessen or even disappear over time.

References
Fundamentals of SEL Restorative Practices in Schools 9 Ways to Promote Equity in Our Schools
Are the kids alright? A deep dive into the pandemic's toll on students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
A fresh approach to supporting students who are disengaged and task-avoidant

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The following three scenarios are the most common based on my observations as a teacher coach and literacy specialist: Scenario One: Students are sleeping, moody, or completely disengaged in class. Scenario Two: Students have a hard time staying in class. They are always in the bathroom, hallway, locker, or constantly asking for breaks during instruction (even right after a "break").

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Poor attendance, disruptive behaviour and disengaged learning can all be prevented or solved with early identification and positive interaction between the student and their teachers.

By encouraging learning and building relationships with their class members, teachers can create a positive learning environment for students of all backgrounds and abilities.

We've put together a list of top tips to help you reconnect with your students and bring life back to the classroom.

What causes student disengagement?

There are many different factors that can cause students to become disengaged. From trouble at home to poor self-esteem, mental health problems or even boredom, the causes vary greatly, and all require different solutions.

If you find that a student is not completing their homework or is engaging in disruptive behaviour in the classroom, it is recommended that you address the problem as soon as possible.

Boredom is a common cause of disengagement. It can be a result of a gifted student finding their work too easy or a struggling student being overwhelmed by the workload. Boredom can also be an indication of neurodivergence.

A student can become disengaged if they are struggling with anxiety or depression. Often this will manifest as a lack of motivation, general disinterest in the subject matter, lack of engagement in class discussions, and an inability to build relationships with peers.

Sometimes disengagement is due to a student's learning style clashing with that of their teachers. Suppose you tend to teach mainly using auditory input, and your student learns best with visual input. In that case, they'll struggle to engage with you and likely not show interest in the various resources provided.

Lastly, some students struggle to engage due to challenging home environments. If this is the case, you may need to meet with the school counsellor to decide the best way forward.

Ways to re-engage your students

It can be intimidating to try and come up with good strategies for student re-engagement. However, there are a number of free resources that help students to re-engage with the classroom and achieve their potential.

1- Understanding why they are disengaged

This is an important step, but it is one that requires caution. Try to get a broad idea of any external factors that could be influencing the student's behaviour or ability to engage. If you think there is a serious problem, either at home or from a mental health perspective, you could assist them in getting help.

However, you need to avoid becoming too involved, as this can detract from your ability to reach all your students. Let the disengaged student connect with you and see you as a safe person, but be careful not to become their therapist.

Finding out why they're struggling to engage will help you to figure out ways to make learning environments more appealing and re-engage them in the learning process.

2 - Implement support systems

If the disengaged student is struggling with mental health, help them to set up the necessary support systems. If their struggles are related to neurodivergence, find out more about this and how best to accommodate them in the classroom.

If your student suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), they may need to have access to a fidget tool or be given the opportunity to take a quick walk halfway through the lesson.

Students who have ADHD or ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) often relate to their peers differently and engage with the educational materials in a different way. Reading an extensive block of text may be challenging, and listening to a long lecture might also be a struggle.

Consider utilising more multimedia-style lessons in your teaching, and allow students to record the lessons so that they can relisten to any sections that they miss.

3 - Try to be caring and approachable

Student disengagement can stem from a fear of authority figures, preventing the student from asking questions when they need to or receiving the necessary support during difficult times. Classroom teachers can re-engage students by ensuring they are approachable.

When students are comfortable around their teachers, they are more likely to reach out for help and engage with the course material.

4 - Offer second chances

If you notice that a student who normally performs well is underperforming, be sure to check in with them. For example, if the student normally has a high but fails a test bringing their grade down, offering them the opportunity to retake the test could be a good move.

Not only will this show that you care, but it will give the child extra confidence, knowing that you believe in their ability to achieve.

While this isn't something that should become the norm, it can really boost a student's morale and significantly increase their engagement and motivation. Needing to implement this protocol repeatedly can indicate a bigger problem, and you should investigate further.

5 - Be persistent

Being persistent can be draining and, at times, seem fruitless. But it is one of the best ways to reach your disengaged and unmotivated students.

If you want to engage students in class activities or help them complete various learning activities successfully, showing you are available helps to gain their trust and boosts their confidence.

Some students struggle with self-esteem and have home environments where there is a lot of criticism and little encouragement. This will likely aid in the development of anxiety and imposter syndrome, which in turn negatively affects not only their general well-being but also their ability to learn.

Having a teacher who is consistent and persistent gives them a reliable and steadfast person in their lives, helping them to gain confidence and hopefully re-engage with the learning environment.

6 - Find out what excites them

Through clever lesson planning, you can find out what excites and motivates your disengaged students and use this information to tailor your lesson plans to be more engaging. For example, you could have a writing exercise where they create a blog post about their favourite pastime and why they find it fulfilling.

This gives you insight into what makes them tick and helps you to provide students with engaging course material.

7 - Incorporate educational technology

Education technology, such as an interactive display, is a wonderful way to add interest and excitement to your classroom. Modern-day students engage with technology on a daily basis and will find comfort in its familiarity when using it in the classroom.

Keep the method of education varied by using a YouTube video to explain a subject or asking students to complete a task online. Adding educational games into the classroom using an interactive whiteboard can make a subject significantly more interesting and increase students' engagement with the learning materials.

8 - Incorporate movement opportunities

Young people often have a lot of difficult emotions to deal with, especially in their teenage years. This can manifest as excess energy, which can cause distraction, resulting in them doing the bare minimum in class.

To re-engage your students, consider improving classroom management by adding various opportunities for movement throughout the lessons. If a child is engaging in particularly disruptive behaviour, consider allowing them to take a run around the school field to blow off some steam and reset.

Not only will this help to improve the child's concentration, but it also benefits the other students by reducing the number of distractions they are dealing with.

9 - Encourage reflection

At the beginning or end of each week, give the students a feedback form where they can say what went well, what they struggled with, and what they think can be improved. Not only will this give you important insights into the young people in your classroom, but it will additionally help them to identify problem areas and see where they can improve their work.

Examples of improvement areas can be participation in class discussions, better time management, completing work timeously, or engaging more positively with their peers during group work.

Student feedback can help teachers to help them. Perhaps you need to implement different learning strategies in the class or give them more time to practice a certain task. Knowing your students - how they learn, what holds their interest, what motivates them - helps you to convert them from being disengaged to engaged.

10 - Ask them to help

Asking a struggling student to help you with a task you know they excel at builds their confidence and motivation. Helping students to feel needed and valued not only helps you to build relationships with them but also benefits their learning and has a positive impact on their behaviour.

This can encourage them to participate in class, as they will (over time) become aware of their strengths and hopefully become less anxious and more confident.

FAQs about engaging students

What are 6 ways to engage students?

The following are 6 tried and true methods to engage your students:

1. Be caring and kind

2. Give them a second chance

3. Discover their learning style

4. Incorporate opportunities for movement in the classroom

5. Be persistent

6. Involve their parents positively

How do you engage unmotivated students?

The first step in engaging unmotivated students is to find out why they are unmotivated. Once you know this, you'll need to find out what makes them excited and ready to engage.

Combine these with switching up your teaching style, adding some more varied classroom activities and showing them that you're caring and kind, and you'll soon have your students back on track.

How do you deal with students who don't participate?

In many cases, students who don't participate are dealing with some form of anxiety. They may struggle with perfectionism and be terrified of making mistakes, or they may have experienced ridicule in previous participation attempts and are scared to face that again. Another reason may be that they're struggling to understand the content matter.

No matter the cause, forcing the student to participate won't be successful. Instead, speak to them individually to figure out what is going on and find out other ways to have them participate in the classroom. If they don't participate in class but are getting the necessary grades, they may just need a bit of a confidence boost.

Re-engage students with an interactive display from Promethean

Keeping students engaged in lessons isn't always easy to achieve. However, with an interactive display like the ActivPanel, you can keep them interested and active in lessons.

Speak to a Promethean expert for more information or book a free demo today!

Do you want to learn more about student engagement? Check out some additional resources below!

* What is student engagement?
* 12 Student Engagement Strategies
* How to Engage Students Without Relying Solely on Technology
* How Do You Keep Students Engaged at the Beginning and End of a Lesson?
* The benefits of reflection in education
* How to Engage Shy and Quiet Students in The Classroom?
* How to Engage Students in a Hybrid Learning Class
* How To Engage University Students
* How to Engage International Students

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Engage Disengaged Students: 10 Top Tips

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Follow our guide on how to engage disengaged students and discover 10 of the best ways to re-engage students in the classroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Develop and manage healthy emotional responses and interactions.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that guides the development of flexible learning environments that can accommodate individual learning differences. A UDL framework guides teachers to provide multiple means of representation, action and expression, and engagement when designing learning opportunities to ensure that all students have the ability to access the content in ways that work best for them, represent their learning in a range of ways, and work in a manner that is most engaging in order to facilitate each student's most impactful learning.

UDL requires educators to share the responsibility and self-regulate their work to provide equitable and inclusive education experiences and improved learning. Lesson planning must be proactive, from the start, to ensure all students can participate and learn. Each teacher candidate should be expected to learn to plan using this framework for each lesson; even those from a scripted curriculum.

Teacher and Leader Preparation Programs should be taught of and through the framework of UDL. Faculty must help candidates navigate their placements and the requirements whether they must design lessons or use a district-adopted curriculum through a deep understanding of UDL features and practice planning from the start to remove barriers for any and all students. Including choice/ assignment and assessment options, flexible workspaces, manipulative, digital or taped text, graphic organizers, augmented communication devices, are only some of the ways that barriers can removed.

Universal Design Learning is not:

Just good teaching such as implementing broad proven strategies such as TPS

Focusing on what is taught; but both how and what is taught

Accommodating specific student; but accommodating all students

A checklist

Something you do; it is a framework to design environments, lessons, experiences...

