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Quick List for Teachers Looking to Engage

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Quick List for Teachers Looking to Engage

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This resource explores the impact of novel stimuli on student attention, comprehension, and learning outcomes. Educators gain insights into innovative strategies for infusing excitement into lessons and creating dynamic learning environments. By embracing the potential of novelty, teachers can elevate engagement and invigorate learning experiences. Enhancing pedagogical practice through the strategic implementation of novelty becomes achievable with the guidance provided in this resource.

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Alive Studios | Supplemental Reading and Math Programs for Early Education

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"... I encourage you to explore the various ways you can activate your students' reward centers in their brains and flood them with dopamine." ~ Chris Dunkel

Chris Dunkel
Education Sales Consultant

I LOVE brain science! I have always been intrigued by the way things work, especially things pertaining to memory and our brains. Unfortunately, in the past you couldn't just cut open a skull and start poking around without killing your subject, so brain science was an after-death pursuit. With the advances in computing and brain imaging technology like MRI and PET machines, now scientists can study a live brain, its growth, and which parts are working when we do different tasks. It's amazing to think that we've learned more about the brain in the past 20 years than in the entire history of humankind!

As a teacher, understanding the way our students' brains work can go a long way in helping us teach them, as well as help us keep our own sanity. I taught for 17 years, many of those years teaching junior high students with their pubescent, hormone-filled brains. When one of my freshmen would do something that made me wonder, "Does he even have a brain at all?" I knew that in fact he did, but it just wasn't fully developed yet. His prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that helps with decision-making and considering consequences, wouldn't finish developing for many more years, so him acting impulsively was natural. By understanding how the brain works, it increased my patience and led to more "bless their hearts" moments than me simply wanting to wring their necks.

As importantly, understanding brain science helped me to teach my students more effectively. I learned the value of using multiple modalities (seeing, hearing, touching, doing, etc.) to help my students build varying pathways to their newfound knowledge. Teaching content in shorter segments with multiple transitions between them allowed my students' brains to focus more intensely for short periods of time, something they would have struggled with if having to sit through a longer lecture. Adding physical movement to the activity or having transitions that required the students to get up and move increased blood flow and oxygen to their brains, helping to keep their brains operating at peak performance. While the list goes on, one of the favorite things I learned from brain science is the power of novelty, as it's so easy to implement.

The idea of novelty in the classroom is to simply change the experience and routine from the norm. This is not to say that you should avoid routines, as routines give our students structure and can ease anxiety. However, seek ways to tweak the routines, because our brains are wired to seek and remember new experiences. Think about your own past. What days in school do you remember? Do you remember the lessons that were commonplace or the ones where the teacher did something different or unexpected? Maybe it was a field trip. Maybe the teacher dressed up in a costume. Maybe it was the day you dissected a frog in biology class. Whatever you remember, it was likely because that day was unlike the rest. As a book I once read on increasing memory noted, "The brain hates boring!" so it tends to forget those experiences (unless it was exceptionally boring, in which case the extreme level of boring made it memorable).

When we experience something for the first time or in a new way, our brains receive a burst of dopamine, often referred to as the "happy hormone" because it is a primary part of our brain's reward system. In a study published in the journal Neuron (for those keeping score at home, the study title is Absolute Coding of Stimulus Novelty in the Human Substantia Nigra/VTA), UK neurologists presented subjects with neutral images of landscapes, faces, etc. (basically commonplace and boring) while occasionally inserting an "oddball" image that was unusual and out of the ordinary. When these novel images were presented, the participants' reward centers of their brains were activated and were flooded with dopamine. Without actively seeking a new or unusual situation on their own, the participants were still rewarded by their brains for simply experiencing something new. As educators, we can activate and reward our students' brains by giving them new experiences as well.

While the study revealed the impact of novelty within our brains, it is something you probably already knew at a personal or subconscious level. Think about your own life and the things you enjoy. Do you like to go on vacation? Do you like to shop? Do you like to read new books, go to movies, or seek new shows to watch on TV? Likely you said yes to at least a few of these, which is all evidence of the brain science of novelty. You enjoy these things because they are new and different, and your brain rewards you for experiencing them. If we humans were truly content with routine, we wouldn't have a desire to do these things. We'd be happy staying at home, eating the same food every night, reading the same book over-and-over, and wearing the same clothes daily. While there are a few people who might fit this description to some degree, the majority seek novelty and their brains reward them for it. This desire to seek new experiences is what has led us to innovation, exploration, is the driving force behind capitalism, and has allowed us to increase our capacity to learn.

For teachers, understanding the physical actions that are happening in the brains of our students when we introduce novelty can make our teaching so much more effective. Besides elevating the mood of our students (happy students are often better students), the dopamine rush helps to improve their ability to focus and learn. Perhaps best of all, their brains are rewarded for the experience, thus making learning more fun and something they want to continue to do.

Now that we understand the importance of novelty, how do we implement it in our classrooms? Below are some of my favorite ways to add novelty, as these are easy to do without any seismic shifts to your teaching style. The strategies have come from some of the amazing teachers I have been able to observe or learn from, like Adam Peterson of Adam Peterson Education, Hilary Statum of Pencils to Pigtails, and "Mr. Greg" Smedley-Warren of The Kindergarten Smorgasboard, were ones I used in my own classroom or observed from my colleagues. While these are some of my favorites, I encourage you to explore online for many other ways to add novelty to your classroom.
MY FAVORITE WAYS TO ADD NOVELTY TO THE CLASSROOM:
Change the Seating. While most classrooms consist of desks, chairs, and tables, it doesn't mean that you must use them in traditional ways every day. To mix it up, rearrange the seating in a new pattern. Turn your rows into a circle. Put your desks or tables into clusters. If you're teaching a specific letter or number that day (like the letter "C" or the number "3"), perhaps arrange the tables or desks in that shape. You might consider moving the seats against the wall and sit on the floor for part of the day. (You would be surprised how much my freshmen loved sitting on the floor for lessons.) While visiting Mr. Greg's classroom, I noticed that his kindergarteners had areas with some sitting on a Rugs alive classroom rug on the floor, some sitting on a raised platform, and one with a special seat atop a mini-trampoline in the middle of the rug. The kids can sit wherever they like, though he does rotate the high-demand areas (like the platform, stage, and mini-trampoline) daily to give everyone a turn. By giving seating options outside the traditional desk or chair, Mr. Greg keeps things fresh and novel.

Find Alternatives to Traditional Paper and Pencil When Possible. Granted, having students complete traditional worksheets is great for ease of distribution and assessment, but students do it so often that it becomes routine and boring. To mix it up, find unusual ways for students to write their work. Sometimes I would have my students use sticky notes for their answers that they put in various areas of the room, thus requiring them to get up and move, which also increased blood flow to the brain. This was great when I had open-ended questions. I would put the questions around the room, and the students would do a "Gallery Walk" where they moved about the room as if in an art gallery, leaving their answers next to each question. For the little ones, you could have letters around the room and the kids could write or draw something to match the letter, putting their sticky notes next to the letter. Sticky notes are cheap (usually we had several donated to us every year), and the kids loved having their little notepads with them rather than carrying a big sheet of paper.

Adam has a great strategy called "Back Writing" where he has his kids sit in a circle facing their neighbor's back. Using their finger, they practice writing on their neighbor's back instead of a traditional surface. I particularly love this strategy, as the students are both writing with their fingers and feeling the letter being written on their backs, activating two different areas of the brain to create multiple memory pathways.

Hilary offers two strategies that I adore. Sometimes she'll flip her tables upside down and wrap the legs with paper or plastic wrap, giving the students a different surface on which to write. She'll also clean her tables with shaving cream, allowing her students to practice writing in the shaving cream before wiping them clean. Giving your students a new memorable experience and getting cleaner tables in the process...it doesn't get much better than that!

Change Where the Presenter Presents. Whether you are teaching or have a student sharing to the class, mix it up from your normal location. When I taught history in a classroom full of tables, rather than present from the front of the room by my projector screen, I would occasionally jump on a table and teach. Not only did I capture their attention immediately, but they also hung on every word, as they were not used to seeing me teach from up there.

Hilary uses this idea but with her students who are presenting, allowing them to stand on a chair or table as long as she is there to assist them. She will occasionally bring out her rolling chair, allowing her presenter to sit in her "special" chair. I was always surprised with how this simple strategy even worked with my freshmen, as it seems that all ages are enthralled with sitting in the teacher's chair.

When observing Mr. Greg's class, I loved how often he would change the direction of his audience during a lesson. One moment he might be at a board on the side of the room, then the next moment he was in a different spot, causing them to have to turn and focus on a new area. Instead of being anchored to a fixed position like a desk or screen, he moved a lot which caused his kids' brains to stay active and follow his movements.

Wear Costumes and Hats. Kids love to dress up, and they love it when you dress up, too. There's something special about seeing their teachers out of their traditional, buttoned-up attire, so when you do it, they remember it. When I taught history, I had a collection of costumes like a Roman Centurion, Viking, Shakespearean Lord, and more that I would wear with much fanfare and adoration from my students. Mr. Greg and Hilary both share in this love for costumes, as they often don a costume or a relevant hat to bring a little extra to their lessons. Peruse their blogs and you'll see some fabulous pictures of them dressed up to engage their kids. Likely, you already have a few costumes and hats from Halloween parties or a few materials around the house that you can construct into a cheap costume. It doesn't have to be expensive, just different. (Pinterest is a great place to get ideas for easy-to-make costumes.)

Dressing up is a terrific way to introduce novelty, though having the kids dress up can be even more impactful. While visiting Mr. Greg, he was teaching a lesson on the connection between Q and U in the English language. To illustrate this point in a memorable way, he told the kids earlier that they would be attending a wedding between Q and U and encouraged the parents to let them dress up for the momentous event. It was so cute to see his kids in dresses and bow ties, but more importantly they were learning literacy in a fun way while also gaining some cultural skills about attending a wedding.

While trying to dress up a whole class of kids may seem daunting, Adam is the master of doing it on the cheap. To really get his kids engaged with a science lesson, Adam bought a pack of white t-shirts from the clearance section and with a few strokes of a marker he made them look like science lab coats for his students. They loved being scientists for the day, and he was able to use the "lab coats" repeatedly with their science experiments throughout the year.

Get Out of the Classroom. While money and the pandemic have limited field trips, that doesn't mean that you can't take a mini field trip in your school. Just getting your kids out of their normal space will do wonders to activate their brains in a novel way. For one of my lessons on exploration, my students and I made flags of European powers and dressed up before venturing throughout the school conquering other classrooms. (I prearranged our conquests with my colleagues beforehand.) Our day spent bursting into other classes and claiming their room in the name of Spain, England, etc. was one the highlights of their year and is often mentioned by my former students who visit me years later.

Consider the various places in your school where you might be able to go for a lesson. I've had colleagues who have taken students outside, to the cafeteria, to an empty conference room, to the auditorium, to the library, to the roof (though I wouldn't recommend that with the little ones), or just switched classrooms with a colleague for a period or the day. Just getting your students in a new environment will still trigger the dopamine release and the benefits it brings.

Play! Finding ways to incorporate play into your students' day not only adds novelty to their learning but is great for building relationships and a sense of belonging. Adam details many of the wonderful benefits of play in his book, Teach. Play. Learn! ( available on Amazon), which is a must read for anyone seeking to engage students and bring joy to their classroom.

An easy strategy for adding a sense of play is to have a dance party. In the drama classes I taught, we had a daily warm-up activity called "Whoosh!" that got the kids moving and served as a physical and vocal warmup. While "Whoosh!" has a set of commands that everyone must act upon, we added "Dance Party!" to the mix, giving my students the ability to initiate a mini-dance party at any time. Our 5-to-10 second dance breaks would always elicit laughter as we tried to come up with new and goofy dance moves, flooding our brains with dopamine every time.

Mr. Greg takes dancing to another level, ending each day with a dance party complete with thumping music and flashing lights. While the dance party is part of his end-of-day routine, he makes it unique by adding in some new music and dancing with the kids. What a terrific way to end the day with his students' brains gushing those happy hormones as they leave, eager to return for another fun day in his class!

Conclusion
Again, the above are just a few of the many ways you can mix up your routines and add some novelty to your class. There are a wealth of tips and strategies online for adding novelty, and I encourage you to explore the various ways you can activate your students' reward centers of their brains and flood them with dopamine. And when you find some new strategies, your brain will reward you, too, for the new things you learned!

Looking to Bring Even More Novelty to Your Classroom?
Be sure to check out Alive Studio Zoo's award-winning products that bring 26 zoo animals to life through augmented reality. With our patented technology, you can teach foundational literacy and math skills while creating an experience unlike anything your students have ever seen. It's why district admin and superintendents tell us they "were blown away by the technology," "had never seen anything like it," and call it "the best purchase we've ever made for Early Elementary!" To learn more, check out our short, 2-minute "Wow!" video.

About Chris Dunkel
Chris is a former educator of 17 years, endorsed in History, Theatre, Broadcasting, Graphic Design, Business Education, and Business Technology. Recognized as Teacher of the Year for his school and district, the regional NBC affiliate's Teacher of the Week, and highlighted by actor and former ESPN personality Roy Firestone as a Teacher Making a Difference, Chris continues to seek innovative ways to help students learn. He is currently championing this cause with Alive Studios Zoo, bringing innovative literacy and math instruction to early learners to build solid educational foundations for their continued academic success.

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The Brain Science of Novelty: Practical Strategies You Can Easily Implement In Your Classroom - Alive Studios | Supplemental Reading and Math Programs for Early Education

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"... I encourage you to explore the various ways you can activate your students' reward centers in their brains and flood them with dopamine." ~ Chris Dunkel Chris Dunkel Education Sales Consultant I LOVE brain science! I have always been intrigued by the way things work, especially things pertaining to memory and our brains.