Reactive or after the fact changes to a lesson after it is implemented

A fixed, static set-up in a classroom; but flexible and different set-ups

One assignment or assessment for the whole class; but choice or multiple means to express knowledge/skills

Lesson Plan with UDL Lens

Due date

The UDL/DI lesson plan assignment will have

Detailed Lesson Plan - Outcomes, Steps, Activities, Assessment that incorporates UDL/UDI/Differentiation related to decisions made: Barriers (Representation. Engagement, Expression) and Solutions (strategies), assessment chosen and how it measures your outcomes/objectives. LESSON 1 (This should look like the template provided in class with columns on the right that say barriers in the lesson and solutions or interventions specific for this lesson)

Cite Research for at least 4-6 of your solutions or interventions. Cite next to the solution and then provide a reference list in APA style. Reference lists are in alphabetical order by first author.

1-2 pages describing the students, class environment and specific student needs (no names). The description of the classroom should include grade level, number of students (general education and students with special learning needs). Deep description of at least two students with special learning needs (at least one must be a student with an IEP). (Refer to school report card, website, interview people at the school, site plan...)

Two (2) specific intervention devices or strategy prompts that are targeted for this LESSON (These should be attached such as an added activity, Graphic Organizer, ...)

Video tape at least a 15-20 minute of the lesson by DATE

In assigned triads, review two others' lessons - form provided by DATE

Write a reflection with the input from your peers (review form) and any other source (Mentor). Were you successful in including these students in meaningful learning? How do you know? (Set up tables to report data.) If so, why? What would you do differently next time?

UDL Lesson Plan: Sample Lesson for 7th Grade Math

Lesson TOPIC: Expressions
Lesson Objective(s): After completing the matching activity WWBAT strengthen our understanding of multiple representations including algebraic expression, verbal description, and table of values by justifying our answers orally or in writing.

Requires independent computer time & internet navigating skills

Model how to turn on computer, logging in to computer, and navigating to website. Provide a printout of directions. Provide alternative form of the activity with manipulatives.

Standards:
CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.7.EE.A.2
Understand that rewriting an expression in different forms in a problem context can shed light on the problem and how the quantities in it are related.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.SL.7.1
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 7 topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly.

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.2.D
Use precise language and domain-specific vocabulary to inform about or explain the topic.

CA ELD Expanding 2.I.6c. Reading/viewing closely - Use knowledge of morphology, context, reference materials, and visual cues to determine the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words on familiar and new topics.

MATHEMATICAL PRACTICE:
MP.3 Construct viable arguments and critique the reasoning of others

Students have not been explicitly told of the standards for this lesson.

Teacher reads the standards for this lesson, project them on the PowerPoint, or provide paper copy.

Evidence of Mastery - Assessment (Expression):
Teacher questions will be the primary form or formative assessment during class discussions. Students' answers for the activity will be collected as evidence of understanding

Audio sensory & processing issue with teacher's oral questionings or students may have difficulty comprehending the questions.

Write questions on whiteboard, repeat, and/or rephrase the questions when checking in with subgroup students (ELLs, IEPs). Allow time for students write their answers as well as respond orally.

Materials, Equipment, Vocabulary
Tablet, lesson PowerPoint, manipulative (paper version of the online activity), mouse
Vocabulary: algebraic expression, table, and variable

Not having any of the materials listed for lesson.

Teacher provides all materials listed for students.

(5 mins) Engage/Anticipatory Set (Engagement):

Teacher will introduce activity and briefly review expectations

Vocabulary: algebraic expression, table, and variable

Provide examples of each

Students will use their tablet for the matching activity

Instructions for how to turn on computer, opening a web browser, and typing in url can be provided if needed.

Students will log on to www.student.desmos.com and enter the class code to enter the interactive online matching activity

Requires independent computer time & internet navigating skills. New vocabulary is difficult to understand without example and context.

Model and provide instructions on how to turn on computer (Baird-Parker), logging in to computer, and navigating to website. Provide a printout of directions. Provide alternative form of the activity with manipulatives. Provide "direct instructions on domain-specific vocabulary" and examples (Novak, 2014, p. 130).

(3 mins) Explore Questions (Engagement)

Students may work in pairs or independently to complete the activity by matching the multiple representation.

ELLs may work with a bilingual student or use google translate to help with comprehension.

IEPs can choose to use printed manipulatives to complete the matching activity instead of the online version (their choice).

Collaborative work can be stressful due to personality conflict. Background content knowledge may not have been covered previously. Teacher only represents content one way.

Allow students to work independently if they are not comfortable working in pairs. Pair ELLs with bilinguals and or more knowledgeable other. Provide printed versions of the matching activity as an accommodation. "Offer ways of customizing the display of information." (Novak, 2014, p. 18).

(10 mins) Explain (Representation, Engagement)

Students will have instructions in the activity to match the different cards.

Digital cards of each representation will be randomly placed on the screen. Students can click and drag the cards to create a group of the 3 (ie, algebraic expression, table, and written description).

Printed version of the cards are available as an alternative option. Student can match the multiple representation on their desk and show the teacher.

Teacher will circulate to check for understanding by asking:

Which one is an algebraic expression, which one is a table, and which is a description?

How can you determine which one goes with which?

Explain how you know your groups are correct? Does anyone else agree or disagree?

Do you think it's easier to match the table with the expression first or description with the expression?

Use of computer mousepad could hinder students' ability to complete task. Teacher only accepts completed task one way.

Provide an external mouse. Model how to click and drag (must click, hold, and drag the item). Provide printed versions of the matching activity as accommodation.

(5 mins) Elaborate Extensions/Applications (Engagement, Expression)

Students are to explain their matching groups orally or by writing, either handwritten or typed.

Teacher only allows one way of Expression.

Allow students to handwrite and/or give answer orally. Think-pair-share (Novak, 2014, p. 33). They may discuss with peers before giving answer.

(5 mins) Evaluate (Expression)

Class discussion - teacher leads discussion by purposefully choosing a few students who has unique explanations or incorrect answers to allow for higher DOK level conversation.

Allow others' to respond constructively.

QUESTIONS: ____________ can you please explain your thought process on how you grouped the cards? What strategies did you use? Can someone explain why _________ grouped it that way? Can anyone provide suggestions on how __________ can improve his/her answer?

SENTENCE STARTERS: "I decided to group my answers this way because..."

FORMAL ASSESSMENT: Students' work and written response on Desmos will be saved and analyzed

Constructive response or meaningful critique have not been explicitly taught

Teacher can provide sentence starters on whiteboard or PowerPoint, insightful questions, and/or examples of response.

Attach any supplemental materials (e.g., worksheets, graphic organizers, etc.)

Instructions for how to turn on your computer (printed copies will be available)

Step 1: Find the 'on' button. It probably looks like this (but might be square or oblong!)

Step 3: Now you need to log in. Type in your given ID and password

Step 4: Open a web browser (Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge)

Step 5: At the top of the search bar, type in

Step 6: On the next page, type in the class code

Intervention Strategies:

1. Technology based activity on tablet. Students can navigate to the desmos website. Requires student to enter "class code".

2. Item Alternative option. Print them and cut cards up for students who prefer to work with their hands matching the cards.

Articles/Books

King-Sears, M. (2009). Universal Design for Learning: Technology and pedagogy. Learning Disability Quarterly, 32, 199-201. doi:10.2307/27740372

Lowrey, K. A., Hollingshead, A., Howery, K., & Bishop, J. B. (2017). More than one way: Stories of UDL and inclusive classrooms. Research and Practice for Persons with Severe Disabilities, 42, 225-242. doi:10.1177/1540796917711668

Meo, G. (2008). Curriculum planning for all learners: Applying Universal Design for Learning (UDL) to a high school reading comprehension program. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 52(2), 21-30. doi:10.3200/PSFL.52.2.21-30

Meyer, A., Rose, D. H., & Gordon, D. T. (2014). Universal Design for Learning: Theory and practice. Wakefield, MA: Center for Applied Special Technology.

Novak, K. (2014). UDL Now!: A teacher's guide to applying Universal Design for Learning in today's classroom. CAST Publishing: Wakefield, MA

Smith, S. J., Rao, K., Lowrey, K., Gardiner, J., Moore, E., Coy, K., ...& Wojcik, B. (2019). Recommendations for a national research agenda in UDL: Outcomes from the UDL-IRN preconference on research. Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 30, 174-185.

Websites

Universal Design Learning guides

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is a framework that guides the development of flexible learning environments that can accommodate individual learning differences.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
The Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Utilize these high school arts integration lessons to spark creativity in your classroom. Free to download and use anytime.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Arts Integration Toolkit | Chicago Public Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The CPS Department of Arts Education defines arts integration as an educational approach in which an artistic discipline (or disciplines) and another academic subject (or subjects) are combined for the teaching and learning of content knowledge and skills.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The arts are essential to creating multiple entry points for learning, supporting both academic and social-emotional development. We have curated a list of high-quality digital resources for Turnaround Arts: California educators, including arts-integrated lesson plans, arts education activities, and online professional development workshops to support teachers in expanding their toolkit for 21st-century learning.
Collaborations Teachers & Artists (CoTA) - Inspiring, arts-integrated projects co-designed by artists and teachers. Filter by grade level, art form, and core content area, including Next Gen Science.

P.S. ARTS Arts to Go - P.S. ARTS' videos and instruction sheets feature activities with common art materials inspired by famous artists, including artists who are women and people of color. One section even has art activities related to specific children's books read aloud on video.

ArtsIntegration.net - North Coast Arts Integration Project, Create Humboldt, and the Arts and Creativity Initiative bring a wealth of professional development resources and lesson ideas with the goal of improving student academic performance, reasoning skills, creative thinking, and engagement through arts integration.