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Boosting Learning with Creative Classroom Innovations

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Boosting Learning with Creative Classroom Innovations

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This resource presents evidence-based methodologies and techniques for leveraging lighting conditions to enhance student attention, emotional state, and academic performance. Educators gain insights into crafting well-illuminated classrooms that promote engagement and pedagogical effectiveness. By embracing strategic lighting design interventions, teachers understand how intentional adjustments can dynamically shape learning spaces to cultivate enriched educational experiences and bolster student performance.

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Sponsored by PearDeck.

There's a scene in the movie Dead Poets Society-if you've never seen it, just know that it's a classic teaching movie and you absolutely should-where Robin Williams' character Mr. Keating has his students line up on a soccer field and take turns reciting lines from Walt Whitman's poem A Song of Joys. It's one of many times in the movie when Keating does something in the classroom that might be written off as mere eccentricity, like standing on desks or tearing pages out of books. But looking at it from a pedagogical standpoint, what he's doing is using novelty as an instructional device, and it's backed by solid research. Any time you add some kind of novelty to a learning experience-some new or different ingredient than what's expected-you are making it more likely that your students will remember the thing they were supposed to learn from that lesson, even if the novel ingredient has nothing to do with the learning target.

Here's a simple explanation of how this works in the brain: The hippocampus is the part of your brain responsible for learning and memory. When you encounter some kind of novel stimulus, dopamine is released in the hippocampus, which helps make that part of the brain more "plastic" and ready to form new synapses (see list of references at the end).

So this is just another thing you can add to your bag of tricks if it isn't there already. If you want to boost learning in a lesson, add a little bit of novelty to make it memorable.

Here are a couple of ways you can change things up to add novelty...

Location: Stand in a different part of your classroom, on top of a chair, have students come out to the hallway, hold a lesson in the cafeteria, out on the playground, under a tree. Change the lighting in your classroom. Move all the desks to the perimeter.

Messenger: Have a student deliver part of your lesson, invite a guest speaker in, ask another teacher to join your class for a brief demonstration, or put students into pairs or groups for part of the lesson (while this isn't all that novel an idea, the experience of working on a lesson with a peer can still offer more novelty than all teacher-directed instruction).

Music: Play a particular piece of music throughout a lesson or in the background. If you can connect the lyrics to the lesson, even better.

Movement: Invent gestures to go along with concepts or vocabulary words from the lesson and have students do the gesture regularly.

Costumes: Show up with a weird hat, an unusual pair of glasses, or attention-getting shoes on the day when you'll be teaching a particular topic.

Stories: Tell an interesting, embarrassing, sad, or funny story to tie into the lesson.

Food: Bring some kind of snack-think everyone finds a single goldfish cracker on their desk-that might somehow connect to the lesson.

If you're doing this right, you should see the novel thing working to jar students' memories. You might hear students say something like, "Oh yeah, that was the thing you taught us that one day when we sat in the hall," or "Wait that was when Ms. Thomsen came in and read that thing to us!" They'll make these little connections and be just a little bit better at pulling the stuff they learned out of long-term memory.
Research on Novelty and Learning
Fenker, D., & Schütze, H. (2008, December 17). Learning By Surprise. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/learning-by-surprise/

Hicklin, T. (2016, September 20). How novelty boosts memory retention. National Institutes of Health (NIH). https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-novelty-boosts-memory-retention

Hitti, M. (2006, August 2). Novelty May Boost Memory, Learning. WebMD. https://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20060802/novelty-may-boost-memory-learning

VIB (the Flanders Institute for Biotechnology). (2020, February 5). Novelty speeds up learning thanks to dopamine activation. ScienceDaily. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/02/200205132255.htm

See all EduTips here.

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EduTip 13: Add novelty to boost learning.

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Sponsored by PearDeck . There's a scene in the movie Dead Poets Society-if you've never seen it, just know that it's a classic teaching movie and you absolutely should-where Robin Williams' character Mr. Keating has his students line up on a soccer field and take turns reciting lines from Walt Whitman's poem A Song of ...

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The resource "10 Creative Ways to Better Engage Your Students" from Harvard Business Publishing offers a concise guide to innovative strategies for enhancing student engagement in the classroom. It presents practical techniques such as gamification, flipped classrooms, and interactive technology integration. These approaches are designed to invigorate teaching methodologies and promote active student participation, ultimately leading to more dynamic and enriching learning experiences. Practicing teachers can benefit from this resource by gaining fresh insights into effective engagement strategies, empowering them to create vibrant and interactive classroom environments that foster deeper student learning and motivation.

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Starting out as a young adjunct instructor, I can painfully recall reading my lesson notes from index cards as my students sat passively with blank stares. Fortunately that didn't last long, thanks to a mentor observing my class. But I doubt my experience was much different from that of other emerging educators. After all, I had modeled these ineffective teaching practices after my own experiences as a university student.

Today, however, there has been a huge push in higher education to move beyond these passive methods of instruction that lead to less student engagement and low motivation. As Jennifer Stanchfield discovered, "More is learned through exploring and struggling than by being provided the answer."

It's harder than ever these days to keep our students' attention. But I have improved my approach over the past 30 years based on the simple belief that telling is not teaching. Because of this, I am continually exploring interesting and creative ways to engage my students.

I have identified some outstanding techniques, which I will share here, that have helped to enhance my students' engagement and motivation for learning. Many of these strategies have come from the book Total Participation Techniques: Making Every Student an Active Learner by Himmele and Himmele, which has truly transformed my teaching. So let's get started on transforming yours.

10 Engagement Strategies to Energize and Motivate Your Students

Before we break down specific strategies you can use to enhance participation, it's important to understand that there are five different types of engagement: social, behavioral, emotional, intellectual, and physical. As teachers, we may organically hit two or three of these engagement types, but some we are likely to miss, especially if we're not aware of them. I've struggled with ideas for how to get my students physically engaged, for example.

Below, I've categorized my top engagement strategies by these types to help you address all five. They have been designed for use in university classes and can easily be adapted for any area of study.

Social Engagement: Creating Connections with Students Through Collaboration and Sharing

Social engagement involves social interactions. The key to having effective social engagement is to help students get to know and trust you and other students early in the semester. The following strategies are designed to allow students to make these important connections as they help build a collaborative learning environment of support and trust.

1. Getting to Know You

Prior to the start of a new semester, I email my students a survey to learn more about their interests and preferences. Here are the key questions I ask:

What are your career goals?

How do you learn best?

Share five facts about yourself that will help me get to know you and best meet your needs.

What are your three favorite songs or musicians?

Is there anything else you would like to share that will help me better support your learning?

I also prepare a PowerPoint presentation that I use to introduce myself on the first day of class. I share personal and professional stories and family photos with the hope that my students will feel more connected to me and thus more motivated to open up themselves. I also love sharing stories about my latest connections to the country music stars I meet in Nashville (like that time I got a huge hug from Chris Janson in church).

I then have my students create name tents: They display their names on large, folded index cards to quickly familiarize the class. I also have them use this card to draw or write brief ideas about their interests, which form the basis for how they introduce themselves to their peers.

2. Find Someone Who . . .

I plan first-day-of-class activities that give students simple opportunities to get to know one another in a light-hearted way. For one such activity, I create a template with a nine-space grid in which various criteria are listed. Students must find a different person in the class who meets the criteria listed in each grid space (see Figure 1). For example, "Find someone who is an early riser."

As they circulate around the room, they must find someone for each grid space and fill in that person's name. This activity serves as a great icebreaker and helps students learn each other's names, which is important for helping them feel connected to their peers.

Behavioral Engagement: Establishing Rules, Routines, and Roles

Behavioral engagement deals with routines and behaviors that help promote learning. It is important to teach the routines and behaviors that you want your students to use to improve the quality of peer discussions and the efficiency of class activities. These strategies also help to create a sense of security as students know what to expect from you.

For example, before my students can enter the classroom, I have them wait until I open the door, as I want to be sure I have the room prepared for the day's activities. They also know that I will have a daily prompt posted for them to discuss with their peers as they arrive, which is designed to engage them in the lesson topic of the day.

Here are some other strategies for behavioral engagement.

3. Bounce Cards

With the "Bounce Card" strategy, I provide a card for each student that lists key questions or prompts I want them to discuss with a partner or small group. The questions can be generic so that the card can be used to discuss any topic. (For example, "Rephrase what your partner just said," or, "That's a great point because . . .") The questions are designed to help students strengthen their listening skills and deepen their conversations. The prompts require students to extend, rephrase, and ask follow-up questions to their bounce partners, rather than just give a simple answer.

For example, if I ask students to discuss a video clip, they might just say whether they liked it. But using a Bounce Card forces them to dig deeper. You can adapt the questions on the card to suit your educational purposes, but for the students who struggle with conversational skills, this can be a great template for helping them develop more thoughtful responses.

4. The Lecture T-Chart

You may have noticed that sometimes as students take notes, they don't seem to really be processing what they are learning. The "Lecture T-Chart" consists of a simple template where students record their notes on the left side of a page. Periodically throughout my lecture, I pause and have them use their own words to summarize the key ideas I've just presented, which they write on the right side of the template.

This pause-review-summarize process helps to strengthen comprehension and can be extended by having students share their summaries with others to further process the information through social engagement.

Emotional Engagement: Facilitating Joy, Connection, and Memories

Emotional engagement entails creating safe, positive learning experiences for everyone involved. Students will not be open to sharing their thoughts and responses in class if they feel they will be mocked or disrespected by their professor or peers.

One of the ways I create emotional connection is through music. I'll start each class playing a different student's favorite song or music video (based on what they told me in that initial survey). They love it and appreciate that I actually read their responses.

Here are some other strategies to emotionally engage your students.

5. The Ripple Method

Himmele and Himmele propose the use of the ripple method: Instead of just calling on students who raise their hand, you "ripple" your questions by first having each student respond individually to the prompt (either in their mind or in writing). They then share their responses with one to three peers before you open up the floor to volunteers willing to share with the whole class. This process ensures that every student has time to think of a response.

For example, I use the ripple method when I ask my students each week to share an "aha moment" from their clinical experiences. This relieves pressure for those students who are less motivated to engage in discussion. The students soon realize that their experiences are just as valid as everyone else's and that we are all in this together. They also realize that some of their perceived failures in the field become some of their most precious learning experiences.

Intellectual Engagement: Promoting Choice, Challenge, and Curiosity

Intellectual engagement involves curiosity and meaningful explorations. Whenever possible, give students choices in terms of tasks, topics, and strategies for demonstrating their learning. The more relevant and authentic the task, the higher the level of engagement and motivation.

Here are some activities to spur curiosity and meaning.

6. Drama, Please!

Consider using problem solving, role playing, and acting as ways of demonstrating learning. You will need to be specific about your expectations, but the freedom to explore interests and determine a mode of presentation of ideas will be motivating for many students.

In my teacher education class, I have my students roleplay parent-teacher conferences. I preface this by showing a video clip from the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond. While the clip is humorous, it helps the students recognize the vulnerability of parents (and teachers) in these situations, which is an essential understanding when conducting an effective parent-teacher conference.

7. IQ Cards

IQ cards provide an interesting and efficient way for students to share insights about what they have learned, as well as raise questions after a lecture or class activity. Students write an insight (representing the "I" in IQ) on one side of an index card. This insight can be related to something new they learned during that class, or it can be a "so what" statement, indicating how this information can be applied in professional or personal practice.

On the other side of the card, the students write a question (Q) that they have about the information. Typically, I like to have students share their cards with their peers in pairs and then I collect the cards to gather informal assessment data about student learning. This works as an excellent closure activity as it reviews key lesson content and helps me assess whether students are grasping the material.

Physical Engagement: Making Movement Meaningful

Physical engagement involves some type of movement and is an often-neglected engagement strategy in the higher ed classroom. John Ratey, author of Spark (Hatchett, 2008), states that "exercise is the single most powerful tool you have to optimize your brain function." While time and space may be challenges to including physical movement in the classroom, small efforts to engage students physically help to keep them focused and may help change their brains by strengthening neuropathways leading to improved storage and retrieval of information.

While physical engagement can introduce novelty to your class, it's important to think about the physical and mobile abilities of your students, and to provide accommodations and make room for modifications when necessary.

The following strategies help to engage students in movement connected with their learning.

8. Whiteboard Splash and Gallery Walk

Whiteboard Splash (sometimes known as "chalkboard splash" or "graffiti wall") involves students responding to a prompt with words or pictures to explain an idea or concept by writing on the whiteboard (or large chart paper).

For example, I might ask my teacher education students, "What are the activities that should be included in the schedule for the first day of school for young children?" or "What are some strategies you can use to reflect on your teaching practice?" Students work individually or in small groups to illustrate their ideas. Then students circulate around the room for a "gallery walk" to view and discuss the displayed information.

To ensure that students don't passively walk by the work, have them write down the ideas they found new, different, surprising, or worth remembering. Students can then share the results and address additional questions.

9. Inside-Outside Circles

This is one of my students' favorite strategies for physical movement and social engagement. I have students create two concentric circles where each person is in front of or behind someone in the other circle. The inside circle group is then told to turn and face their outside circle group partner. I provide a prompt for the pairs to discuss (for example, "What are some reasons for student misbehavior?") and set a time limit for each partner to share a brief response to the question.

Students then take turns listening to their partner's response. Be sure to set a timer so students know when to end their conversations. Then I have the outside circle group move two places to the left so they are facing a different person. You can provide the same or a different prompt and the process repeats.

To hold students accountable, be sure to circulate and listen to the conversations so you get an idea of their level of understanding and interaction, which you can then use in conducting a closing discussion with the whole group. If space is an issue, consider using the hallway or go outdoors (weather permitting).