The Kennedy Center's Classroom Resources - Digital resources for educators, including articles & how-to's, lessons and activities, and media & interactives. Search arts-integrated lesson plans by grade and subject. Press "print" to save to your Google Drive! Check out all of their digital arts resources here: https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/

Anti-Racist Art Teachers
Historically, art education has centered on Western aesthetics and Eurocentric art history. Anti-Racist Art Teachers promote inclusive thinking, celebrating diversity, and inspiring transformative action through arts education. Their website has a wealth of visual arts resources, including an index of diverse artists suitable for classroom study, anti-racist art activities for kids, and professional development resources for educators.

Wolf Trap Early Education through the Arts - A searchable collection of lesson plans and videos on how to use the arts to teach the youngest learners.

Little Kids Rock Teacher Zone - Music education resources, including classroom-tested, standards-aligned lessons, song charts, and teacher manual, for running a Modern Band Program. No instruments? No problem - check out their songwriting lessons.

Watershed Collaborative - An online training organization rooted in Visual Thinking Strategies, offers customized training for schools and districts and some free online training videos that directly correspond with Math, Social Studies, and ELA.

Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM - The world's largest online professional development provider for teachers and leaders using arts-integrated approaches. The institute offers fee-based online workshops, resources, courses, conferences, and certification. Check out their free resources and scroll all the way down to find their newsletter sign-up for weekly ideas in your inbox.

Building Equitable Student Participation by Zaretta Hammond on the Power of Protocols gives useful tips for using conversation structures & graffiti walls to diversify student participation, including ideas on how to draw from youth and hip-hop culture.

Chula Vista Elementary VAPA YouTube video channel offers extensive art, music, and dance lessons suitable for incorporating into K-5 classrooms.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
ARTS EDUCATION AND ARTS INTEGRATION RESOURCES / LESSON PLANS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The arts are essential to creating multiple entry points for learning, supporting both academic and social-emotional development. We have curated a list of high-quality digital resources for Turnaround Arts: California educators, including arts-integrated lesson plans, arts education activities, and online professional development workshops to support teachers in expanding their toolkit for 21st-century learning.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Dance in science, pop art in Spanish, or photography in math -- there's no end to the ways arts can be integrated into other curricula. Educators from Bates Middle School, in Annapolis, Maryland, share arts-integrated lessons and resources that you can use in your school.

All teachers at Bates Middle School are expected to use arts integration in their classrooms. Science teacher Stacey Burke (center) and her colleagues share some of their arts-integrated lessons below.

Resources on This Page:
Click on any link below to view or download that file.

Arts-Integrated Lesson Plans

Professional-Development Presentations

Arts-Integration Templates

Additional Documents from Bates Middle School

Maryland Department of Education Arts-Integration Glossary

Useful Websites on Arts Integration

Tips for downloading: PDF files can be viewed on a wide variety of platforms -- both as a browser plug-in or a stand-alone application -- with Adobe's free Acrobat Reader program. Click here to download the latest version of Adobe Reader.

Lesson Plans

Sample arts-integration presentations, lesson plans, quizzes, and other documents from various teachers and classes at Bates Middle School.

6th Grade Science: Rotation and Revolution

Presentation - lecture on rotation and revolution

Lesson Plan - lesson plan on solar system, sun, and galaxy

Dance Assignment - dance choreography that students need to incorporate into their project

Task Cards - elements of dance to be used to demonstrate rotation and revolution

Exit Ticket - student-reflection worksheet for rotation and revolution

Quiz - sample quiz given at the end of the lesson

6th Grade Science: Creative Comparison between Planets and Painting

Presentation - lecture on physical characteristics of planets integrated with color value concepts

Presentation - presentation on Ars Ad Astra Project and warm-up routine for observing and imagining

Worksheet - blank worksheet used for creative comparisons exercise

6th Grade Social Studies: Monochromatic Mapping

Presentation - lecture on monochromatic mapping

7th Grade Intro to Spanish: Pop Art and Spanish Vocabulary

Overview - students study the elements of pop artist Roy Lichtenstein and create comic strip using basic Spanish vocabulary

Presentation - lecture on pop art

Presentation - presentation and warm-up routine with Lichtenstein's art and activity using Spanish dialogue

Worksheet - tree map on colors, shapes, and lines and how they contribute to the artwork

Worksheet - worksheet used to plan comic strip with Spanish dialogue and visual description for each panel

Student Reflection - self-reflection worksheet for students to review their comic strip

8th Grade Math: Photo Story

Presentation - lecture given on photographic composition for photo story project

Lesson Plan - goals for photo story and how students will use principles of design to represent linear relationships

Rubric - grading rubric for the photo story project

Storyboard - blank storyboards used for digital photo story projects

8th Grade Visual and Language Arts: Portraits

Presentation - presentation on characteristics of portraits from different art movements, including cubism, fauvism, impressionism, pop, and realism

Lesson Plan - outline of a project in which students will compose a personal narrative detailing a life event

Activity - matching cards game in which students match artwork to correct art movement

Student Reflection - self-reflection worksheet on characterization and portraiture

Personal Analysis - worksheet for student analysis of their self-portrait

8th Grade Science: Dance and Acceleration

Presentation - lecture on velocity and speed, dance, and movement

Overview - outline of a project in which students utilize the elements of dance to calculate and graph acceleration

Worksheet - worksheet for dance challenge in which students calculate and compare speed by measuring dance movements they choreograph

Professional-Development Presentations

Active Strategies

Activity - PD activity about different active strategies that integrate dance, song, and other mixed media with science, math, language arts, and social studies

Art History

Presentation - lecture on 20th-century artists and art movements

Writing and Visual Arts

Presentation - lecture identifying and demonstrating art-inspired writing strategies

Presentation - presentation and warm-up routine for writing and visual arts lesson

Principles of Design

Presentation - lecture on principles of design, including balance, emphasis, unity, and proportion

Presentation - lecture on objective versus nonobjective art

Foldable - foldable with all the principles of design

Worksheet - worksheet for principles of design to use with selected artwork

Artful Thinking

Artful Thinking is an approach to teaching creative thinking developed by Harvard's Project Zero in collaboration with the Traverse City Area Public Schools in Michigan.

Presentation - lecture on implementing Artful Thinking routines that will help students

Artful Thinking Routines - various routines used for artful thinking, including, games, comprehension, and analysis

Professional-development presentations provided by Pat Klos, arts-integration specialist for Anne Arundel County Public Schools in Annapolis, Maryland

Arts-Integration Templates

Blank templates for arts-integration documents used at Bates Middle School

Curriculum Mapping - used to document content standards, opportunities for arts integration, and assessment/reflection

Content Standards - used to document performance on content standards where arts integration was or was not incorporated into the lesson

Content Log - log for teachers to track arts-integrated lessons, what worked and why

Graphic Organizers - various graphic organizers that can be used for arts integration

Lesson Seed - starter document to define art and content standards for an arts-integrated lesson and connected objectives

Teacher Reflection 1 - self-reflection document for teachers to evaluate lesson plans

Teacher Reflection 2 - self-reflection document for teachers to evaluate what students learned and what worked in arts-integrated lesson

Student Reflection 1 - self-reflection document for students on what they learned about both art and content standards

Student Reflection 2 - another example of a self-reflection document for students

Additional Documents from Bates Middle School

Maryland Department of Education Arts-Integration Glossary

Glossary of arts-integration terms provided by Maryland's Department of Education

Visual Arts - terminology used for visual arts

Dance - terminology used for dance

Music - terminology used for music

Theater - terminology used for theater

Useful Websites on Arts Integration

Bates Middle School - school's website

Arts Education in Maryland School Alliance - advocacy group for integrating the arts into content curriculum, professional development opportunities, resources for teachers, and funding opportunities

Artful Thinking (Project Zero) - program designed to be used by everyday teachers; focuses on experiencing and appreciating art rather than making art
More Edutopia Resources on Arts Integration: See more arts-integration resources and downloads.
Arts and Science Council - organization whose goal is to build appreciation, participation, and support for the arts, science, history, and heritage in Charlotte-Mecklenburg

The Kennedy Center ArtsEdge - the Kennedy Center's free digital resource for teaching through and about the arts

The Kennedy Center ArtsEdge Lessons Plans - lesson plans provided by ArtsEdge, The Kennedy Center's free digital resource

Masterpiece to Mathematics: Using Art to Teach Fraction, Decimal, and Percent Equivalents - article from the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics detailing how students created their own optical art and connected it to rational numbers through mathematical and visual representations of rational numbers

Arts Integration Solutions - nonprofit that looks to transform the education system by bringing arts integration to every child, in every classroom, helping them succeed in math, science, literacy, and life

Grades 6-8 | Annapolis, MD

Enrollment

715 | Public, Suburban

Per Pupil Expenditures

Free / Reduced Lunch

46%

10% Special needs&#13; 7% English-language learners&#13; &#13;

Demographic data is from the 2011-12 academic year. Fiscal data is from the 2010-11 academic year.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Lesson Plans and Resources for Arts Integration

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Dance in science, pop art in Spanish, or photography in math -- there's no end to the ways arts can be integrated into other curricula. Educators from Bates Middle School, in Annapolis, Maryland, share arts-integrated lessons and resources that you can use in your school.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Seamlessly integrate the arts into your classroom curricula with these resources.

# data[].attributes.headline
Links to Art Integration Lessons for all subjects

# data[].attributes.subject
Links to Art Integration Lessons for all subjects

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
ArtsNOW’s arts integrated lessons provide educationally approved guides aimed at integrating art into various subject matters.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
The Institute for Arts Integration and STEAM

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Arts Integration and STEAM Professional Development

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
All-Access Pass SUPPORTING EDUCATORS SINCE 2010 K-12 Education Through Arts Integration and STEAM Best-in-Class Curriculum, PD, and Resources - Anywhere, Anytime. GET AN ALL-ACCESS PASS EXPLORE CERTIFICATION

# data[].attributes.body
This is a workbook by Arts Integration professional to help analyze your curriculum and see where arts can be implemented at different levels. (good self reflection tool.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A guide for those who are new to teaching, designing a course, or are interested in refreshing and updating their foundational knowledge.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Four steps to reaching a consensus, making a decision or determining where a group should focus its attention.
1. Brainstorm: Record brainstormed ideas on chart paper. Elicit ideas only. Discourage criticism or questions. Push for 8 to 18 ideas.

2. Clarify: Ask if any items should be clarified.

The author of the idea provides the clarification.

The facilitator observes the questioner during the clarification and stops the clarification when the questioner indicates nonverbally or verbally that he or she understands.

3. Advocate: Students may advocate for as many items as they wish and as many times as they wish. Statements of advocacy must be phrased in the positive. Statements of advocacy must be brief.

4. Canvass: Ask individuals in the group to identify the fewest number of ideas they feel are most important. To determine what a few is, use the following formula: one-third plus one (if there are 12 items on the list, ask the group to identify 5 that are most important to them; if there are 15 items on the list, ask the group to identify 6). The ideas do not have to be placed in rank-order. Take a hand count to determine which items are of greatest interest to the group.

Garmston, R.J., & Wellman, B.M. The Adaptive School: A Sourcebook for Developing Collaborative Groups. Norwood, MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers, Inc., 2009.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Cooperative Learning Strategies - Focusing Four

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Four steps to reaching a consensus, making a decision or determining where a group should focus its attention. 1. Brainstorm: Record brainstormed ideas on chart paper. Elicit ideas only. Discourage criticism or questions. Push for 8 to 18 ideas. 2. Clarify: Ask if any items should be clarified.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This strategy actively engages students and encourages participation by all. Students write down responses to a question or prompt given to them by the teacher and quickly share their responses with the class. Students have to pay attention and listen closely to their classmates' responses to compare them to their own.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
About this Strategy Guide

This strategy guide introduces Carousel Brainstorming, also known as Rotating Review, and offers suggestions to implement this technique in your classroom for brainstorming about new topics or reviewing learned information.

Research Basis

Carousel Brainstorming (also known as Rotating Review) provides scaffolding for new information to be learned or existing information to be reviewed through movement, conversation, and reflection. According to Project CRISS, Carousel Brainstorming is a cooperative learning activity that can be used both to discover and discuss background knowledge prior to studying a new topic, as well as for review of content already learned. This technique allows for small group discussion, followed by whole-class reflection.

While taking part in Carousel Brainstorming, small groups of students rotate around the classroom, stopping at various "stations" for a designated period of time (usually 1-2 minutes). At each station, students activate their prior knowledge of a topic or concept and share their ideas with their small group. Each group posts their ideas at each station for all groups to read.

Strategy in Practice

Choose several major topics/concepts that are new to your students or that are being reviewed from a lesson previously taught. Write each topic/question at the top of a piece of chart paper, and tape the paper to the wall. Following are some examples that you might use in your classroom:

Before beginning a lesson on the civil rights era, you might post the names of some key people and events from this time in history to draw out students' background knowledge.

Upon finishing The Diary of Anne Frank, you might choose to pose different critical thinking questions about the novel as a means to review the story.

After a unit on plants, you might post guiding questions about the major topics covered in the unit to review the material.

Divide your class into groups of three or four and assign each group a different colored marker with which they will write their responses on the chart paper. Assign each group to a particular "station" or piece of chart paper.

Give groups 1-2 minutes to discuss the topic/concept/question noted on the piece of chart paper among their group members and then write down everything they know or have learned about the topic on that particular piece of chart paper (using their assigned colored marker).

After the allotted 1-2 minutes, each group should rotate to the next station where they will read the new topic/concept/question and what others have written about it, discuss it with their group, and add new information. Students can also write questions about things that other groups wrote (existing answers/notes about the topic/question).

Continue this process until each group is back to their original station.

Wrap up the brainstorming session by having a discussion about the topics on each piece of chart paper and reading/discussing what each group wrote, answering questions as you go.

Have your students organize the information from the brainstorming session by using a graphic organizer, writing a summary, or doing a gallery walk, recording useful information.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Brainstorming and Reviewing Using the Carousel Strategy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
About this Strategy Guide This strategy guide introduces Carousel Brainstorming, also known as Rotating Review, and offers suggestions to implement this technique in your classroom for brainstorming about new topics or reviewing learned information. Research Basis Carousel Brainstorming (also known as Rotating Review) provides scaffolding for new information to be learned or existing information to be reviewed through movement, conversation, and reflection.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Center for the Professional Education of Teachers

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Find inspiration for classroom discussions that encourage students to make their voices heard.

"So, what are your thoughts? Talk with each other."
​
I remember asking this question many times, always expecting it to be greeted immediately and enthusiastically by the voices of many students, clamoring to share all at once.

In some classrooms, that was the case. In most others, a deafening silence would stretch for several minutes. Eventually, I'd ask a new question or encourage them to write down their answers and turn them in so that I could read them. Most students had an abundance of thoughts, I discovered, when they handed in their written responses.

I desperately wanted to create a culture of discussion in my classroom, one in which students could not stop talking to one another about our texts and topics of study. But, this open-ended question asking them to share their thoughts never seemed to stimulate the kind of discussions that I was searching for.

The question for me became, how can I begin to create a culture of discussion in my classroom?

Questioning

To explore that larger question, I began with a smaller one: what kind of questions were the most exciting for me to answer as a learner?

We all may have different answers to that question, and I encourage you to take a few moments to think or to write about what your unique answer might be.

In my own process of reflection, I discovered that I am enthusiastic to answer questions that are open-ended: those that invite many different perspectives and clearly do not have one "correct" answer.

I also love questions that get me thinking about something that hasn't occurred to me before: thought-provoking questions that feel relevant to me in some way, connecting to my interests, my recent thought patterns, or some facet of my identity.

And, most especially, I love answering questions when I can be assured that someone else around me will answer, too. There is something vulnerable about sharing thoughts and ideas in a classroom space, especially when there is no guarantee that others will do the same.

Out of my own reflections came clear pathways forward - new things to try.
​

What if I asked focused, open-ended questions?

What if I asked thought-provoking questions that are relevant to my students' lives?

What if I asked questions and invited students to respond using protocols that expected reciprocal responses? What might those protocols be?

The first protocol that I embraced consistently became the turn and talk. Rather than invite students to share in front of the whole class, I'd invite students to turn and talk to one person next to them, taking turns to share their responses.

I can appreciate how many teachers mock the turn-and-talk discussion protocol as a favorite of administrators who believe that this discussion technique will solve all educational dilemmas. As teachers, it can be easy to become cynical quickly about those strategies most commonly suggested.

With that said, the turn-and-talk protocol transformed academic talk in my classroom. By the third or fourth time that I implemented the strategy, I was stunned by all the ideas my students were willing to share with each other that they wouldn't share with the whole class.

But, it also made sense once I implemented the protocol, as so many things in retrospect often do. It's much easier to share with a peer than with one's teacher. It's much easier to share with a peer when you know that they will share in return with you.

Eventually, I knew that I wanted the turn-and-talk to grow into small group discussions. So, how?

Small group discussion

"Save the Last Word for Me" was introduced to me by a colleague who was devoted to building a culture of discussion in her classroom.

Her explanation was simple, and I do my best to recreate it here:

1. Put students into groups of four

2. Each students reads and chooses one quote of significance to them for whatever the reason

3. Each student in the group reads the quote then theorizes aloud about why the quote holds significance

4. The student who initially chose the quote has the "last word" to explain their original thinking about why they chose their quote

I never implemented the protocol to fidelity, but it inspired lots of small group discussions in my classrooms. What if I tried it with images? With documents? With word problems? What if the groups were slightly larger or smaller?
To me, one beautiful thing about teaching is that every protocol is an invitation to create and to re-create things until they feel like our own. I invite you to do the same - what small group discussion strategies might this one protocol inspire?

Whole class discussion

I never gave up on my dream of whole class discussions. As many English teachers can appreciate, the Socratic seminar is often celebrated as the pinnacle of literary discussions.

After many months of paired and small group discussions, I was terrified that our first Socratic seminar of the year would be a return to the silence.

Students are always full of surprises.

"But did you look here at what she says on page 23? It makes me think that...."
"I'm not sure I agree, but that's an interesting point. Have you thought about...."
"That's a good point. Maybe we should think about...."

The voices, the laughter, the thoughts swirling around - it was everything that I had hoped for my students in a whole class discussion.

I described this moment of success with a fellow teacher, expressing my surprise and amazement about how successful our first Socratic seminar was.

He laughed, "I'm not surprised. Your kids are always talking."

An invitation

Creating a culture of discussion was not a linear experience for me as a teacher. I learned from the wisdom of fellow teachers and, no matter what protocols I used, there were days in which silence felt inevitable. But, I did get my students talking.

If you're interested in thinking more about how to create a culture of discussion in your own classroom, I invite you to join me online at Keep the Kids Talking, where you can reflect on your own experiences, and also acquire new, implementable discussion strategies.

I hope to see you there.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Creating a Culture of Discussion: How to Keep Kids Talking

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Find inspiration for classroom discussions that encourage students to make their voices heard.

# data[].attributes.body
Student Inquiry: Opportunities for students to engage meaningfully in investigating rigorous and relevant questions (i.e., Projects designed around student questions, Development of arguments that are important to students)

Open Ended Questions:  Questions which have more than one correct answer. (What are the benefits of increasing aquatic riparian zones? When do we use fractions in our lives beyond school?)

Close Ended Questions: Questions which have only one correct answer (What is the elevation of the peak of Denali? What materials are used to make this piece of art?)

Critical Questions: Questions which interrogate, investigate, or challenge systems of power (Why are some voices excluded from dominant historical narratives?)

Essential Questions: Questions which help evaluate mastery of content (What is a fraction? How do we identify the main idea of a text?)

Compelling Questions: Questions which are answered with an argument, they are intellectually rich, authentically interesting, and worthy of student investigation. (What is our responsibility to the land?)