If you have students with limited mobility, you can conduct this activity with chairs (and wheelchairs) and students can still have rich interactions. Be sure to position any students with mobility limitations in the inner circle so just the students in the outside circle have to move during the activity.

For online classes, assign pairs of students to breakout rooms and give them a short amount of time (one to two minutes) to share their ideas with their partners. Then you can randomly assign them a new partner using a new set of breakout rooms.

10. Origami Review Game

Depending on your age, you may recall playing a game with origami paper creations with questions and answers on them. Partners can take turns telling each other's fortunes or quizzing each other. I use this often as a content review activity before exams. (You can find directions for the construction and implementation of this game here.)

Your role is to create eight close-ended questions that have simple (i.e., short) answers so they fit on the game board. (for example, "What type of engagement involves movement?" followed by the answer, "Physical engagement.") Each pair of students receives an origami paper creation (see Figure 2), and they take turns asking each other questions from the game piece until all the questions have been covered.

Keep It Fresh and Meaningful

Adding these simple but meaningful engagement strategies into my instructional practices has not only helped create a stimulating, joyful learning environment for my students, but it has also made me a more motivated teacher. I teach a three-hour class and the time now passes quickly for everyone.

Simply put: To keep our students motivated, we have to stay motivated. These strategies can help you avoid the rut of doing the same thing all the time. But keep in mind that even a clever idea can become stale if overused, so make sure to mix and match.

Just remember that novelty and fun are additional benefits of students' cognitive engagement; they are not the main focus of our efforts. So use your class time wisely by choosing meaningful questions and engagement strategies that are related to your learning goals. If you do so, I think you'll find that your students quickly get on board.

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10 Creative Ways to Better Engage Your Students

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Transform your teaching with these outstanding techniques that will enhance your students' engagement and motivation for learning.

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The article "Active Learning Increases Student Performance in Science, Engineering, and Mathematics" published on PubMed Central provides compelling evidence supporting the effectiveness of active learning methodologies in enhancing student performance in STEM disciplines. Through a comprehensive review of existing literature and meta-analyses, the article demonstrates the significant benefits of active learning approaches such as group discussions, problem-solving activities, and hands-on experiments. Practicing teachers stand to benefit greatly from this research by gaining empirical insights into the positive impact of active learning on student outcomes. Armed with this knowledge, educators can confidently implement active learning strategies in their classrooms, promoting deeper engagement, improved comprehension, and heightened academic achievement among their students in science, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.

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Novelty Improves the Formation and Persistence of Memory in a Naturalistic School Scenario

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One of the top challenges in education and neuroscience consists in translating laboratory results into strategies to improve learning and memory in teaching environments. In that sense, during the last two decades, researchers have discovered specific…

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Challenges Teachers Face in Regard to Working Memory

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Challenges Teachers Face in Regard to Working Memory

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The article "Leveraging Learning Sciences: Working Memory is Limited" from the Center for Educational Innovation at the University of Minnesota delves into the concept of working memory and its limitations in the learning process. It emphasizes the importance of understanding working memory constraints in designing effective teaching strategies. The article suggests practical techniques such as inserting breaks for students to rest and recharge, chunking information into smaller, more manageable segments, and employing mnemonic devices to aid memory retention. By leveraging these insights, educators can create learning environments that optimize working memory and support students in their academic endeavors. Ultimately, by acknowledging and addressing the limitations of working memory, teachers can enhance student learning outcomes and promote academic success.

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Working memory is limited. Familiarity with how memory works can help address some of the challenges faculty face when trying to encourage deep and long-lasting learning in students.

Working memory refers to the memory used when actively engaged in thinking about a problem. It is very limited. Research suggests we are only able to attend to 7 or as few as 4 pieces of information at a time (Miller, 1956; Cowan, 2000). Once the working memory limit is reached, learning is greatly diminished.

Working memory encodes information into long term memory, which is nearly unlimited. Long term memory is where we store information. When we need to recall information stored in long term memory, we retrieve that information back into working memory where we can actively work with it. We can think of working memory as a bottleneck or the rate-limiting step of memory. We can overload the working memory of our students when we present too much new information without an opportunity to consolidate it.

Cognitive Load Theory refers to a body of research that examines the capabilities and limitations of human cognition (Plass, 2010). There are 3 elements that contribute to cognitive load:

1. Intrinsic cognitive load refers to the innate difficulty of the task

2. Germane cognitive load refers to the capacity of working memory to link new ideas with information in long term memory

3. Extraneous cognitive load refers to limits caused by factors not related to the problem at hand

These factors include the materials and environment we expose students to. These factors tax working memory but are not related to the problem itself. An example of factors that could increase the extrinsic cognitive load a student experiences include:

Filtering outside noise or distractions

Working with materials outside their primary language

Encountering confusing wording, typos, poor contrast, grammar and spelling errors present in required texts

Perceiving learning environments as threatening and/or unsafe

Strategies for limiting the cognitive overload of your students

Insert breaks for students to assimilate information. Because working memory is subject to cognitive overload, it is useful to insert short breaks into our lectures to allow students to take actions to encode new information. Think of working memory as an empty glass. When it is full, additional information overflows out of the glass. Breaks provide students with time to empty the glass and be ready for more.
A simple way to do this is to break up long stretches of lecture with short breaks for students to consolidate their notes, turn to their neighbor to discuss or ask questions, or introduce a classroom assessment technique (CAT) that provides students and instructors with feedback on student understanding. Even two two-minute breaks can improve student performance (Ruhl, 1987).

Provide navigation throughout the learning sessions. This can be done by 1) providing students with an outline (sometimes referred to as an advanced organizer) at the beginning of a class session that previews the learning outcomes and activities for the session and 2) referring to the outline milestones throughout the session. This can be accomplished by inserting slides that indicate you are finishing one concept and moving on to the next concept or verbally articulating a transition e.g. "We've finished discussing the first principle, now let's move on to the next principle" (Titsworth, 2004; Lang, 2016). And finally, 3) provide a quick summary at the end reviewing the learning outcomes and re-emphasizing the main points.

Use a graphic organizer. An organizing framework in the form of a graphic organizer allows students to see where new information fits within a larger schema. Most students come to our courses without an expert framework to assimilate new knowledge. We can help students begin to think like an expert by revealing how we organize information.
This can take the form of a hierarchical, sequential, process-based or other framework (Robinson, 1995; Ambrose, 2010; McCrudden, 2017; Colliot, 2018).

Reduce extraneous cognitive load (de Jong, 2009). Instructors should work to identify any factors that might contribute to the extraneous cognitive load of their students and endeavor to eliminate or reduce them. Reduce extraneous cognitive load by:

Creating accessible readings, slides, and other course materials that are clear, uncluttered, of high contrast, and accessible by practicing the 7 core skills for accessibility

Removing irrelevant images or texts from slides, presentation, posters, and other visually presented course materials

Creating a supportive classroom climate where students feel valued and appreciated. Review the class climate section of the CEI resource on Inclusive Teaching at a Predominantly White Institution resource to learn more about this

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Working memory is limited. Familiarity with how memory works can help address some of the challenges faculty face when trying to encourage deep and long-lasting learning in students.

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Cognitive Load Theory & Teacher Reflection Tips

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Cognitive Load Theory & Teacher Reflection Tips

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The article highlights the importance of structuring lessons to minimize extraneous cognitive load while maximizing germane cognitive load, ultimately promoting deeper learning and retention. By leveraging cognitive load theory, educators can design more effective instructional materials and activities that support student learning and facilitate long-term knowledge acquisition. This resource serves as a valuable guide for educators seeking to optimize learning experiences and promote academic success in their classrooms.

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TrueLearn SmartBanks for Medical Exam Preparation

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Written By: The TrueLearn Team | Share:

Healthcare providers often have to remember the physical assessment findings of a patient until they can chart, or recall complex medical knowledge to apply in practice when diagnosing and managing a patient.

In these two scenarios, different parts of the brain's memory functions are called into play: In the former, the information only needs to be retained for a short period of time so utilizing the working (short-term) memory will suffice. The latter requires tapping into long-term memory to retrieve information that has already been learned. ¹ However, working memory is limited in capacity. ² and in duration ³ Long-term memory, on the other hand, provides the ability to store an unlimited amount of information that can be retrieved for later use ⁴ -essential for learning and retaining new knowledge-and serves as the foundation that's critical for constructing higher-order thinking.

Ensuring learners master and retain the information taught for the long term often presents a challenge in healthcare education programs, due to the complexity and rigorous nature of the curriculum. Educators and learners can overcome this and teach and learn more efficiently by understanding how short- and long-term memory work. The key to effectively leveraging both types of memory is to know when and how to employ which. Cognitive load theory has the answers.

Understanding Working and Long-Term Memory

Developed in the 1980s by psychologist John Sweller, cognitive load theory builds upon the concept of human information processing or cognitive architecture to explain how we learn, think, and solve problems. ⁵ It involves both working memory and long-term memory: incoming information is registered in our sensory memory before being channeled to the working memory to be processed for meaning (through reasoning and comprehension). The information is then committed into long-term memory, or discarded.

In short, new information must first be processed by our short-term memory before it can be stored in long-term memory for later use. But why does working memory have such short-lived efficacy whereas long-term memory is limitless?

Let's use the analogy of a computer's RAM (random-access memory), the short-term memory storage of the CPU (central processing unit). Downloading new or additional software onto your computer will eat up RAM, causing the system to slow down and become less efficient.

Similarly, our brains require great mental effort and resources to learn new material. The amount of mental activity that the working memory has to perform is known as cognitive load. With its small capacity-it can only remember three to five chunks of information at a time ⁶-working memory gets overwhelmed as the load builds up. Likewise, when learners are presented with too much information, their brain can suffer from overload, thereby slowing down or halting learning altogether. ⁷

For effective and efficient learning, cognitive load theory suggests that instructional methods should focus on extending the working memory.

Building Schema: The Importance of Recalling and Embedding Knowledge

When a learner intakes new information, the brain creates a mental framework to understand and interpret the data by organizing and linking related pieces of knowledge. This cognitive structure, called schema, reduces cognitive load by allowing the mind to draw upon existing knowledge and activate linked memories, concepts, or words. For instance, when healthcare providers encounter familiar elements in treating patients, they can recall related knowledge to facilitate accurate clinical diagnosis. ⁸

The more schemas the learner has in their long-term memory, the better they can link new information to existing knowledge, thus minimizing cognitive load and stretching their working memory to accommodate more learning. A learner's ability to acquire new information, therefore, begins by laying a strong foundation of knowledge and building robust schemas, and there are two ways to do this:
1 - Recalling Knowledge
An essential part of building schema is knowledge retrieval. When learners practice recalling information, they strengthen the connections between related pieces of information in their minds, making it easier to retrieve and use in the future. Regular and continued practice enables learners to lay a strong foundation of knowledge that supports the acquisition of new information
2 - Embedding Knowledge
Embedding information is the next crucial step; this involves connecting or linking new information to existing knowledge and experiences so that learners can achieve a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the topic. At this stage, the learner can add further knowledge and links between concepts, contributing to a more robust schema and facilitating the development of higher-order thinking skills. However, for this to be effective, the learner must have established and be able to maintain a strong foundational knowledge base.
This image illustrates why this is critical to the learning process:

Higher-order learning abilities like critical thinking, clinical judgment, and creativity are dependent on the existence of broad and well-established domain-specific knowledge in one or more areas. Without this base, new high-level information cannot be structured appropriately and will not be useful. The wider and more varied the basis of prior knowledge, the higher, more complex, and creative structures it can support. Educational gaps and failures-sometimes, even attrition-arise when learners lack strong foundational knowledge and they struggle to build schema. It is therefore essential to help learners establish a solid knowledge base that can enhance their acquisition of new knowledge and develop higher-order thinking.

Cognitive load theory presents a powerful framework that empowers educators to drive this goal: by understanding how learning happens, educators can tailor their approach and instructional practices to optimize teaching in the classroom, resulting in more effective and efficient learning. They can draw upon the theory's eleven principles or cognitive load effects to improve the quality of teaching and elevate learning outcomes.

11 Cognitive Load Effects That Help Elevate Learning

Cognitive load theory outlines these eleven effects that can be used to guide educators to reflect on their own practice and improve content delivery, leading to ideal learning performance and results:

Effects

Educators' Takeaway

Isolated Interacting Elements¹⁰

Complex content with high element interactivity is best broken down and processed in isolation or it could be too much for the working memory to handle. The different chunks of information are stored in the long-term memory and later combined with more elements to help the learner achieve full understanding.

Split Attention¹⁷

Content that's presented as a graphic with text information provided separately requires learners to divide their attention between the two sources of information, reducing their capacity to learn. Overcome this by integrating both graphic and text into an infographic to focus the learner's attention on a single source of instructional information, or leverage both visual and auditory channels to reduce cognitive load on the working memory, thereby minimizing the split attention effect.¹⁸

Understanding cognitive load theory and applying its principles to lesson planning and curriculum development enable educators to design effective strategies that help learners learn better and retain information longer. Learners will be empowered to build a solid knowledge base that's primed for information acquisition and retention, paving their way toward mastery of essential content and complex concepts while cultivating lifelong learning habits that will shape their future practice and success.