Supporting Questions: Questions which might support students in responding to a compelling question. (How does the State of Alaska make decisions about fisheries management? In conjunction with the question above)

# data[].attributes.body
To develop relevant and rigorous questions, focus on crafting inquiries that are directly tied to the topic at hand, encourage critical thinking, require analysis and justification, and often involve open-ended responses, prompting students to go beyond basic recall and apply their knowledge to complex situations; consider using "why," "how," "what if," and "evaluate" to stimulate deeper engagement and diverse perspectives.

Key aspects of developing relevant and rigorous questions:

Connect to real-world applications:

Frame questions that relate the topic to current issues or situations students can identify with, making the learning more meaningful.

Go beyond factual recall:

Move beyond basic "who," "what," "when" questions and incorporate higher-order thinking skills like analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.

Encourage multiple perspectives:

Ask questions that allow for diverse viewpoints and interpretations, fostering discussion and debate.

Use open-ended prompts:

Formulate questions that do not have a single "right" answer, encouraging students to explain their reasoning and provide detailed responses.

Prompt evidence-based reasoning:

Ask students to support their answers with specific examples, data, or information from the text or learning material.

Consider the audience and context:

Tailor questions to the students' prior knowledge and level of understanding, ensuring they are challenging but achievable.

Examples of relevant and rigorous questions:

In a history class:

"How did the Industrial Revolution impact societal structures and lead to significant changes in labor practices?"

In a science class:

"Evaluate the potential environmental consequences of a proposed new energy source and propose mitigation strategies."

In a literature class:

"Analyze the author's use of symbolism in this poem and explain how it contributes to the overall theme."

In a social studies class:

"What are the ethical implications of a government policy regarding immigration, and how might different stakeholders be impacted?"

Strategies for developing rigorous questions:

Use Bloom's Taxonomy:

This framework categorizes cognitive levels (knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation) to help design questions that target different thinking skills.

Start with "why" and "how":

These prompts naturally encourage deeper analysis and critical thinking.

Incorporate "what if" scenarios:

Pose hypothetical situations to challenge students to apply concepts to new contexts.

Ask follow-up questions:

Probe further into student responses to encourage elaboration and clarification.

# data[].attributes.body
AI Overview

Learn more…Opens in new tab

"Reframing questions" in the classroom means taking a standard question and rephrasing it to encourage deeper thinking, critical analysis, and diverse perspectives from students, often by shifting the focus from simple recall to application, evaluation, or personal connection to the topic at hand; essentially, moving beyond "what is" to "why" or "how" questions to stimulate more meaningful engagement.

Example of reframing a question:

Basic question: "What is the capital of France?"

Reframed question: "How might knowing the location of the capital city of France help us understand its political and cultural influence in Europe?"

Key strategies for reframing classroom questions:

Open-ended questions:

Instead of questions with single correct answers, ask questions that allow for multiple interpretations and encourage students to explain their reasoning.

"Why" and "How" questions:

Prompt students to analyze, justify, and connect concepts by asking them to explain the "why" behind a phenomenon or "how" a process works.

Personal connections:

Encourage students to relate the topic to their own lives and experiences to foster deeper understanding and engagement.

Hypothetical scenarios:

Present hypothetical situations to challenge students to apply their knowledge to new contexts and consider different perspectives.

"What if" questions:

Encourage creative thinking by asking students to consider alternative possibilities and outcomes.

Benefits of reframing questions:

Deeper learning:

Promotes critical thinking, analysis, and synthesis of information instead of rote memorization.

Student engagement:

Encourages active participation and diverse viewpoints in classroom discussions.

Higher-order thinking skills:

Develops complex cognitive abilities like problem-solving, reasoning, and evaluation.

Differentiation:

Allows teachers to tailor questions to meet the needs of individual students at different learning levels.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Classroom discussion is one of the most powerful tools for fostering students' critical thinking, communication skills, and intellectual curiosity. You can incorporate class discussion - and get its many benefits - across many subject areas! With all this in mind, we at Kialo Edu have assembled a library full of classroom debate topics that are guaranteed to ignite lively discussions and stimulate growing minds in the classroom.

From timeless topics to contemporary conundrums, these debate prompts will challenge your students to articulate their thoughts and take on different perspectives. These debates are perfect for middle, high school, or even university students - but can be easily adapted for elementary students as well. Be sure to also check out how you can create your own discussions from scratch!
Interested in debate topics in other languages? We've got you covered! Explore our collection of debate topics in French, German, Spanish, and Portuguese. Perfect for sparking engaging class discussions no matter what language you're teaching in!

Are ghosts real?

Are New Year's resolutions worthwhile?

Are professional athletes overpaid?

Do aliens exist?

Does pineapple belong on pizza?

Does stubbing your toe hurt more than banging your elbow?

Is a beach vacation better than a vacation in the mountains?

Is Black Friday worth it?

Is listening to books better than reading them?

Should Halloween costumes be allowed in schools?

Should Santa bring naughty children presents?

Should Santa's elves demand better working conditions?

Should students have exams right after winter holidays?

How, if at all, should bullies be punished?

Should cursive be taught to children?

Should we allow people to have pets?

Which country would be the most interesti n g to visit?

Which video game console is the best?

Which would be better to visit: ancient Egypt or ancient Greece?

Ancient Athens or Sparta: which was the better place to live?

To what extent was Athenian Democracy democratic?

Should we admire Alexander the Great?

Were the Mongol conquests a good thing in the end?

Was Europe more religiously tolerant in 1250 or in 1750?

How did the Roman Empire become so great?

Was the Industrial Revolution good for society?

Which technology had the biggest impact on the world: the railroad, steamship, or telegraph?

Was the atomic bombing of Japan justified?

Did the French Revolution have predominantly negative consequences?

Did the American Revolution advance the rights of women in the colonies?

To what extent were the 1848 revolutions inspired by new political ideas?

What was the main cause of the US Civil War?

Was Manifest Destiny a positive ideology to have followed?

Was the New Deal a success?

Was the Treaty of Versailles the main cause of World War II?

Which US President was the most significant?

Was the United States responsible for the outbreak of the Cold War?

What was the main cause of World War I?

Should we still celebrate Columbus Day?

Should the British Museum return artifacts to their countries of origin?

Should European countries pay reparations to their former colonies in the developing world?

Should public prayer be allowed in schools?

What is the strongest argument in favor of the separation of church and state?

Should vaccines be made mandatory?

Is democracy a good form of government?

Should climate policy be decided by a panel of experts rather than by politicians?

Should people be able to own personal vehicles?

Do public libraries have a role in the future?

Should schools be able to ban books?

Would it be better to have one universal language?

Should all citizens be required to vote?

Should 16-year-olds be allowed to vote in general elections?

Do the benefits of direct democracy outweigh the costs?

Should citizens have to pass a political knowledge test in order to vote?

If one benefits from a public good, do they have an obligation to pay tax for it?

What is the best mode of peaceful protest?

Is Affirmative Action a desirable policy?

Should the monarchies be abolished?

Are social media explanations or economic explanations of the Arab Spring more convincing?

Which group of people have the most influence over US government policy today?

Is taking care of global issues more important than caring about local issues?

Education debate topics

Should homework be banned?

Should exams be banned?

Should students have to wear school uniforms?

Should students have exams right after winter holidays?

Should it be mandatory for university students to spend one term abroad?

Should students be allowed to use smartphones in school?

Should art and music be taught in schools?

Should fee-paying schools be abolished?

Could technology ever replace teachers?

Should Irish be a required subject in Irish schools?

Should financial literacy classes be required for all students?

Should students be required to take sex education classes in school?

Should students be forced to learn math?

Should schools start later in the day?

Should a nutrition class be included for grade school and high school?

Politics and law debate topics

Should the US adopt a form of proportional representation for its presidential elections?

Should countries have quotas to ensure representation of minority groups in parliament?

What provides a better account for the causes of armed conflict: "greed" explanations or "grievance" ones?

Can war ever be justified?

Is populism caused mainly by economic frustrations?

Are stable dictatorships more likely to pursue economic liberalization than weaker ones?

Is dictatorship preferable to democracy in some instances?

Are nation-states better than any other form of political entity?

Which model of representative democracy best achieves the Founding Fathers' intent for a stable, democratic government in the US?

Can nationalism be compatible with democracy?

Should there be a cap on private donations to electoral campaigns?

Should judges be elected by the people?

Is Marx's theory of value convincing?

Should intellectual property be abolished for medicine?

What is the best method of constitutional interpretation?

Which purpose of the criminal justice system is most important?

Should courts be quick to disregard separate legal personality?

Should strict criminal liability be removed from all imprisonable offenses?

Technology debate topics

Should digital devices replace paper and books?

Should kids be able to have social media?

Should deepfake technology be regulated by law?

Should we break up big tech companies?

Should social media websites have the right to de-platform public figures?

Do smartphones make us less smart?

Which social media platform would be best to ban?

Should coding be a required subject in school?

Are there more advantages than disadvantages to open-source software?

Are online privacy protections more important than safety?

Does technology make us less intelligent?

Have mobile phon e s improved people's lives?

Is it a good thing that most human work will likely be done by machines?

Is the internet an overall good thing for society?

Should the government protect net neutrality?

Literature debate topics

In Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was Willy Wonka good at heart?

In The Tell-Tale Heart, do you believe that the narrator is truly mad or is he correct that he only suffers from nervousness and overly acute senses?

In Jack and the Beanstalk, was Jack right to steal from the giant?

Should Ebenezer Scrooge be forgiven at the end of A Christmas Carol?

Were Romeo and Juliet's parents responsible for their children's deaths?

Is Jane Eyre a feminist novel?

Last Days of Summer: Are Craig Nakamura's descriptions of his and his family's experiences preceding and during internment at Manzanar historically accurate?

Of Mice and Men: Was Curley's wife a bad person?

Of Mice and Men: Was George right to kill Lennie?

Should we still teach To Kill A Mockingbird?

To Kill A Mockingbird: Should Atticus have defended Tom Robinson?

Does The Outsiders argue for a more even distribution of wealth in society?

Lyddie: Should Lyddie sign the petition?