References

¹ Cowan N. Working memory underpins cognitive development, learning, and education. Educ Psychol Rev. 2014;26(2):197-223. doi:10.1007/s10648-013-9246-y

² Cowan N. George Miller's magical number of immediate memory in retrospect: Observations on the faltering progression of science. Psychol Rev. 2015;122(3):536-541. doi:10.1037/a0039035

³ Peterson LR, Peterson MJ. Short-term retention of individual verbal items. J Exp Psychol. 1959;58(3):193-198. doi:10.1037/h0049234

⁴ Researchgate.net. Accessed June 27, 2023. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/247130036_Perception_and_memory_in_chess_Heuristics_of_the_professional_eye

MindTools. (n.d.). Mindtools.com. Retrieved June 6, 2023, from ⁵ https://www.mindtools.com/aqxwcpa/cognitive-load-theory

⁷ InnerDrive. (2019, February 28). Using cognitive load theory in the classroom. Innerdrive.co.uk. https://blog.innerdrive.co.uk/using-cognitive-load-theory-in-the-classroom

Young, J. Q., Van Merrienboer, J., Durning, S., & Ten Cate, O. (2014). Cognitive Load Theory: implications for medical education: AMEE Guide No. 86. Medical Teacher, 36(5), 371-384. ⁸ https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2014.889290

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How to Leverage Cognitive Load Theory to Improve Outcomes

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Understand the brain's memory functions and help learners build schema and develop higher-order thinking skills with these 10 cognitive load effects.

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15 Strategies to Improve Student Learning & Retention

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15 Strategies to Improve Student Learning & Retention

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The article "Brain-Based Learning: What Teachers Need to Know" from the University of San Diego's online degrees platform explores the principles of brain-based learning and their implications for educators. It discusses how understanding the brain's functioning can inform teaching practices to enhance student engagement and learning outcomes. The article covers the importance of creating a positive learning environment, incorporating active learning strategies, and utilizing technology effectively. It also explores the fundamental principles of brain-based learning, including experience, flow, and sticky learning.

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- Dr. Bobbi Hansen

To non-educators, the term "brain-based learning" may sound redundant. Doesn't all learning involve our brains? Yes - but brain-based learning delves a little deeper into the science of how we learn in order to deliver more effective instruction.

This introduction to brain-based learning serves as an accompaniment to Dr. Bobbi Hansen's presentation, "Teaching with Superpowers: Instructing Through Brain-Informed Practices," delivered during a University of San Diego Master of Education town hall.
View the recorded presentation here. >>
What Is Brain-Based Learning? Key Principles Benefits of Brain-Based Learning 8 Brain-Based Teaching Strategies How to Build a Brain-Based Curriculum: 7 Ideas
What Is Brain-Based Learning?

Brain-based learning involves teachers creating conditions that increase student motivation, engagement and long-term retention by tapping into the natural ways the brain receives, processes and stores information. This approach can be applied to classroom teaching methods, lesson planning, curriculum design and any other educational engagement. As long as the planning and delivery is rooted in the latest research on the science of learning, it's considered brain-based instruction.

The research in question centers primarily around the brain's ability to change and reorganize itself to receive and retain new information in a process called neuroplasticity. New information and experiences can physically reshape the brain's neural pathways; the more we practice new skills or review new information, the stronger those pathways become and the better we retain the information or ability.

Our brain's neuroplasticity is influenced, both positively and negatively, by motivation, stress and challenge, as well as our emotional state as we're learning. Understanding how neuroplasticity works (especially in young, developing brains) can help curriculum designers and educators build lessons that are more likely to "stick." When students master new concepts or gain new skills in the classroom, teachers see this neuroplasticity in action. Perhaps Dr. David Sousa, an educational neuroscience consultant, puts it best: "Successful teachers are brain-changers!"

History

The theory of the left and right brain has been synonymous with learning styles since it was introduced in the 1960s. Neuropsychologist Roger W. Sperry posited that all humans are either right-brain or left-brain dominant, depending on how they think and receive information. More informed neurological research, however, has since disproven this theory; we now know that humans use each hemisphere of their brain for different tasks, and that neither is dominant over the other.

As neurological research and discovery gained traction in the 1990s, some researchers began to apply their findings to the classroom. In " Understanding a Brain-Based Approach to Learning and Teaching," Geoffrey Caine and Renate Nummela Caine proposed that educators leverage neuroscience to improve students' knowledge retention and performance. The Caines found that students had better comprehension and retention in a collaborative, hands-on, brain-based learning environment than those in a traditional lecture-based classroom. Scientifically speaking, active learning leads to the growth of dendrites - nerve cell extensions in the brain that influence how neurons collect and process information. This is good news for knowledge retention.

Brain-based learning has since gained significant traction in schools. As evidenced by texts like Neuroteach: Brain Science and the Future of Education (Rowman & Littlefield, 2016), there remains a continued insistence that all educators have a working knowledge of how the brain receives and retains information in order to be better teachers.

Key Principles of Brain-Based Learning

The overall goal of brain-based learning is not complicated, nor is it unattainable:
To create a learning environment and classroom strategy where all students can thrive.
To achieve this goal, educators need to break down their instruction (and their students' learning) into smaller components. In her town hall presentation to USD MEd students, Dr. Bobbi Hansen identifies four key principles of brain-based learning:

1. Experience: New experiences only reshape the brain when we are actively participating in those experiences.

2. Flow: Stress affects memory, so instructors need to facilitate a "flow state" in which students are comfortable, safe and focused.

3. "Sticky" learning: Utilize teaching methods that result in higher knowledge retention, such as learning by doing or student-led instruction.

4. Brain-informed teaching practices: Identify and implement the teaching strategies that will best support the current group of students.

The following are some specific classroom examples that incorporate these four key principles:
Health and wellness
Physical activity isn't only for the gym. When students are able to take stretch breaks, go for short walks or otherwise move their bodies during lessons, the more engaged they will be when they come back. Movement-based learning is more common in younger grades, but teachers should not count older students out - bringing some light physical engagement to classroom lessons can:

Energize and revitalize students (and teachers)

Improve students' attention spans

Help students receive and retain more information

Positivity
When students are in a positive emotional state, they are more willing to engage in lessons and classroom activities. Social validation from their peers and affirmations from their teacher can contribute to students' feelings of belonging.
Group work
When learning new material, it can be highly valuable to hear other students' reactions or experience how they take in new information. Group activities help students learn from one another and may even help them understand information better than they would have from their teachers' presentations.
Peer teaching
Educators may occasionally feel unprepared to teach certain course material but find that their comprehension grows as they begin to deliver their lessons. Teaching others is the most effective way to learn, and this applies to students as well. If a handful of students grasp a concept right away, they can then turn around and teach their peers, thereby strengthening their own understanding and delivering this new information in a way that resonates with their classmates.
Practice
Repetition, experimentation and productive failure are all more effective than simple memorization of facts or vocabulary. Students should have an opportunity to practice new skills and retrieve new knowledge before any major assessment.
Limiting lectures
Traditional lecture-based teaching has been proven not as effective as active learning. Making lessons more active rather than passive promotes students' knowledge retention.
Meaningful information
Academic concepts can often feel disconnected from students' actual lives. How many teachers have fielded the question, "But when am I ever going to need this?" Finding ways to connect course materials to the real world boosts student engagement and gives relevant meaning to abstract concepts.
Written and verbal information
Lessons and assignments that incorporate varied modes of delivery give students a better chance of logging information in their long term memory. This involves the instructor delivering both spoken and written lessons, and the students demonstrating their understanding through both written and verbal assignments.
Stimulation
Not all students learn the same way, but there are ways to capture their attention that generally garner a positive reaction. Incorporating movement, humor, games or current events that are of interest to their age group can increase students' participation, processing abilities and the likelihood that they will remember the course content.
Stress mitigation
In general, stress negatively impacts our brains' neuroplasticity, preventing us from retaining information. By and large, students learn and perform better in a classroom environment that is calm, safe, supportive and positive (and with a teacher who exhibits the same qualities).

Benefits of Brain-Based Learning

When information is presented in a way that accounts for the brain's ability to process it, it can vastly improve the learning experience. Brain-based learning supports:

Skills retention

Higher academic performance

Academic progression

Resiliency

Long-term memory

Brain health and function

Mood

Classroom cooperation

Motivation

A positive attitude

8 Brain-Based Teaching Strategies

As long as a lesson is built around the way students receive and retain information, brain-based learning can look like almost anything. Educators can utilize multiple instructional methods while following the principles of experience, flow, "sticky" learning and brain-based teaching strategies. These principles remain the same no matter the age of the student; it is up to the teacher and their creativity to build age-appropriate lessons rooted in a brain-based foundation.

Here are some high-level strategies teachers can use when building their brain-based lesson plans:

Combine written and verbal information to boost learning retention

Prioritize engagements that are hands-on, creative, useful and have an emotional impact

Favor lessons and activities that help students develop critical thinking skills over simple memorization

Model lessons and assignments on real-world challenges that students can relate to

Create lessons that teach students social and team-building skills in addition to course content

Build opportunities to practice course content into every lesson, or before moving on to the next unit

Incorporate movement or brain breaks into lessons, regardless of grade level

Ensure that neither lessons nor the classroom environment contribute to unnecessary stress or anxiety

How to Build a Brain-Based Curriculum: 7 Ideas

As mentioned above, a brain-based curriculum can look like anything, so long as lessons are built to encourage students' neuroplasticity and optimal knowledge retention. It's important to note that not all strategies work for all students, so rely on trial and error to see what works and what doesn't for your classroom.

Break learning into chunks.

This may seem obvious to many educators, but it bears repeating. Students learn best when they can digest new concepts bit by bit; break lessons down into bite-sized pieces that fall into introductory, practice and review segments before moving on to a new concept or topic.

Include "turn and talk" time in your lessons.

Take breaks during each lesson or unit for students to talk amongst themselves and solidify their understanding of the topic. This can fall into the "review" stage mentioned above. You can also task students with explaining a new concept to a parent or someone unfamiliar with it. After all, teaching is the best way to grasp a new skill or subject.

Not all "chunks" need to involve learning! Leave space in each lesson for movement or stretch breaks. You can even create lessons that get students moving while they learn - e.g. role playing a historical event or reading out loud "popcorn"-style with a tossed ball.

Include multisensory elements in each lesson.

For some topics, using visual elements may be a no-brainer; but challenge yourself to activate other senses during your lessons. Can you help students "physicalize" parts of speech? How can you bring a history lesson to life through sound?

Encourage students to try to remember what they've learned from a lesson, even if the topic is fairly new to them. The process of remembering strengthens memory and identifies gaps that call for a refresher. For example, rather than providing a study guide with bullet points covering key points of a lesson, build your study guides around questions that students will need to answer, thereby creating their own study guide through retrieval.

Concept mapping is the act of connecting separate elements of a topic or unit into a web of comprehension. For example, in a unit on cell structure, students can list out what they've learned about each component of a cell, then visually connect the components to each other by explaining their relationships.

Whenever possible, get your students out of the classroom to apply their learning in the real world. Field trips are a classic example of experiential learning, but even taking your students for a walk around campus to talk about the weather or photosynthesis can help make abstract concepts easier to understand.

This is just a sampling of the ways in which creative educators can leverage neuroscience to help their students succeed in the classroom.

The best teachers never stop pursuing new ways to make learning accessible for all students. The specializations offered by USD's Master of Education program enable educators to drill down into specific areas of interest that not only improve their own teaching practice, but can also lead to higher student achievement and a love of learning. Explore all the ways in which you can strengthen your teaching skill set and boost your earning potential with an advanced degree.

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Brain-Based Learning: 15 Strategies to Improve Student Learning & Retention

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What exactly is brain based learning, and what does it look like? An introduction to the science of learning, plus brain based learning strategies and examples.

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The blog "Flipping the Focus" features posts related to educational topics, including insights from David A. Sousa, a renowned educator and author specializing in brain-based learning. Through articles and discussions, the blog delves into Sousa's work and its application in teaching and learning contexts. Educators can benefit from exploring the blog's content to gain valuable insights and practical tips for improving their instructional practices based on the principles of brain-based learning advocated by Sousa.

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During a recent conversation that I had with a colleague, we reflected upon the following statement from that interview:

"Students are capable, critical thinkers and problems solvers. If we deprive our students of these opportunities, they will not grow. Students need to be actively engaged in their learning."

This quote, in turn, lead us to the following wonderings:

1-What does this mean for educators' planning? 2-How does novelty--in the context of the Thinking Classroom--fit into conversations (perhaps, larger ones) about student engagement?

The remainder of this post focuses on these questions--that is, not in an effort to answer them: As pointed out by the last wondering, the goal is our own learning...through conversations about exploring where novelty 'fits' into our teaching practices.

As you continue with the information presented from both cognitive science and the Thinking Classroom, invite a colleague to read, reflect on practice, and discuss next steps with you.

Given that adolescents are more likely to respond faster emotionally than rationally, how can we better support their learning?

How can we engage adolescents' understanding that it's difficult for them to 'override automatic responses' because their pre-frontal cortex is still maturing?

Recently, I've been reading and reflecting upon both brain development and cognitive processes that influence teaching and student learning. Below are some highlights from Chapter 5 ( Teaching Mathematics to the Preadolescent Brain) and Chapter 6 ( Teaching Mathematics to the Adolescent Brain).

Based on some the emerging themes, I couldn't help but to consider how these highlights might 'bump up against' the geared elements of the Thinking Classroom Framework. In relation to the wonderings presented (#1 and #2, above), how might the intersection of both cognitive science and Thinking Classrooms impact educators' planning and interaction with students in the evolution of their classroom practice?

In the section that follows, I will present a draft of results of some coding that I completed between the framework and Chapters 5 & 6. In terms of my own interpretation, I am currently seeing that aspects of both cognitive science (CS) and Thinking Classrooms (TC) play a reciprocal role in student learning. That is to say, a TC pedagogy is more successfully enacted when we attend to preadolescent and adolescent brain development, while student cognition is supported by engaging students with the geared elements of the framework.

Results: "Cognitive Science (CS)...Meet the Thinking Classroom (TC)"

Figures 1 and 2 present the relative frequencies with which each of the gears (i.e., group of elements) related to the highlighted material in Chapters 5 and 6. Most notable are the differences between the relative frequencies of Gears 2 and 3 (see graphic for description of each gear's elements, above).