Is the World State of A Brave New World really a dystopia?

Who was George Orwell's primary target in 1984?

Should the animals of Animal Farm have ever revolted against Jones?

At the end of A Doll's House, is Nora's decision to walk away justified?

Is Nick Carraway a reliable narrator in The Great Gatsby?

Is The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn too racist to be taught in schools?

In A Streetcar Named Desire, does Tennessee Williams portray Stanley Kowalski as a mere brute?

Was Macbeth a victim of fate?

Are plays or novels better?

For more inspiration, browse Kialo Edu's extensive library of classroom debate topics. Each template comes with background info and prompts, so you can get discussing straight away!

Will digital art experiences replace physical art?

Should art be publicly funded?

Are NFTs good for art?

Is jazz neglected in contemporary society?

What is the main purpose of music?

Should the state ban offensive art?

Is art an effective method of driving social change?

Should prizes be given for the arts?

Who decides the meaning of art?

Can art be separated from the artist?

Is it justified to regard medieval European art as crude compared to antiquity?

Is abstract art inferior to representational art?

Should museums be publicly owned?

Does modern art belong alongside classical art?

Is graffiti art?

Is fashion art?

Should video games be considered art?

Should art serve a purpose, or is it valuable for its own sake?

Is it important to explore outer space?

Are we doing enough to protect biodiversity?

Should Pluto be considered a planet?

Should we colonize other planets?

Should the periodic table be organized differently?

Should human doctors be replaced by automated ones?

Should scientists prioritize reproducing results over innovation?

Should animal testing be banned?

What alternative energy source is the best?

Should stem cell testing be banned?

Should the genetic engineering of human embryos be banned?

Which line of evidence provides the strongest support for evolution?

Is de-extinction worth the cost?

Should we create artificial wombs for humans?

Should euthanasia be legalized?

Should we ban zoos?

Should genetically modified crops be banned?

Is nuclear power our best option for energy production?

Environmental debate topics

Is it better to buy an electric car or a gasoline car?

What is the best form of renewable energy?

Should we begin relocating people from coastlines vulnerable to climate change?

Should fracking be banned?

Should individuals assume responsibility for climate change?

Can individual conservation efforts successfully protect the environment?

Is climate more important than soil for determining vegetation characteristics in cold environments?

Should mining be banned?

Should plastic bags be banned?

Should single-use plastics be banned?

Could lab-grown meat be a useful tool for fighting climate change?

Should people have fewer children to help tackle climate change?

Should we use geoengineering to offset the impacts of climate change?

Human geography debate topics

Does tourism help reduce developmental gaps?

Is rewilding a good idea?

Will the world face a major food insecurity crisis by 2050?

Has human activity affected the migrations of various species?

Is the trend of rural-urban migration a positive thing?

What is the greatest challenge to megacities?

Should governments impose population controls?

Is the expansion of cities into surrounding areas a good thing?

Is it possible to build cities that don't harm the environment?

Has globalization had a positive impact on a country you have studied?

Is urban density a good thing?

Should we work to conserve endangered languages?

Philosophy & ethics debate topics

Can morality exist without religion?

Is it immoral for people to own pets?

Is war a necessary evil?

Do negative life experiences help the creative process?

Is religious faith compatible with science?

Should human cloning be legal?

Is mandatory organ donation ethical?

Should there be a death penalty?

Should the Pavolsk Experimental Station scientists have eaten the seeds during the siege of Leningrad?

Is justice more important than peace?

Can our senses be trusted?

Should humans eat animals?

Is Rawls' "veil of ignorance" too far removed from the realities of political life to make meaningful arguments about what justice should be?

Should speech be regulated in line with John Stuart Mill's harm principle?

Is a truly cosmopolitan global ethics impossible?

Economics and business debate topics

Should the minimum wage be raised?

Is it better to have high taxes or low taxes?

Should tipping culture become a thing of the past?

Should people invest in cryptocurrency?

Under what conditions are expansionary monetary policies likely to create greater economic growth?

Is the Gini coefficient a useful way of measuring inequality?

Is the recent increase in inequality in rich countries the result of diminishing trade union power?

Are price caps a useful economic tool?

Are price floors a useful economic tool?

Should the United States adopt a balanced budget amendment?

Should countries pursue full employment as an economic goal?

Should society reject fast fashion?

Is the culture of companies like Google preferable to that of traditional companies?

What is the best method for business expansion (e.g. merger, takeover, strategic alliance)?

To what extent does intrapreneurship improve the performance of a business?

Is "delayering" an effective strategy for business to become more profitable?

Should you buy fair trade?

Are qualifications more valuable than experience?

What should the role of companies be?

Should we shorten the 40-hour workweek?

International relations debate topics

Should we lower i n ternational trade barriers?

Do international economic institutions, like the WTO and IMF, operate as liberal theorists intended, or do they exemplify the logic of realism?

Are certain countries doomed to remain emerging economically?

Is the US-China relationship the new Cold War?

Is the two state solution dead?

Should governments spend money on foreign aid?

Are states still the most important actors in international relations?

Are democracies less likely to go to war with each other?

Was Hong Kong better off under the "one country, two systems" arrangement or now as a part of China?

Is the US embargo of Cuba justified?

Is international law truly law?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Explore hundreds of classroom debate ideas from Kialo Edu, covering a wide variety of curricular subjects and age groups.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Strategies that Work: Debates in the Classroom | Education World

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Strategies that Work: Debates in the Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The 8 best debating games to engage students | ESU

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Here’s a list debating games for the classroom that we’ve tried and tested with primary and secondary school students.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Practical Guidelines for Using Technology Tools in Classroom Teaching | CRLT

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Discover top gamification apps to achieve your goals | Gamify List

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Gamify List is the biggest listing of apps that leverage games to motivate you to achieve your goals. Videogames are fulfilling genuine human needs. They have a lot to teach us about how to make our lives, and the world, better.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The art of gamifying a student's learning experience via gamification tools that are fun and engaging while maintaining a student's attention without having to stand on your head is the wave of the future.

Let's face it; classrooms no longer look as they did ten years ago.

Modern classrooms now come equipped with tablets, eBooks, and digital boards, requiring more learner engagement and more shiny things vying for your students' attention than ever before.

So let's dive in and explore the world of gamification.

What is Gamification?

The term gamification is still relatively new.

Even though it is a term that has been around for more than ten years, gamification is still refining itself.

To date, gamification is a method that enriches educational content and marketing or business processes with game mechanics.

Game mechanics, when used properly, take an aspect of your personal or professional life and turn it into a game.

Typical gamification elements include points, badges, and leaderboards, allowing for an emotional tie into content by promoting friendly competition that stimulates learning and training experiences.

Benefits of Gamification

Dimitri Mendeleev, a Russian scientist, was credited with publishing the first Periodic Table of Elements and was an educator from the 19th century; he was one of the first scientists to employ gamification tools in a learning setting.

He was not one of your better students; however, he was able to excel with gamification.

The five following benefits are just some of the many ways in which gamification tools enhance learning and training content:

1. Allows for learning to be fun and interactive.

2. Gamification creates an addiction to learning.

3. The opportunity to see real-world applications of learning content.

4. Real-time feedback.

5. Friendly competition provides opportunities that equal intrinsic motivation and extrinsic motivation to learn.

How To Implement Gamification

The essential first steps are to explore what behaviors you want to promote and what learning strategies and training objectives you're trying to achieve.

Once you establish these, you can proceed to set up your game mechanics.

1. Use a Point System

In a typical learning setting, grades evaluate performance which can be disheartening, especially if you are not doing well.

A point system rewards task completion and can offer a sense of accomplishment, allowing students to feel compensated for their efforts.

2. Hand Out Badges

Just because students may not earn points does not mean they are not accomplishing tasks.

Badges are a great way to reward progress and serve as milestones for the class.

3. Create a Script With Avatars

Invent a story that includes your students' imagination.

To do this, allow them to create their characters or avatars in the story you use to gamify their learning experience.

Just make sure you continue to use the same characters or avatars throughout the game so that the student creates consistent ownership with their unique role in the game.

4. Encourage Teamwork

Creating teams to accomplish tasks throughout the story or game is invaluable to move through learning objectives.

When working in a team setting, you are more apt to show up because the fear of letting down a teammate is greater than failing on your own in most cases.

Gamification Tools

Thankfully the technology of gamification software now offers many tools to offer a game-based learning experience.

The following list in alphabetical order will give you a solid idea of what gamification tools can work for you and the experience you can create for your students.

1. Duolingo

Duolingo is a free online language gamification app offering 94+ language courses.

It boasts 500 million+ users worldwide.

And the Duolingo for Schools app offers teachers and its users a fun, gamified way to teach language involving personalized and self-paced assignments.

Meet students where they are by utilizing their personalized learning engine.

With customizable assignments and lessons, teachers can cater to their learning objectives with ease.

2. Arcademics

Arcademics makes multiplayer educational games-free math games, free language arts games, and more for K-8 students.

With Arcademics Plus, teachers and parents can view analytics and reports that allow customization of game content.

Arcademics games play out on the iPad and Android app.

3. Jotform Quiz Maker

Jotform Quiz Maker is a supercharged tool that allows users to build dynamic quizzes and polls. The product offers many features, such as conditional logic and calculations, that can be used to create unique quizzes for everyone and score them.

Jotform also allows users to keep track of all of their submissions and manage their data with automated dashboards, graphs, reports, and an analytics tool.

The quizzes can be embedded into a website, shared with a link or QR code as well as easily built into a no-code mobile app.

4. Xperiencify

Xperiencify is a revolutionary gamification platform that uses seven psychological triggers, such as urgency, FOMO, and social proof, that drive engagement rates through the roof.

Instructors can use gamification elements such as points, countdowns, and leaderboards to motivate students to reach course completion goals.

When used correctly, course creators can expect completion rates 10-30 times higher than the competition.

5. Brainscape

Brainscape boasts of being the world's most brilliant flashcard app.