Next to these, elements 4, 7 and 12 were also coded frequently--i.e., using verbal instructions, constructing meaningful notes, and communicating where students are in their learning/where they are going, respectively.

TC Elements-Preadolescent
Figure 3 also presents the frequencies for preadolescent learners. Notably, elements 4, 8 and 10 seem to be most influential in supporting preadolescent cognition (i.e., verbal instructions, building autonomy, and consolidating from the bottom, respectively), followed by elements 7, 9 and 12.

I would like to re-emphasize that these are drafted--i.e., they, on the basis of my interpretation, suggest how CS and TC are related. They also provide you with a glimpse into my own reflective practice: not only is this how I inquire, in part, into examining the value of pedagogical practice on student engagement and learning; it is also representative of the collaborative inquiries we can be doing alongside and in support of future-ready learners.Discussion
​Before wading further into the complexity of these results,

​It's also important to consider those places where I have used the word, "most", in relation to support. For example, when thinking about the most frequently recorded skills for preadolescents, it's not that learners already 'arrive' with these abilities; rather, we use the elements to actively engage learners and support the development of their executive functioning. Similarly with adolescents, learners may not enter in to your class already expressing the skills encompassed by the emerging themes (table, above). What it does imply is that we can attend to planning and interacting with learners in ways that will bring about growth in these areas.

"Students are capable, critical thinkers and problems solvers. If we deprive our
students of these opportunities, they will not grow. Students need to be
actively engaged in their learning."

In addition to the thinking, above, each student develops and attains proficiency in different ways and at different times. To help students grow their mindset around becoming assessment-capable, actively build, share and discuss students' learner profiles with them--especially as you plan tiered interventions with your "students of mystery". You can access a sample TC observation and student profiling template to support your TC planning, documentation and profiling.

With respect to planning instruction for all (Chapter 2; , 2013), we might interpret Figure 1 as Gear 2 elements being more widely used to setting the foundation for more complex interactions between preadolescent learners with elements of the "" (Causarano & Coulombe, 2018)--for example, establishing assessment capability for deepened learning through self-assessment, goal setting and monitoring towards attaining goals.

Moving towards adolescence, we might look upon the prevalence of Gear 3 elements as leveraging students' growing capacity to solving complex problems for deepening their conceptual understanding. We might also see how assigning fewer, meaningful "check your understanding" problems puts less strain on working memory, provides adequate time for elaborative rehearsal--lending itself also to developing procedural fluency.

Across all graphs (Figures 1 to 3), you'll note an under-representation of gear 1 and 4 elements. Gear 1 elements--good tasks, VNPSs and VRGs: these are the starting point for any educator's journey into enacting a TC pedagogy. Even for educators consistently practising Gear 4 elements, alongside their students, Gear 1 elements are a 'gateway' to engaging in deep, pedagogical practice. Notably, these elements can be implemented quickly and, perhaps, contribute indirectly--through classroom structures (physical space and groupings)--to student cognition. Gears 2 and 3 are comprised of a number of strategies that engage students to being active in their learning. Our engagement with these strategies means that we are consistently monitoring and communicating with learners over time. These actions, we might say, have direct impact on student learning and are more easily referenced against developmental markers from CS. Lastly, most of the Gear 4 elements relate to assessments of learning. These can be redressed by students and teachers in a formative manner but constitute a small amount of all assessments performed.

Beyond what has been presented in this post, there is so much that we can discuss and propose as inquiries that bridge the gap between the many opportunities we have to promote student learning and the actual learning that takes place for educators and their students.Conclusion

In the opening, two wonderings were shared:

​ 1-What does this mean for educators' planning?

Given that adolescents are more likely to respond faster emotionally than rationally, how can we better support their learning?

How can we engage adolescents' understanding that it's difficult for them to 'override automatic responses' because their pre-frontal cortex is still maturing?

2 -How does novelty--in the context of the Thinking Classroom--fit into conversations (perhaps, larger ones) about student engagement?
As you move forward with your own journey into enacting a TC pedagogy, I believe the following might serve as good guiding statements:

The Thinking Classroom can be enacted in such ways to support the development of student cognition.

The Thinking Classroom supports what is currently known about cognitive science and brain maturation.

When students understand how they learn and why a particular pedagogy is being used, they will be more likely to see themselves as confident and assessment-capable learners.

If the ideas presented in this post is something that you'd like to share within your own context (e.g., PLC, district team, learning network), I have posted a consolidation of the blog in the form of a slide-deck for your use. If you do happen to use it, please extend an invitation to me to discuss your plans.

You can view the slide-deck below, as well as downloading your own copy that includes notes I've used in speaking about the material in this blog, as well as future, potential directions for collaborative and action-based research.

Prefer to listen to a presentation of the synthesis? View the slides in the form of video? See the button below to listen/view.

As this blog is a means for readers to network and gradually change the context for how they teach and learn, we all benefit by drawing nearer to the perspectives shared here and shared beyond with our professional learning networks. Please feel free to share your comments and questions to this post using the "Leave a Reply" form provided, . f at any time, you have questions or comments, please feel free to reach out to me at Final Remarks
In closing, I can't help but to think of the conversations that can be inspired when we take collective action to improving student learning.
​
I am more than happy to collaborate with you and make our learning visible, here, in this blog and acrossFlipping the Focus . Flipping the Focus' social media platforms, as well as your own. I

Sincerely,

Chris Stewart, OCT
Education Leader at Flipping the Focus

Causarano, J., & Coulombe, H. (2018, September 14). References
The Assessment Loop: Merging Assessment and Instruction. Retrieved January 29, 2019, from https://harnessassessment.com/2018/09/04/the-assessment-loop-merging-assessment-and-instruction/
​
EduGAINS. (2013). Learning for All, A Guide to Effective Assessment and Instruction for All Students, Kindergarten to Grade 12. Retrieved from http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/Learning4All/whats_L4All.html

Liljedahl, P. (2017, October 17). Building a Thinking Classroom in Math. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/article/building-thinking-classroom-math
​
Margaret Sinclair Memorial Award Lecture: Peter Liljedahl. (2019, February 14). Retrieved from http://www.fields.utoronto.ca/activities/18-19/Margaret-Sinclair-lecture
​
Sousa, D. A. (2008). How The Brain Learns Mathematics. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

Thinking Classrooms: An Interview with Jaime DePippo - Part 2 [Online Interview]. (2019, February 18).
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I am passionate about leadership for learning and teaching and learning through inquiry. Through collaborative exploration of high-yield, pedagogical strategies, I have been able to further engage...

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Remembering and Forgetting: Crash Course Psychology #14" provides an overview of memory processes, including encoding, storage, and retrieval, as well as factors influencing remembering and forgetting. The video discusses different memory models, such as the multi-store model and the levels of processing model, to explain how memories are formed and stored. It also explores strategies for improving memory retention, such as elaborative rehearsal and mnemonic devices, while addressing common memory biases and errors.

For teachers, this information is highly relevant as it offers insights into how students learn and retain information. Understanding the intricacies of memory processes can inform instructional practices aimed at optimizing learning outcomes. Educators can utilize strategies discussed in the video, such as incorporating elaborative rehearsal techniques into lesson plans and providing mnemonic devices to aid memory retention. Additionally, awareness of memory biases and errors can help teachers design assessments and learning activities that mitigate these challenges.

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Remembering and Forgetting: Crash Course Psychology #14

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The resource from Oregon State University provides valuable insights into memory processes and effective memory strategies for learners. It covers various aspects of memory, including encoding, storage, and retrieval, while offering practical techniques to enhance memory retention and recall. Educators can benefit from this resource by incorporating evidence-based memory strategies into their teaching practices.

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Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge or information. It happens (ideally) when we're taught something, or teach ourselves something, or study/experience what we've been taught by others.

In college (really, in life) you need to retain much of the information you're learning so you can use it/retrieve it/perform it/etc. later. This is where the memory process comes in. One of the best ways to make college-level studying more effective is to understand and apply what's been researched and discovered about how humans learn most effectively, and retain information most effectively. So how do we make memory and transfer it from our short-term store to our long-term store?

Making a memory is a multi-step process that we engage in daily, whether or not we recognize it at the time. It takes being interested in what you're learning, seeing value in the material, committing attention to the information, making connections between it and what you may already know, and practicing what it is you've learned (Doyle & Zakrajsek, 2019). This may sound like a lot, but you're doing it all the time! Think about it, and do a quick self-check - what are the things in your life that you've learned how to do, that you can do without thinking, that you know and can recall from memory? Maybe it's something to do with music, or the rules of a sport or game, or performing memorized lines in front of an audience, or riding a horse/bike/skateboard/etc. Making a peanut butter & jam sandwich. Frying an egg.

In each example you find for yourself, consider your interest, what you valued about learning said example, the attention you paid it, how you made connections between it and something else you knew, and the amount of practice you engaged in. Then, add to that the repetition you engaged in, which will happen naturally as you practice more and more. All of this combined is what helps you to learn and make memory that lasts.

And all of this takes time. Often we hear from students that they just don't have enough time. We know it's not uncommon for students to cram before an exam or test, rather than to distribute their practice over the course of days/weeks/months. And we've been there too - we've used the less-than-perfect approach of waiting until the last minute to prepare and then staying up all night to do so, cramming in half a term's worth of study and practice into a single eight-hour marathon study session. It's not great, it doesn't feel great, and it doesn't yield great long-term results. As they mention in their book, The New Science of Learning, Terry Doyle and Todd Zakrajsek share that a person can actually remember quite a lot post-cram-sesh, for about 18 to 36 hours; within a week's worth of time, though, about 75% of that material will be lost (Doyle & Zakrajsek, 2019).

AAACK! That's such a waste of energy! Because cramming takes a lot of energy, and deprives you of energy in the process. It's stressful, it often cuts your sleep-time down (which is when memory is being transferred from short term to long term, too), and all of this can further impact your ability to perform well on the test the next (or just later that) day.

And another thing: if you're enrolling in courses that are a part of a series, and you're relying on last-minute studying/cramming to prepare for your quizzes and exams, you're sabotaging your future self who will need to know and be able to use and refer back to these foundational ideas. So do what you can to start spreading your study out.

Officially, it's called distributing your practice. It's the idea that rather than studying eight or ten or fifteen hours in a single go, you'll break that study up into multiple two- or three-hour chunks. So in this example we're not saying study more hours, we're saying spread them out over the course of the week. Doing so allows you to forget what you've learned, and asks your brain to work at remembering it, which is just the kind of practice you want to be engaging in to create memories and to learn to retrieve the information when you need it (like on a test).

Here's how it could work (along with some ideas of different activities you might try, so you're learning and connecting and applying the content in different ways, too):

We know: change isn't easy. But if you're not currently distributing your practice, we encourage you to try. You can use a Weekly Calendar to get a feel for everything on your plate for the week, and how you might spread your study time out differently. If you want to chat with someone about it, come and see us, please! We love to talk about this stuff, and we work with students all the time to create study and learning plans that will work for them (and their memories): Waldo Hall 125 | Monday thru Friday | 9 AM to 5 PM. Swing on by, no appointment necessary.

To learn more about the important elements of the memory process, read through the following information about attention, encoding, and storing information, which provides the rationale for reading and note-taking strategies; all of this information also can help you assess if you're preparing for exams in an effective way.

Information enters our brains through sensory receptors that hold onto that information for mere seconds. Although thousands of bits of information come at us at once through our eyes, ears, touch, and other senses, our brains filters and selects things for us to pay attention to. When you consciously pay attention to something (a sign, a sound, where you put your keys) this means your brain receives that information and it is consciously perceived. That conscious perception is the first step of the memory process.

Once we have perceived information, we move that information into either (a) our short-term/immediate memory which lasts for only a few seconds (e.g., a phone number you are trying to remember for a few seconds) or (b) "working" memory which can hold more information for longer, but only if you're actively working with it (e.g., the numbers from a math problem that you're talking through with a study group). Working memory can really only hold information for 10-20 minutes (Sousa, 2001), and can only hold 5-9 pieces of information at a time. That is why it is so important to take deliberate efforts to move information from your short-term memory into your long-term memory through storage.

The act of moving information from short-term to long-term memory can be done in a variety of ways. Learning information initially is critical, but you must also find ways to organize information based on meaning and store that information into long-term memory for later retrieval (Sousa, 2001). "Going over" a reading will not store that information in a way that allows you to retrieve the information later. So, what WILL enable your brain to store information in long-term memory?

ACTIVITIES

Repetition. "Rehearsal" and "repetition" are both terms that refer to the act of practicing your recall of information. Quizzing yourself using flashcards and doing random practice problems until you can do them correctly are examples of repetition-based recall practice.

Elaboration. Elaboration is the process of connecting new information with prior information and looking for relationships between information. You can elaborate by thinking of examples of concepts, practicing explaining a concept to someone, or creating a summary based on your notes.

Organizational Schemas. Our brains are natural pattern seekers. Your brain will find it easier to remember information if you make associations or connections between ideas. These associations create a structure of knowledge for information which is easier to remember than random facts. Creating your own study guides, making a concept map, and comparing and contrasting ideas are examples of study techniques that fall into the category of organizational schemas. For example, you might think that Waldo Hall is a building at OSU (new information) that looks like a castle from the Harry Potter books/movies (stored information).

Multiple Modes. When you're studying, you can create stronger memories if you engage your visual, auditory, and kinesthetic senses. Information stored using more than one "sensory mode" will be easier for you to remember and recall later (Cuseo, Fecas & Thompson, 2007).

Sleep & Breaks. Sleep is vital to the memory storage process because the transfer of information into long-term memory occurs during the REM stage of sleep (Sousa, 2001). If you want to engage in effective studying, your time spent studying needs to be spaced out over multiple sessions on different days, with periods of rest in between. Studying in shorter sessions with more breaks focuses your concentration and attention, both of which are important for encoding and storage.