Brainscape uses cognitive science gamification software that optimizes studying by repeating more challenging concepts in perfect intervals to maximize memory retention.

You can bet there is a flashcard for every possible application.

And if you cannot find a flashcard deck in their robust database, you can create your own.

6. Cerebriti

Cerebriti, created in Spain, is a gamification software platform that offers two distinct angles to the learning process.

First, students create their educational games, and second, they play other students' or teachers' games to consolidate their learning process.

There are games on all subjects for all ages, and they are multi-platform.

BookWidgets is a gamification software that serves all educators, including; elementary teachers, middle or high school teachers, university professors, and professional trainers.

BookWidgets also offers 40+ digital exercise templates that work on smartphones, tablets, or computers.

BookWidgets is a fast and efficient grading system that provides feedback to students and teachers, allowing them to assess problem areas or where students may need extra attention.

8. ChemCaper

ChemCaper is a video game platform developed by school teachers that teaches fundamental chemistry concepts to teenagers aged 10 to 14 years old.

Students report that they remembered 90% of concepts learned in 6 months after playing the game for the first time.

Based on chemistry concepts and the Periodic Table, students can explore unique environments, craft potions, and battle with collectible creatures.

9. Course Hero

Course Hero focuses on filling the gap between college and the workplace.

The gamification features are fundamental, with achievement badges for accomplishments like logging on during the weekend, uploading documents, and completing classes.

There's a sitewide leaderboard, but lacking here is community or interaction between students.

Course Hero's strengths are its study resources, 24/7 homework support, textbook solutions and explanations, and expert tutors.

10. Edmodo

Edmodo is a free app that mirrors the functionality of a social media network for educational purposes.

It provides tools that allow teachers and users to send messages, share training materials, and make learning accessible anywhere.

In addition, Edmodo communicates with parents keeping them up to speed on class updates, allowing them to sync with their children's teachers and support learning at home.

And lastly, parents can see classroom activities and grades to support their children's progress.

11. Classcraft

Classcraft promotes social and emotional learning (SEL) through its gamification software.

Class Craft is a mobile game app where students create their avatars complete with special powers to navigate the classroom, its rules, and deadlines collaboratively.

You can utilize Class Craft to get students fully interacting with the rules of your classroom and beyond.

And it is a perfect classroom management tool for high school students.

12. Genially

Genially is a platform to gamify your presentations by making them interactive and fun.

Genially works to elevate the learning experience by allowing you to import any presentation by offering rich animation and gamifying anything from quizzes to escape rooms filled with interactivity.

Also, Genially offers a myriad of templates to plug and play your existing content into so that you can be up and running fast.

13. Virtonomics

Virtonomics is a business simulation offering student engagement through a gamified experience in economics, entrepreneurship, competition, marketing, finance, sales, production, strategy, innovation, startup development, R & D, HR, supply chain management, and more.

It boasts an online community of 1 million players from all over the world engaging in various business platform simulations.

The intended audience for these games is business people, entrepreneurs, and university and college students.

14. Gimkit

Gimkit is a gamification software that offers a live learning game show experience with constant updates, new modes, and power-ups that keep the game fresh and relevant.

Students answer questions on their own devices and are presented the same questions in multiple ways to ensure mastery of a topic.

Students' rewards come with in-game cash by answering questions correctly, but at the same time can lose some money by answering incorrectly, motivating them to be thoughtful with their answers.

And Gimkit can be used outside of the classroom as homework, which facilitates automatic grades for you.

15. Kahoot!

Kahoot! offers a game show environment to get students excited about learning.

Particularly useful in the school setting for quizzing vocabulary, multiplication, and simple geography.

And Kahoot! provides support to many learning settings such as school, work, and home.

Kahoot! is utilized by more than 1 million+ players annually in more than 200 countries.

Kahoot! is used in the US by over 50% of teachers and 97% of Fortune 500 companies.

16. ClassDojo

ClassDojo is an app that connects teachers with students and parents.

The Class Dojo app focuses on younger children of primary school age.

Creating a positive culture by working hard, being kind, or just helping others, Class Dojo is brilliant at fostering or strengthening new behaviors.

Teachers can also keep parents in the loop by communicating the story of their classrooms by instantly sharing photos, videos, and announcements or by privately messaging with any parent.

And Class Dojo will always be free for teachers.

17. Knowre

Knowre is an online math program platform that supports the needs of all students with a personalized online math curriculum for each student, instructional support at every step, and an intuitive online math interface.

Comics are used for grades six and above to introduce lessons and provide a fun visual learning experience.

Knowre Math provides standards-based instruction for Grades 1-12 with over 70,000 rigorous practice and real-world application problems organized into topic-specific lessons.

18. Minecraft: Education Edition

Minecraft: Education Edition is a gamification tool based on the award-winning video game Minecraft.

The Minecraft: Education Edition offers features designed for teaching, pre-built lessons, and cross-curricular support.

Meeting children where they are by incorporating a gaming platform that kids are excited about and have brand loyalty with possesses the keys to unlocking the education process in a new, refreshing, and exciting way.

19. CodeCombat

CodeCombat is a video game platform that teaches students how to code through play.

With CodeCombat's unique gamification software, students learn to play and write code from the start of their adventure in the game.

CodeCombat focuses on beginners learning Python, Javascript, and C++ programming languages.

Teaching over 20 million students Computer Science, CodeCombat teaches students to be critical, confident, and creative learners regardless of experience.

20. Monster Kit

Monster Kit is a board game aimed at primary school children allowing 1 to 10 players.

It allows you to practice creative skills by utilizing drawing, reading, writing, doing calculations, and fostering imagination by developing funny monsters.

21. GooseChase

GooseChase is gamification software that allows you to run real-world scavenger hunts.

There are multiple ways to use Goose Chase; virtual teams, recreation, onboarding, campus orientation, and K-12 education.

In addition, Goose Chase offers real-time game action that includes a live leaderboard and activity feed, reward points for outstanding submissions, and a reporting dashboard analytics to measure success.

22. Pear Deck

Pear Deck is a way to create interactive presentations in the classroom or remotely.

Pear Deck seamlessly integrates with Google or Microsoft-based systems, so there is no need to learn a new system.

Students can interactively respond to questions in real-time that allows teachers to communicate feedback immediately.

These responses can take the form of dragging and dropping pins, drawings, multiple-choice, short text, giving students a website, and providing a numbers-only reaction.

23. Quizizz

Quizizz is an online app that allows teachers to quiz and test students in the classroom interactively or at home.

Quizizz offers gamified quizzes, polls, and lessons that can be led by a presenter or self-paced.

Students can join from any device with a web browser and use their iPhone and Android Apps.

Teachers know instantly what's working and what's not with real-time reporting and key performance indicators (KPI).

24. Socrative

Socrative is a gaming app that offers everything from quizzes to polls and is 100% free to all students.

Offering three customizable game modes called "space race" aimed at accuracy and speed, your typical question and answer mode, and "Exit Ticket" aimed at assessing how well lessons create a learning experience.

You can use Socrative on smartphones, tablets, laptops, and computers.

25. PlayBrighter

PlayBrighter allows you to set your students on missions to complete specific learning objectives in a gamified manner.

From spelling to science, French vocabulary, to the Fibonacci sequence, the games employ over 15,000 possible questions you could ask and gives you the ability to add your questions.

Utilizing avatars, students can add personas to their learning experience to accomplish learning objectives making the game more interesting.

26. Toovari

Toovari is a multi-player platform created and developed in Spain.

It allows you to create a class where you can invite students and test their knowledge via game mechanics.

Toovari also includes assessments and communication with parents providing a robust environment that capitalizes on the latest technologies.

27. Quizlet

Quizlet is a multi-national American company offering digital flashcards, matching games, electronic practice assessments, and live quizzes similar to Kahoot!.

Available in English, German, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Polish, Russian, French, Indonesian, Dutch, Italian, Turkish, Vietnamese, and more.

It is an excellent study aid for anything that requires memorization in a fun, gamified manner.

28. Trivenet

Trivenet is a free online trivia game created by a teacher to gamify the learning process.

In addition, it allows you to set up your own trivia game, allowing students to engage with your specific learning objectives.

And lastly, Trivenet is now available in a downloadable app for android platforms.

29. Breakout EDU

Breakout EDU offers 1,800 kit-based digital games that span every grade level.

Games are available for core subjects like Math, Science, History, and general topics such as holidays, team building, and more.

Through Breakout EDU's puzzle-based game design, students' critical thinking and creativity are put to the test as teams explore clues to create the perfect lock combinations to solve the puzzles.

Gamified to Win

Nothing gets your student's attention and engagement better than a game.

And when tasked with teaching student-specific learning objectives, you must compete to get their attention.

Having the tools to gamify and shape a student's virtual training experience can be an art form.

Fortunately, gamification tools and their advanced technologies now give teachers and instructors an upper hand.

So go out and PLAY!!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
29 Gamification Tools to Jazz Up Your Learners in 2024! 🎮

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Looking for some great gamification tools to level up your instructor skills? We've got more than 25 gamification tools your students will love!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Hi, I'm Matt Miller. I love supporting teachers and saving them time. I'm all about deep, meaningful, FUN learning.

More than 100,000 educators worldwide get my best teaching ideas in my FREE email newsletter.

PS: Subscribe and get six FREE ebooks full of ideas to help you plan for class tomorrow.

About Ditch That Textbook

We can do better than marching
chapter by chapter through a textbook.

In his own classes, Matt Miller found that textbooks were more an obstacle to learning than a help. He ditched them. For years, he's learned what works better than traditional "textbook" teaching and shared those ideas widely. His workshops and keynote speeches empower, entertain and inspire teachers to move forward confidently.

New Teaching Ideas Every Week

Get a weekly dose of tips, tricks, templates and more in your inbox -- practical ideas you can use in your class right away.

Weekly emails with LOTS of ideas Plus three FREE ebooks

101 Practical Ways to Ditch That Textbook

101 Ways to Ditch That Textbook with G Suite

AND 50 Free Templates for teachers

Google ideas to make your classroom click

Create amazing, unforgettable learning experiences.

When your students use Docs, Slides, Sheets and more in G Suite, they can do so much more than write an essay or do an oral report.

But how?

Coming up with creative classroom activities with Google tools is our jam. Learn how your students can create ...

* stop-motion animation
* infographics
* digital interactive notebooks
* and more.
Check out our FREE resources, including downloadable templates!

What People Are Saying ...

The lessons are our way to change the world through our students! 🙌Thanks for all the resources @jmattmiller #Interface2019https://t.co/SxUXoWPfgr

Level Up Your Skills

Bring teaching into today's age with these practical ideas, mindset shifts and curriculum adjustments.

Make the Most of Your Class Technology

Want to make sure you're using your technology meaningfully? That you'll get results? This video series will give you some insight.

Take the Tech to Learn Online Course

Learn how to move the needle for learning with tech. With these six areas, you'll see results from your tech use.

©2023 Ditch That Textbook by Matt Miller.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Ditch That Textbook offers technology for teachers that allows them to revolutionize their classrooms. With these educational technology tools, teachers can embrace classroom innovation & creativity.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Understanding Place-Based Education: Strategies and Benefits - Education Corner

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Place-based education is a student-centered form of learning that heavily emphasizes inquiry into topics of importance in the community.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
An excerpt from What is Place-Based Education and Why Does it Matter by Getting Smart in partnership with eduInnovation and Teton Science Schools

Here at Teton Science Schools, we talk about and experience the power of place on a daily basis. Whether it's welcoming leaders in our community into our Independent School classrooms, watercoloring aside a glacial lake at the base of the Tetons or venturing outside the classroom walls with teachers in St. Louis, place is at the heart of how we approach every learning experience - it's why our approach to education is called place-based education .

Over the years, alongside some of our valued partners , we've learned a few things about place-based education and how "the approach can serve as a framework to connect learning models, increase the power of our educational system and serve as a foundation for a thriving democracy." So we're breaking it down for you, step-by-step.

Let's get started.

What is Place-Based Education?

If you're reading this, you've likely had a first introduction to place-based education - maybe it was through a program you attended alongside students, maybe it was as part of a continuing education workshop, maybe it was during a breakout session at a national educational conference or maybe your school is just getting started as a place-based school. Whatever the reason, the premise of using the entire world as your classroom can have even the best of us feeling equal parts inspired and intimidated.

No need to worry though - place-based education can look completely different from school to school and place to place. There's no one right way to do it and that's the beauty of it.
Here are 3 things to know about place-based education:
It's nothing new

In his essay on the history of place-based learning, Gregory Smith writes:

"This approach, with its focus on the incorporation of local knowledge, skills and issues into the curriculum, involves an effort to restore learning experiences that were once the basis of children's acculturation and socialization prior to the invention of formal schools."

Before formal education, "the great majority of children learned within the context of their families, neighborhoods and communities as they watched, listened to and imitated adults, explored the natural and human-made world and interacted with one another" ( Smith, 2016 ).

While the approach widely diminished with the rise of industrialization and standardization in the 20th century, it is once again emerging as a promising approach "to help students find purpose and develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions to thrive as adults" ( McClennen, 2019 ).
2. It connects learners to their communities and the world around them
Place-based education is designed to connect what students are taught in school to real-world challenges, opportunities and connections; learning experiences match the complexities of real life and are taught through an integrated, interdisciplinary and frequently project-based approach where all learners are accountable and challenged. Students work towards the production of "high quality products and performances... modeled after real-world formats, guided by professional models and created for an audience beyond the classroom" ( source ) - celebrations of learning that impact communities for the better.
3. It's anytime, anywhere learning
It's never been easier to learn anything - anytime, anywhere. Provided an internet connection, powerful learning experiences are at the fingertips of just about anyone with a device. And it's not unusual to hear the phrase "anytime, anywhere learning" applied to such "wifi-enabled" scenarios. What's unfortunate is that in reducing these "anytime, anywhere learning" experiences to those enabled by technology, we fail to fully acknowledge their vast potential beyond the screen.

Place-based learning can truly happen anytime, anywhere - in cities, in rural towns, in parks, virtually, in classrooms, in museums and even, in our own backyards. What matters is that the experience leverages the power of place to personalize learning and "equip students with the tools and skills they need - through authentic experiences - to collaborate, think critically and solve complex challenges" ( source ).

Place-based education enables personalized learning by:

Giving students "voice and choice" in determining what, how, when and where they learn

Tailoring learning to each student's strengths, needs and interests

Ensuring mastery of high academic standards

Promoting student agency

Why is place-based education beneficial?

Under the umbrella of place-based education, learning can take many forms - from informal to formal, from out-of-school individual and family experiences to teacher-led or classroom based activities, and from one lesson experiences to fully-designed place-based education programs - the benefits of which, can impact everyone including students, teachers, families, communities and society as a whole.

Overall, the primary goals of place-based education are to increase student engagement, boost academic outcomes, impact communities and promote an understanding of the world around us. Beyond these goals, other benefits include:

Learning is grounded in local communities and contexts

Learning experiences are student-centered and personalized

Learning is relevant and engaging

Social-emotional learning can be a priority

Instruction can be interdisciplinary

Lessons can be inquiry-based

Students can be challenged to see the world through ecological, political, economic and social lenses

Students can have more agency and autonomy - boosting motivation and persistence

Design-thinking can be encouraged

Students can meet deeper learning outcomes

Students gain a better appreciation and understanding of the world around them

Getting Started

Now that you've got a firm basis on what place-based education is and why it's beneficial, it's time to get practical. Here are three first steps in getting started with place-based education.

Know where to start

There are just as many ways to implement place-based education as there are places in which to implement it. Rather than being overwhelmed by the possibilities, it can be useful to think about getting started in two ways:

Example: Students examine electric bill for the school during different seasons. Through observations of behavior and interviews (inquiry), they determine that electricity use is higher during the winter due to the use of electric heaters. Students design and install door insulators to reduce heat loss after experimenting with various ways to insulate.

Example: Students notice the frequency in which blackouts are occurring at school and ask the driving question: "Why are blackouts happening at school?" (inquiry). Teacher delivers a lecture on power and work. Students interview a power company employee and take a field trip to tour the local power station. Students design solutions and write to the local power company (interdisciplinary).
2. Get familiar with the place-based education design principles
At the heart of every place-based activity, project or full-blown unit lies six place-based learning design principles. Knowing what they are and how they inform the development of place-based learning is a key first step in designing your first place-based learning experience. We've even provided project examples for each principle!

Local to Global Context: Local learning serves as a model for understanding global challenges, opportunities and connections.

Learner-Centered: Learning is personally relevant to students and enables student agency.

Inquiry-Based: Learning is grounded in observing, asking relevant questions, making predictions, and collecting data to understand the economic, ecological, and socio-political world.

Design Thinking: Design thinking provides a systematic approach for students to make meaningful impact in communities through the curriculum.

Community as Classroom: Communities serve as learning ecosystems for schools where local and regional experts, experiences and places are part of the expanded definition of a classroom.

Interdisciplinary Approach: The curriculum matches the real world where the traditional subject area content, skills and dispositions are taught through an integrated, interdisciplinary and frequently project-based approach where all learners are accountable and challenged.
3. Just start
Like with any change we make in our everyday lives, preparing to make the change is often the easier part of starting than the actual starting. But alas, the time always comes to put our fears aside, rip the bandaid off, and just give it a go. Our biggest advice: start small.

Looking for more? Founder and President of CraftED Curriculum, Jennifer Pieratt, offers some great advice in her article, Five Tips for Testing the Place-Based Education Waters.

Build your Place-Based Education Community

Community is what place-based education is all about. Not only can it become the basis for student inquiry and real-world problem solving, but it can also become the backbone that keeps you motivated, pushes you in taking the next step and celebrates all of the hard work you're putting in for your students, your school and, of course, your community itself.
Here are three ways to start building your place-based education community:
Create Local Partnerships

One of the biggest questions you'll likely find yourself asking as you and your students design your place-based projects is: "Where or who in the community could help bring this unit/project to life?" While the initial process of reaching out those organizations or individuals can be quite time consuming, the end product - your community partner database - will be extremely valuable to your place-based endeavors in the future. Seek out parent volunteers, create an email templates and get your students involved in the process!
2. Participate in Place-Based Professional Development
Connecting with members of your own community is one thing, but what about connecting with those that are working through their own versions of place-based education implementation? Chances are the questions, fears or yearnings for something more you're experiencing as you work to incorporate place-based principles into your curriculum are being had by someone else. Registering for a workshop or course is a great way to connect with other place-based education professionals. Better yet, find one that is taught using place-based practices!
3. Join a Place-Base School Network
What's better than having a go-to group of educators to turn to in your place-based education endeavors? For us, it's having a network of place-based focused schools all across the country. Networks like Place Network are working with administrators, teachers and students in rural communities all over the country to not only implement place-based education in their schools, but form connections between the schools to share best practices, learnings, challenges and wins along each school's journey.

Resources for Place-Based Education

Looking for more? We've put together a list of great resources to take your place-based education knowledge even further.
Articles Books Talks
Whitepapers by Getting Smart in partnership with eduInnovation and Teton Science Schools
Websites Centers & Institutes

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Getting Started With Place-Based Education, Step-by-Step

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An excerpt from What is Place-Based Education and Why Does it Matter by Getting Smart in partnership with eduInnovation and Teton Science Schools Here at Teton Science Schools, we talk about and...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Using Place-Based Learning to Spark Inquiry

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Projects like mapmaking can ignite students’ curiosity and help them connect with their communities.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
TASK Home | Teacher Ambassadors Sharing Knowledge

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center in Alaska

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Alaska Native heritage is woven from the beliefs, values, knowledge and arts of the Iñupiaq, Athabascan, St. Lawrence Island Yupik, Yup’ik, Unangax, Sugp…