The ability to retrieve information when you want to (e.g., on an exam) is a product of many factors. How you pay attention and how you encode and store the information play a big role in whether or not you'll remember the information later. Research on the science of forgetting suggests that regular review of information is important in order to store that information in your long-term memory for later retrieval. Spitzer (1939) examined rates of forgetting textbook material and found that from the time of first learning information from a textbook, we forget almost 50% of information within one day, and up to 80% of the information within 2 weeks.

Since you are likely to forget information unless you use or revisit the information regularly, you'll need top plan each week for time practicing retrieval of previously stored information. You can do this by focusing not just on new information you're learning each week (in lectures, reading, etc.) but by focusing time on reviewing material from previous weeks. By using repetition/practice and elaboration, you can make connections between the previous information and the new information you're learning. Monitoring learning and taking time to test your knowledge and recall are important ways that you can assess if you are well-prepared for an exam or need to spend additional time studying.

Now that you know more about the memory process, and you're thinking about how you're scheduling your time and what you're doing within that study time to learn your content, consider the below tools for new and effective study activities.

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Learning is the process of acquiring knowledge or information. It happens (ideally) when we're taught something, or teach ourselves something, or study/experience what we've been taught by others. In college (really, in life) you need to retain much of the information you're learning so you can use it/retrieve it/perform it/etc.

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The article from teacherhead.com explores the importance of meaning-making and the power of student discourse in the learning process. It emphasizes the value of students engaging in meaningful discussions to deepen their understanding of concepts and develop critical thinking skills. The article highlights how dialogue allows students to articulate their thoughts, make connections between ideas, and construct their own knowledge collaboratively.

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Ever since reading Sarah Cottinghatt's blogs and subsequent In Action book about Ausubel and meaning making, I've found it a massively useful reference point for examining teaching practices. The idea is that each individual student has to make meaning themselves, building from their existing knowledge to make sense of new ideas. The extent of their prior knowledge is a massive factor - but so is the process and the time given to that building/bridging process.

In very many lessons, it seems to be a missing piece in the pedagogy with teachers hoping and assuming that meaning making is happening more or less automatically or that this might happen later - or that it's just too complicated to explore in the moment.

At its worst, we get the 'bad check for understanding':

Teacher: Explains, demonstrates, explains, reads, tells, explains.. Then asks: 'ok, is that clear ,, does everyone get that yeah? '

Class: Murmurs and nods; nobody speaks.

Teacher: Great, let's move on.

The teacher is either assuming each and every student has succeeded in making sense of their explanation simply by listening and following - taking it in - and/or doesn't think it's worth the time finding out how that went and what variations there might be around the class. Students are not given time to process the explanation, to run through it, before they are presented with tasks and problems that rely on that meaning having been established.

I would like to suggest ( and please do some trials on this or point me to any you know of...) that a strong pedagogical routine in many subjects ought to be the process of talking through ideas and explanations, soon after having heard them and again later, with scaffolds on hand, to allow all (ie literally everyone) the time to think through the ideas, rehearse their sequence and connections and to use the associated vocabulary themselves. When I see this done, it seems to be powerful and important:

Teacher: Explains, demonstrates, explains, reads, tells, explains. Then asks: 'ok, everyone, now let's check your understanding. Mentally rehearse that for yourself..... then (on a cue) turn to your partner and check each other's version, one at a time.

Class: Runs through the Think Pair Share routine, each student talking through the explanation they've just heard, each using the language and trying to explain it back tot heir partner

Teacher: Samples a few responses from the class to hear how they explained things and then responses accordingly, adding details, exploring differences and reteaching as needed.

For example: A teacher might explain the formation of Durdle Door as an example of coastal erosion processes.

There is a diagram produced or referenced that contains all the key vocabulary - hydraulic action, abrasion - and the sequence: crack-cave-arch-stack-stump .

Even hear, when all the information is plain to see, it's very useful for each student to run through it; to rehearse the sequence crack-cave-arch-stack-stump adding in associated explanations of processes, using the terminology - hydraulic action, abrasion - and so on. It's consolidatory and provides a check to each student themselves and then, via some sampling, a check for the teacher. After this students can have a go with the unlabelled photo, or to look at another example to see if they can use the language unscaffolded. This is much more likely to be successful after a fully scaffolded talk-through. Significantly: who is doing the talking through? Everyone is. At the same time, in pairs.

This applies to nearly any explanation. Here's another example:

The function of an alveolus and the gas exchange process can be explained by a teacher without making sense to a student who is avoiding all those words and concepts about diffusion. So: after the explanation, the talk through. Each student can retell the story of the blood flowing through the alveolus, using the terminology with their partner as a verifier, referring to the resources. If they can't get it right with all the info in full view, it means they haven't made sense of it. It's no use quizzing them on it yet. The talk through gives them a chance to get their ideas together, to do the bridging, to make meaning.

I test this out in my training with one of my favourite CPD questions - as described in this post. Recently I've changed my approach. I used to ask the question cold - assuming prior knowledge. However, to make the point even more strongly, I now start by explaining why the sun rises in the east myself. Then I ask people to talk it through and sample responses. Even here. it's just amazing how say three different adults will explain it back to me in a range of ways. They use different language, physical models with their hands, different metaphors. It's fascinating,

So, that's my current top tip: Explain first, initiate student talk through in pairs, then sample responses as a check, reteach things in response as needed - before you move on. It'll save you time in the long run.

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Meaning Making and The Power of Students Talking Things Through - a common missing piece.

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Ever since reading Sarah Cottinghatt's blogs and subsequent In Action book about Ausubel and meaning making, I've found it a massively useful reference point for examining teaching practices. The idea is that each individual student has to make meaning themselves, building from their existing knowledge to make sense of new ideas. The extent of their prior knowledge...

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Relevance of Meaning-Making in a Culture of Overstimulating Media

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Relevance of Meaning-Making in a Culture of Overstimulating Media

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Scelfo examines the factors contributing to a sense of purpose and fulfillment, drawing from psychology, philosophy, and personal anecdotes. She discusses the importance of finding purpose in everyday activities and relationships, highlighting the role of connection, contribution, and reflection in creating meaning. Educators can benefit from this talk by considering how to foster a sense of meaning and purpose in their teaching practice. By designing relevant lessons and engaging and connecting them to students' lives, educators can help students find deeper meaning in their learning experiences. Additionally, promoting opportunities for reflection and dialogue can encourage students to explore their values, goals, and aspirations, ultimately leading to a more meaningful and fulfilling educational journey.

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Julie Scelfo: How do humans make true meaning?

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In this era of information overload, fake news is but one form of distortion. Journalist Julie Scelfo explains why becoming "media savvy" is the only way to sift through information and glean the facts.

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The article "Kagan Structures are Brain-Based" from Kagan Online explores the connection between Kagan Structures and brain-based learning. It discusses how Kagan Structures, which are instructional strategies designed to promote active engagement and cooperative learning, align with principles of neuroscience and cognitive psychology. The article highlights how Kagan Structures stimulate various regions of the brain, such as those responsible for social interaction, problem-solving, and memory retention.

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kagan publishing teaching catalog teacher resources school supplies music games cooperative learning differentiated instruction educational products esl ell foreign language posters multiple intelligences textbooks math books science literature social studies

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Kagan's FREE Articles - Kagan Structures are Brain-Based

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Read Dr. Spencer Kagans provocative and insightful articles on Kagan Structures and how they have the power to transform education. Cooperative learning, multiple intelligences, the brain, character development, Win-Win Discipline.

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The article "25 Instructional Strategies For The Classroom" from TeachThought provides a comprehensive overview of various instructional strategies aimed at enhancing teaching and learning experiences. It offers a diverse range of approaches, including cooperative learning, project-based learning, differentiated instruction, and flipped classroom models, among others. The article explores each strategy in detail, discussing its benefits, implementation techniques, and potential impact on student engagement and achievement. Educators can benefit from this resource by exploring different instructional strategies and selecting those that best align with their teaching goals, content area, and student needs.

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by TeachThought Staff

In education, louder than the call for innovation, engagement, thought, or self-direction is the call to be research-based.

In fact, being research-based may even trump being data-based, the two twins of modern ed reform. The former stems, in part, from deserved skepticism of trends that have little evidence of performance, and the latter comes from a similar place. The big idea behind the both is 'proof'-having some kind of confidence that what we're doing now works, and that because of both data and research, we can more or less nail down what exactly it is that we're doing that works or doesn't work, and why.

To be clear, being data or research-based isn't anywhere close to fool-proof. So many of the modern trends and innovations that are 'not grounded in research,' or don't 'have the data to support them' suffer here not because of a lack of possibility, potential, or design, but because of research and data itself being sluggish in their own study and performance.

But this is all way, way beside the point-a long-winded contextualizing for Robert Marzano's work. Marzano is known for, above all else, identifying 'what works,' and doing so by reviewing and distilling research, then packaging it for schools and districts to use. Among his most frequently quoted products is the 'Marzano 9': 9 instructional strategies that have been proven by research to 'work' by yielding gains in student achievement.

And so Dr. Kimberly Tyson thought to gather Marzano's nine instructional strategies for learning and create a useful graphic for saving. (See also 32 Research-Based Instructional Strategies.)
Marzano's 9 Instructional Strategies For Learning

1. Identifying similarities and differences

2. Summarizing and note-taking

3. Reinforcing effort and providing recognition

4. Homework and practice

5. Non-linguistic representations

6. Cooperative learning

7. Setting objectives and providing feedback

8. Generating and testing hypotheses

9. Cues, questions, and advance organizers

Marzano's 9 Instructional Strategies In Infographic Form

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Marzano's 9 Instructional Strategies For Teaching And Learning

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by TeachThought Staff In education, louder than the call for innovation, engagement, thought, or self-direction is the call to be research-based. In fact, being research-based may even trump being data-based, the two twins of modern ed reform. The former stems, in part, from deserved skepticism of trends that have little evidence of performance, and the latter comes from a similar place.

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What is Bloom's Taxonomy? How to Use it to Write Learning Objectives

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What is Bloom's Taxonomy? How to Use it to Write Learning Objectives

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It highlights how educators can use Bloom's Taxonomy to design instructional activities that scaffold students' learning experiences and promote deeper understanding and critical thinking. By structuring the learning journey according to the levels of Bloom's Taxonomy, educators can ensure that students progress through increasingly complex cognitive tasks, ultimately leading to more meaningful and impactful learning outcomes.

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3.2 - How to Write Learning Objectives Using Bloom's Taxonomy

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How to Get Students Thinking About Their Own Learning

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How to Get Students Thinking About Their Own Learning

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This article discusses how educators can empower students to reflect on their learning process, set goals, and monitor their progress toward achieving them. The article suggests techniques such as journaling, goal-setting exercises, and peer feedback to cultivate metacognitive skills in students.

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When students begin to plan, monitor, and evaluate their learning, they develop self-regulation and can set more ambitious goals.

Davor Pavelic / Ikon Images

As a special education teacher and K-12 tutor, I found that students were often told what to learn but were rarely taught how to learn, which had the potential to leave them stuck, anxious, and disengaged. My desire to teach students strategies they could use to develop their own agency and independence led me to write my book, The Independent Learner.

Metacognition refers to a student's knowledge of their own thought process. A metacognitive thinking process allows students to self-regulate and direct their thoughts, behaviors, and actions toward their goals. As early as kindergarten, teachers can instruct students in how to build their metacognitive skills through a process of planning, monitoring, and evaluating their learning. Once students reach third grade, they can begin to use these strategies with increased choice and independence.

When students begin working without a plan, they become easily confused and overwhelmed by the task. They may give up, get distracted, or become off-task very easily. Taking time to plan can help students avoid these issues. Planning can include previewing the task, setting goals, deciding how to approach the task, and connecting to previously learned information. The following strategies help students to plan.

Building prior knowledge: Teachers can help students build prior knowledge by connecting new information to what students already know. This might look like having students brainstorm in groups to answer a question, watch a short introductory video clip or demonstration, or look at and discuss pictures or objects related to the topic that will be studied. A strong foundation of background knowledge can help students to accurately make predictions and prioritize information during the lesson.

Goal setting: Having students set goals and track progress is linked to a 32 percent increase in achievement. Teachers can help students to set short-term goals related to the skill they are learning as well as the student's long-term personal goals and values.

Planning the process: We have all had the experience of setting goals, only to lose the motivation and follow-through necessary to make them a reality. Teachers can help students think about the changes they need to make in their daily behavior and habits in order to get from where they are now to where they want to be. Students can make a plan or checklist and use this to monitor their daily progress or the baby steps toward their goal.

Students who are having trouble monitoring don't know when to seek help or may be overly dependent on the teacher to make sure they are doing their work correctly. They may lack a sense of self-efficacy or the belief that their efforts affect their actions or fail to change their approach when it is not working. When a student is monitoring their learning, they are assessing their level of understanding and trying to determine whether the strategy they have selected is working. The following strategies help students monitor.

Metacognitive talk: When students are learning a new skill, the teacher can model thinking aloud to make the thought process visible for students. This helps them to develop the complex thinking skills necessary for that subject area. The teacher can encourage students to use discussion to construct knowledge instead of just participating to display what they know. Strategies like think-pair-share or visually explaining the steps of their thinking help students to understand that there are many ways to approach a particular problem or task.

Analyze, prioritize, summarize: Students can be taught various methods of summarizing information and isolating key facts, details, and keywords. One method that students enjoy is a one-pager.

Diversify: When approaching a new learning task, it is important for students to know many ways to solve a problem or approach the skill. Strategies that mix verbal and visual information make learning more memorable. When students are familiar with many strategies, they have the tools necessary to exercise their own agency in selecting what works best for them.

If students are not evaluating their learning, they often do not understand how to use strategies in other contexts or for future problem-solving. They may know that they got something wrong but are not able to tell you why or what they should do differently next time to avoid that same issue. To evaluate their learning, students consider whether the strategy they chose worked and what they would change for next time. The following strategies help students to evaluate.

Assess: Testing should be used during learning, not just once learning is complete. Students can create their own practice tests or test questions, or teachers can use pre- and post-tests with clickers to find out what students know, help students to prioritize important information, and assess learning during the lesson.

What am I working toward?

What progress have I made so far?

Where do I go from here?

Seek feedback: In the classroom, the teacher acts as a coach to students, providing information about learning goals and progress. Successful feedback should not shame students or focus on personal qualities but instead should answer these questions:

Reflect and revise: After assessment, self-assessment, or feedback, students reflect on whether the strategy they are using is working. Then they decide what changes they need to make. Students may also consider areas where they need to seek out help. When they revise, students consider what did not go so well and fix it. They should be able to explain their mistake or what did not work and then select a strategy to correct their work. As you might notice, this starts the metacognition cycle back at the planning stage.

The only way to make learning truly relevant to each student is to teach the tools and strategies they will need to take a more active role in their learning. Incorporating metacognitive skills and self-regulated learning strategies has helped my students to become more independent, engaged, and capable of exercising their own agency.

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How to Get Students Thinking About Their Own Learning

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When students begin to plan, monitor, and evaluate their learning, they develop self-regulation and can set more ambitious goals.

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Encourage students to take more active roles in collaborative learning and teaching

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Encourage students to take more active roles in collaborative learning and teaching

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The resource from the Teaching Commons at Stanford University explores strategies for increasing student engagement in the classroom. It discusses the importance of creating active learning experiences that foster student participation, motivation, and collaboration.

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These strategies can help you increase student engagement with learning activities, build their confidence in their community of learning, and increase their comprehension of the course material.

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Identifying teaching behaviors that foster growth mindset classroom cultures

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Identifying teaching behaviors that foster growth mindset classroom cultures

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The article from the American Psychological Association (APA) explores the concept of growth mindset and its application in creating positive classroom cultures. It discusses how educators can cultivate a growth mindset among students by emphasizing the belief that intelligence and abilities can be developed through effort and perseverance. The article provides practical strategies for promoting a growth mindset culture in the classroom, such as praising students' efforts, providing constructive feedback, and teaching the science behind learning and intelligence.

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Learn more about the importance of "growth-signaling" behaviors in the classroom.

Cite this

Kroeper, K. (2022, May 20). Identifying teaching behaviors that foster growth mindset classroom cultures. https://www.apa.org/ed/precollege/psychology-teacher-network/introductory-psychology/growth-mindset-classroom-cultures

Teachers want to help their students thrive in school and in life-it's one of the top-cited reasons for entering the teaching profession (Heinz, 2015). But creating classroom environments that inspire and sustain student motivation can be challenging. When students experience failure or encounter learning obstacles, they may come to doubt themselves and their abilities. Many students interpret such academic setbacks to mean that they're just not "cut-out" for certain subjects (like math, language arts, economics, computer science, history, etc.). In these moments of doubt, what can teachers say or do to re-engage their students? And how might teachers go about creating growth mindset classroom cultures, wherein all their students are reassured of their capabilities and supported to thrive? My colleagues and I sought to answer these questions, and we offer some research-based teaching tips below. But first, some key background.

Growth (and fixed) mindset beliefs

If you're a teacher interested in fostering student motivation, you may already know about Carol Dweck's mindset theory (2006). According to Dweck, students' beliefs about the malleability (or fixedness) of intelligence can shape their motivation and behavior in the classroom. Dweck and her colleagues have shown that students who endorse growth mindset beliefs-or a system of beliefs positioning intelligence as a changeable trait that can be improved through hard work, persistence, help-seeking, and adopting good strategies-tend to be more motivated, persistent, and better performing in school than students who endorse fixed mindset beliefs -or a system of beliefs positioning intelligence as innate and largely unchangeable.

As an example of mindset theory in action, imagine a student who's struggling with a complicated math problem. If the student holds fixed-mindset beliefs, they may interpret their math struggle to mean that they're just not a "math person." And, because they believe that they cannot much improve their math ability, persistence with the complicated math problem seems pointless and the student may prematurely withdraw effort. If, instead, the student holds growth mindset beliefs, their math struggle serves as a signal to seek help from their teacher or to adopt a new problem-solving technique. For the growth-minded student, the math problem is seen as a tough but surmountable challenge. This is because the growth-minded interpretation promotes proactive learning strategies (e.g., thinking through the problem, asking for help, trying a new approach) and allows the student time and opportunity to experience a learning breakthrough.

Mindset and the classroom: Context matters

Building on Dweck's laboratory insights, educational and social psychologists eagerly applied her work to actual classroom settings. These researchers developed and implemented rigorous, direct-to-student mindset interventions, with the goal of encouraging students to adopt growth mindset beliefs (e.g., Blackwell et al., 2007; Paunesku et al., 2015). In many cases, these interventions demonstrated that educating students about the malleability of intelligence increased their motivation to persevere through academic challenges and, ultimately, improved their school performance.

But there is an important caveat to this general finding. Students' growth mindset beliefs appear to be more strongly related to motivation and achievement when the classroom environment supports and aligns with students' growth mindset beliefs (e.g., Walton & Yeager, 2020; Yeager et al., 2019, 2022). Put simply, the classroom context matters.

For example, in a large-scale, nationally representative study of ninth-graders, researchers found that a direct-to-student growth mindset intervention only improved students' end-of-year math performance when students who received the intervention were taught by math teachers who personally endorsed growth (vs. fixed) mindset beliefs (Yeager et al., 2022). The research team used the analogy of planting a seed in fertile (vs. infertile) soil. A growth mindset message is better able to take root and thrive in classrooms where compatible messages and practices from teachers afford and support students' growth mindset beliefs.

To illustrate, let's return to our imaginary student who's struggling with a complicated math problem. If this student generally holds a growth mindset, they may ask their teacher for help with the math problem. But if the teacher responds to the student's request for help with frustration ("Why aren't you getting this? I don't know how to explain it to you in a simpler way...") or shows resignation that the student cannot improve ("It's okay, maybe you're just not a math person") the student may remain stuck and, worse, come to believe that math ability is innate and fixed. In doing so, the student may begin to see math as a subject that's beyond their reach. This sequence of events aligns with a recent longitudinal, experience-sampling study among college students. College students who perceived their teachers to hold fixed mindset beliefs about student ability went on to experience greater psychological vulnerability in the classroom (e.g., less belonging, greater imposter feelings, more evaluative concerns) and, in turn, exhibited worse achievement outcomes, including lower class attendance, poorer grades, and greater dropout intentions compared to students who perceived their teachers to hold growth mindset beliefs (Muenks et al., 2020; see also Canning et al., 2021; LaCosse et al., 2021).

Evidence-based tips for creating growth mindset classroom cultures

Given how influential teachers' mindset beliefs are for students' educational outcomes, it's important to understand how students come to perceive their teachers as endorsing growth mindset beliefs. So, do certain teaching behaviors communicate to students that their teachers hold growth mindset beliefs? And, if so, what can teachers say and do to foster growth mindset classroom cultures?

My colleagues and I examined these questions with both qualitative and quantitative research. First, we conducted focus groups with undergraduates (Kroeper, Muenks, et al., 2022). We asked students whether they had ever encountered teachers who seemed to endorse fixed or growth mindset beliefs about ability. Every student we asked could remember at least one teacher who seemed to endorse fixed mindset beliefs and at least one who seemed to endorse growth mindset beliefs. Then we asked these students to write about why they thought their teachers endorsed these mindset beliefs.

From this rich qualitative data, we uncovered four teaching behavior themes that signal to students that their teachers endorse growth mindset beliefs:

Messages about success: When teachers describe the characteristics required for success in class (e.g., hard work, help-seeking, and perseverance vs. innate, natural talent or brilliance) and communicate that they think students are likely (vs. unlikely) to make progress and succeed, students infer their teachers have growth mindset beliefs (e.g., "It may be challenging, but all of you can do well if you work hard, seek help, and try different learning strategies.").

Provision of opportunities: When teachers provide many (vs. few) opportunities for practice and more (vs. less) feedback, students infer their teachers' growth mindsets (e.g., "Please come to my office hours, we can review your exam together.").

Response to struggle: When teachers respond to student struggle, confusion, or poor performance with support, strategies, and additional opportunities to improve (vs. with frustration and resignation that improvement is not possible), students infer their teachers' growth mindsets (e.g., "Mistakes are opportunities to learn;" "Try thinking about the problem this way instead...").

Value placement: When teachers place value on student learning and development by showcasing improvement or commenting on students' development (vs. placing value on effortless, flawless performance and "natural" brilliance), students infer their teachers' growth mindsets (e.g., "The process you use to reach the answer is more important than the end result;" "You should be proud of your hard work and how much you've learned this year.").

Next, we quantitatively tested whether these four teaching themes shape students' perceptions of their teachers' mindsets (free of retrospective biases). Two student samples-one college sample (Kroeper, Fried, & Murphy, 2022) and one middle and high school sample (Hecht, Kroeper, et al., in prep)-completed a sorting task, where teaching behaviors that corresponded to the above themes flashed on the screen and students categorized them in-the-moment as either growth-minded or fixed-minded. As expected, students were most likely to categorize a teaching behavior as growth-minded when it:

suggested students are capable,

involved providing feedback,

supported struggling students, and

valued learning.

Additionally, these findings were robust to the inclusion of covariates, like the perceived warmth (vs. coldness) of the teaching behavior and students' own mindset beliefs.

Finally, we tested whether students' observations of teaching behavior in their real classrooms predicted their perceptions of teacher mindset beliefs (Kroeper, Muenks, et al., 2022). We surveyed college students throughout a semester, and, yet again, we found that the presence of these four teaching behavior themes (in actual classrooms) predicted students' perceptions that their teacher has a growth mindset.

So, taken together, by intentionally engaging in growth-signaling behaviors (and avoiding fixed-signaling behaviors), teachers can create learning environments infused with a growth mindset. By deliberately communicating that all students are capable, providing opportunities for practice and feedback, offering support to struggling students, and explicitly valuing learning and development, teachers can communicate their growth mindset beliefs and set the stage for a growth mindset classroom culture.

About the author

Kathryn Kroeper, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher at The Ohio State University and will be an assistant professor at Sacred Heart University starting in Fall 2022. She earned her PhD in experimental social psychology from Indiana University Bloomington and her BA in psychology from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Her research aims to eliminate social identity-based threats and inequities through social psychological intervention, with a focus on educational contexts.

References

Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and an intervention. Child Development, 78(1), 246-263.

Canning, E. A., Ozier, E., Williams, H. E., AlRasheed, R., & Murphy, M. C. (2021). Professors who signal a fixed mindset about ability undermine women's performance in STEM. Social Psychological and Personality Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/19485506211030398

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.

Hecht, C. A., Kroeper, K. M., Murphy, M. C., Yeager, D. S. (manuscript in prep). When do motivational beliefs affect behavior? The case of growth mindset.

Heinz, M. (2015). Why choose teaching? An international review of empirical studies exploring student teachers' career motivations and levels of commitment to teaching. Educational Research and Evaluation, 21(3), 258-297. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2015.1018278

Kroeper, K. M., Fried, A. C., & Murphy, M. C. (in press). Towards fostering growth mindset classrooms: Identifying teaching behaviors that signal instructors' fixed and growth mindsets beliefs to students. Social Psychology of Education.

Kroeper, K. M., Muenks, K., Canning, E. A., & Murphy, M. C. (in press). An exploratory study of the behaviors that communicate perceived instructor mindset beliefs in college stem classrooms. Teaching and Teacher Education.

LaCosse, J., Murphy, M. C., Garcia, J. A., & Zirkel, S. (2021). The role of STEM professors' mindset beliefs on students' anticipated psychological experiences and course interest. Journal of Educational Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/edu0000620

Muenks, K., Canning, E. A., LaCosse, J., Green, D. J., Zirkel, S., Garcia, J. A., & Murphy, M. C. (2020). Does my professor think my ability can change? Students' perceptions of their STEM professors' mindset beliefs predict their psychological vulnerability, engagement, and performance in class. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000763

Paunesku, D., Walton, G. M., Romero, C., Smith, E. N., Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2015). Mind-Set interventions are a scalable treatment for academic underachievement. Psychological Science, 26(6), 784-793. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797615571017

Walton, G. M., & Yeager, D. S. (2020). Seed and soil: Psychological affordances in contexts help to explain where wise interventions succeed or fail. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 29(3), 219-226. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721420904453

Yeager, D. S., Hanselman, P., Walton, G. M., Murray, J. S., Crosnoe, R., Muller, C., Tipton, E., Schneider, B., Hulleman, C. S., Hinojosa, C. P., Paunesku, D., Romero, C., Flint, K., Roberts, A., Trott, J., Iachan, R., Buontempo, J., Yang, S. M., Carvalho, C. M., ... Dweck, C. S. (2019). A national experiment reveals where a growth mindset improves achievement. Nature, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-019-1466-y

Yeager, D. S., Carroll, J. M., Buontempo, J., Cimpian, A., Woody, S., Crosnoe, R., Muller, C., Murray, J., Mhatre, P., Kersting, N., Hulleman, C., Kudym, M., Murphy, M., Duckworth, A. L., Walton, G. M., & Dweck, C. S. (2022). Teacher mindsets help explain where a growth-mindset intervention does and doesn't work. Psychological Science, 33(1), 18-32. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211028984

Recommended Reading

Contact Education

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Identifying teaching behaviors that foster growth mindset classroom cultures

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Learn more about the importance of 'growth-signaling' behaviors in the classroom.

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A Collection of Strategies to Foster a Growth Mindset

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A Collection of Strategies to Foster a Growth Mindset

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The blog post from Teach Starter provides a collection of growth mindset strategies aimed at helping students develop as learners. It offers practical tips and activities designed to foster a growth mindset culture in the classroom.

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Learning new things can be hard whether you're a grown-up or a little kid, but if you're looking for a new way to inspire students to problem solve, have you considered adding growth mindset strategies to your teacher toolbox? This method of teaching students to persevere in spite of setbacks has taken classrooms by storm, and it's one the teachers on the Teach Starter team have seen work in our own classrooms.

Curious about changing your students' mindsets? Read on to learn some common sense strategies you can use in the classroom.

Want to skip ahead to putting the whole thing to work in your classroom? Explore our favorite teacher-created growth mindset resources!

How to Develop a Growth Mindset in Students

By now you've probably heard "I can't" or "This is too hard" in your classroom often enough that if you were given a penny each time you'd be able to buy a small island. Frustration is tough, especially when you're a small person who doesn't feel they have a lot of control in life.

Translating Dweck's work into the classroom, a growth mindset can help both struggling learners and students who might be termed gifted, as the goal is to close the achievement gap and create a healthier, more equitable classroom. Students who have a growth mindset believe they can grow and develop their knowledge and understanding - it's a marathon, not a sprint!

But how do you develop a growth mindset in students in your classroom? Let's take a look at some growth mindset strategies that you can try with your students!

Growth Mindset Strategies

1. Don't Grade Every Single Assignment

Let kids know that assignments in the early part of a lesson are low stakes and meant to help them learn rather than about a particular end goal (aka a number or letter at the top of the page). This sets your students up to be better able to handle stumbles along the path to mastering a concept.

2. Grade for Learning

When you do assign grades, avoid doing so based on compliance to due dates or formatting. Instead, focus your grades on the actual understanding of the task at hand.

Download a free positive self talk poster for your classroom!

3. Teach Students to Value Their Differences

This gives your students a chance to consider how their minds work and provides an understanding that we all work a little differently - and that's not just OK, it's something to value. This fun growth mindset activity was inspired by scientist Stephen Hawking. After reading about Hawking, students create a self-portrait inspired by the limitless nature of the human mind.

4. Teach Students Growth Vocabulary

Terms like "I can't" and "I don't know how" are readily known by most students. But "not yet" and "I'll try" are squishier concepts and terms that are incredibly powerful. So make it a habit of adding "yet" when a student says they can't do something - "You can't answer that problem, yet."

Our Captain Yet resource pack is aimed at arming elementary schoolers with yet and other words they need to practice a growth mindset in the classroom. Even better? With goal setting and tracking templates, posters, displays, worksheets, games, and activities all focused around the adventures of a Captain Yet and his pal Pirate Nope, the concepts are actually really, really fun (we mean it!).

The characters Captain Yet and Pirate Nope are great role models for students due to the supportive nature of their friendship. Pirate Nope often feels as though he can't overcome many of his learning challenges. Captain Yet is a fantastic friend and helps Pirate Nope see that through resilience and problem-solving, every challenge has a solution.

5. Use Anchor Charts

Working with your students to create anchor charts that anchor the lesson, then posting them in the classroom helps to teach your students that it's OK to have to go back to a resource for reminders. In fact, it's something you encourage they do!

6. Be Careful With Your Own Language

Role model growth mindset language as much as possible. For example, when students complain that they're struggling at a particular concept, remind them that that's OK because each new problem they encounter is helping them develop those learning muscles.

In private, away from the students, try also to reframe your own take on vocabulary. Grades and students aren't "bad" or "good"! There's always room to grow!

7. Set Achievable Goals

As adults we often set goals that are too lofty and leave us feeling deflated when we can't hit them, so how can we expect young children to do any better? Work with your students on learning the language of "I can ..." and "I can't yet ..." to help them learn to create achievable goals and get used to working toward something rather than expecting mastery from day one.

We even made I Can! and I Can't Yet ... handwriting worksheets so your students can practice writing and goal-setting at the same time! There are four different worksheets so your students can complete a new one each 9-weeks to keep their growth mindset fresh.

8. Set Up a Growth Mindset Bulletin Board

Along with anchor charts, a bulletin board that provides the language of a growth mindset that's set up where students see it daily will help reinforce that failure is part of growing and moving forward. Give your students a visual reminder of the growth mindset vocabulary you've taught them, so they can practice using it each and every day!

9. Avoid Over-Praising Intelligence

We want to build students up, of course, but instead of telling a student how smart they are, how about praising how persistent they were in overcoming hurdles along the way to completing a task?

10. Provide Challenges

One of the best ways for students to develop a growth mindset is being challenged and seeing that it's OK to take risks and OK to fail ... and that you can dust yourself off and try again! Encourage your students to see each challenge as a step on the learning path.

11. Post Growth Mindset Quotes for Kids on Your Classroom Walls

Seeing growth mindset quotes everywhere they turn is subtle, but it's hard to forget the words you read several times a day. Explore a host of motivational posters with growth mindset quotes perfect for kids.

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11 Growth Mindset Strategies That Help Your Students Grow as Learners

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Wondering how to develop a growth mindset in the classroom? Try these easy strategies to reset how students think about failure.

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Fostering Growth Mindset with Classroom Decor

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Fostering Growth Mindset with Classroom Decor

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The YouTube video titled "Growth Mindset in the Classroom, Famous Failures Bulletin Board, High School Teacher Vlog" offers insights into how a high school teacher incorporates growth mindset strategies into their classroom, particularly through the creation of a "Famous Failures Bulletin Board." In the video, the teacher shares their experiences and reflections on fostering a growth mindset.

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Growth Mindset in the Classroom, Famous Failures Bulletin Board, High School Teacher Vlog

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"Fewer Things, Better: The Courage to Focus on What Matters Most" is a book featured on Truth for Teachers, offering educators guidance on prioritizing essential tasks and avoiding overwhelm. The book emphasizes the importance of focusing on fewer priorities to achieve greater effectiveness and fulfillment in teaching. Through practical strategies and insights, educators can learn to streamline their workload, set meaningful goals, and make intentional choices that align with their values and goals.

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Get the book

My latest book is called "Fewer Things, Better: The Courage to Focus on What Matters Most." It will be released on April 10th, 2019 in paperback, eBook, and audiobook form. Click here to learn more.

Participate in the Fewer Things Better Project

I've created a free mini-course with downloadable workbook to help you implement the ideas in the book and reflect on how you want to be spending your time.

Each exercise will give you a clearer understanding of your priorities so you can develop an actionable plan for what "fewer things, better" looks like in YOUR life. Click here to be notified when it's available.

More ways to get resources for doing fewer things better

* Subscribe to my Truth for Teachers podcast for inspiring audio messages
* Sign up for weekly encouragement and strategies via email
* Follow me on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook
* Inquire about having me speak or conduct professional development at your school

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Truth For Teachers - Fewer Things, Better Book Resources

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Get the book My latest book is called "Fewer Things, Better: The Courage to Focus on What Matters Most." It will be released on April 10th, 2019 in paperback, eBook, and audiobook form. Click here to learn more. Participate in the Fewer Things Better Project I've created a free mini-course with downloadable workbook to ...

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A practical guide to building students’ attention stamina and ability to focus

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A practical guide to building students’ attention stamina and ability to focus

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The Truth for Teachers podcast episode titled "How to Improve Student Focus and Attention Stamina" offers insights and strategies for educators to enhance student concentration and endurance in the classroom. Hosted by Angela Watson, the episode explores practical techniques for creating an environment conducive to sustained attention, such as incorporating movement breaks, utilizing brain breaks, and implementing mindfulness practices.

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A practical guide to building students’ attention stamina and ability to focus

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Concentration is a superpower skill set that fewer and fewer people possess. You and your students can be the exception. Together, you can train your brains to focus attention whenever you’d like, and build your concentration stamina.

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Laura Randazzo's blog provides a wealth of resources and insights for educators seeking to enhance their teaching practices. Through a variety of blog posts, Laura shares practical strategies, lesson ideas, and classroom management tips designed to engage students and promote academic success. From literacy activities to curriculum planning advice, her blog covers a wide range of topics relevant to middle and high school teachers.

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Laura Randazzo - Solutions for the Secondary Classroom

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Blog - Laura Randazzo - Solutions for the Secondary Classroom

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It's the biggest night in American football and, if you're like me, you'll be watching to see which logical fallacies

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A Quick Definition and Several Research-Based Tips

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A Quick Definition and Several Research-Based Tips

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The video "How to Optimize Working Memory in the Classroom" by Edutopia explores strategies to enhance working memory, a crucial cognitive function for learning and academic success. The video discusses techniques such as chunking information, providing visual aids, and incorporating movement to help students better process and retain information. By optimizing working memory, educators can improve student comprehension, attention, and problem-solving skills. These strategies also promote a more inclusive classroom environment by supporting students with diverse learning needs.

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How to Optimize Working Memory in the Classroom

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The Relevance of Novelty Outside the Classroom 

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The Relevance of Novelty Outside the Classroom 

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The TED talk "Why Your Life Needs Novelty, No Matter Your Age" explores the importance of novelty in stimulating the brain, fostering creativity, and promoting overall well-being. The speaker discusses how engaging in new and unfamiliar experiences can enhance brain function, increase happiness, and improve mental health.

Understanding the significance of novelty is crucial for educators in designing engaging and effective learning experiences for students. Introducing novel and diverse learning activities can captivate student interest, promote curiosity, and enhance learning motivation. By incorporating elements of novelty into their teaching practices, educators can create dynamic and stimulating classroom environments that cater to their students' diverse needs and preferences.

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Why Your Life Needs Novelty, No Matter Your Age | Kenneth Chabert | TED

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How Novelty Can/Should Revitalize your Teaching Methods

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How Novelty Can/Should Revitalize your Teaching Methods

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This resource highlights the significance of integrating novel experiences to invigorate learning and stimulate curiosity among students. Educators can explore practical approaches to effectively incorporate novelty, revitalize teaching methodologies, and boost student motivation. By embracing the power of novelty, educators can ignite a passion for learning and cultivate dynamic educational environments conducive to enhanced student engagement and achievement.

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Some days when I drive into school in the mornings I go a different way. It takes a bit longer and my alternate route selection is met by a question from my 3rd grade daughter: "Dad, why are you going this way?" My response is always the same: "I just wanted to do something different, and it's good for the brain." That answer is usually enough and she goes about her morning car routine of cinnamon pop tart in one hand and The Guinness Book of World Records in the other.

Trying something new, exploring a new path, takes many forms in schools. It can be as big as a complete change in curriculum content and as small as the rearranging of desks in the classroom. Whether large or small, the result is good for the brain. It forces us to rethink what we are doing, why we are doing it, and how we might do it differently and perhaps more successfully. In the educational realm, it is called novelty learning and teaching.

Researchers know that novelty boosts learning. Brain imaging has shown that there are specific areas in our brain designed to recognize novelty. When a child notices that something has changed or something is new, areas of the brain are triggered and the result is a reexamination of static concepts or ideas.

Novelty can be a positive experience for all students and teachers, but for a smaller group it becomes an essential part of their education. Termed, "novelty learners," these children prefer activities that are multi-sensory and books that contain multiple facts-such as the one my daughter lugs to school each day-or books containing optical illusions. Why? Because each and every time these children open one of these books there exists the opportunity to learn or see something new. This is also true of classroom experiences. Children who are novelty learners tend to enjoy the sciences and the arts. Both are hands-on experiences that stimulate areas of the brain, primarily in the right hemisphere, triggering the release of dopamine. Additional brain imaging research conducted by Dr. Emrah Düzel from University College London's Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience indicates that introducing "completely new facts when learning significantly improves memory performance."

Recently, my daughter was challenged by her 3rd grade teacher to research the Tlingit tribe as part of a social studies unit on Native American tribes of North America. She fastidiously researched the group, recording all of her information in a journal. When I would ask her about it she would reply, "I like finding new facts." The novelty of this learning experience was motivating her. However, it wasn't until she was asked to construct a model of a Tlingit plank home using whatever materials she could think of that I saw the spark in her eye. Each evening she would comb our house for potential building materials; popsicle sticks, branches, clay, and even part of our rug were "appropriated" for the project! The end result was a beautiful model and an inspired student.

Getting Past Fear of Change

I saw the middle grades at the school where I work use the benefits of novelty in a more subtle way-by conducting a "Locker Clean-out and Swap." The teens discovered, upon returning from vacation, that their locker assignments had been switched around. The result was a mixture of angst and excitement for a fresh and new beginning. The swap gave these students the chance to see their middle school hallway from a different perspective and to connect with new neighbors.

Of course, with novelty comes change, and change can be frightening. But who among us would claim that they are proud to be led by their fears? Instead, by remaining open to change and the novelty that it affords us, we avail ourselves to new opportunities for learning. Teachers should always be afforded opportunities to change, experiment, and try new ways of working with our children. The results would be classrooms where students' thinking is stretched in new directions and children are challenged to try new things. Whether it is a math problem, writing assignment, or art project, new and creative thinking instills in our children a love for creative problem solving.

Exploratory and experiential learning are at the core of this practice. Students need opportunities to explore and experience new ideas and concepts. It is not easy. Routine and repetition makes things easier and more efficient in our hectic lives. I'm sure I am not the only one who has driven all the way to work and then thought to myself, "I don't remember a bit of that drive." It is precisely why every so often, I go a different way. I may get to work a few minutes later, but I get there, and I and my brain are better for the experience. We owe it to our children to provide for them opportunities to go "a different way" in their learning, to try a new approach even when the "old way" works just fine.

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Change Things Up With Novelty Learning (Opinion)

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Research has shown that novelty-trying something new or exploring a different path-boosts learning, writes a principal. Sometimes all it takes is rearranging the desks.