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Without proper guidance, children will inadvertently self-sabotage their future. Developing the principles that lead to success doesn't often come independently. That's why it's critical to put rules in place at home and school to empower children to succeed.

In the classroom, rules help control student behavior and set the tone for effective learning.

Plus, they guide children's actions and promote consistency making the learning environment predictable. This gives children the safety they need to get ahead in their physical, emotional, and social development.

However, when the rules negatively focus on what not to do and emphasize punishment, they do the opposite of providing a safe space for children to learn and grow. This usually leads to student behavior taking a turn for the worse.

That's why creating positive classroom rules carries the day when it comes to controlling behaviors, managing expectations, and fostering mutual respect between the teacher and students.

Let's explore some positive classroom rules to position your students for success in 2023.

What Are Positive Classroom Rules?

Positive classroom rules are principles that govern children's behavior through positive means. The rules are often agreed upon by the teacher and learners.

Positive rules differ from traditional rules in that they're not based on what children shouldn't do, but rather on the actions they should take to produce positive outcomes.

Moreover, unlike traditional rules, they don't encourage punishment, which often sets children up for failure.

For example, instead of, "Stop talking out of turn or you'll be punished," positive rules say, "Raise your hand and ask your turn to speak so we can all listen to each other's views."

In most cases, positive classroom rules don't just apply to the students; they govern the educators as well. By doing so, the teacher becomes the role model for the learners.

Keys for Setting Positive Classroom Rules

When it comes to setting rules there's no one-size-fits-all approach. Each classroom needs a unique set of rules depending on the learners in your class and the school environment.

However, here are some basic guidelines you need to follow when setting your class rules:

They should be clear and easy to understand

Keep them brief and easy to remember

Set a positive tone and ensure the rules aren't stifling

They should be broad enough to cover as many misbehaviors as possible

Have a clear plan for what happens when someone breaks the rules

With these guidelines in mind, you can create a set of rules that suits your specific situation.

It's extremely important to include the students in establishing these classroom rules. If the students don't accept the rules, they won't be bothered to follow them, which will undermine any desired positive results.

Here are a few of the main overarching rules you can implement in your classroom.

Rule 1: Maintain Your Work Ethic and Always Try Your Best

Building a strong work ethic in your students right from the beginning can help them increase their focus.

This rule is about developing a positive work ethic in everything from how students participate in class to how they approach their assignments.

Specifically, this rule encompasses:

Completing all work

Keeping a positive attitude even when the work is hard

Being organized

Working on good behavior

Participating in all class activities

Not cheating on homework and tests

How you frame this rule will depend on your learners. For example, in a first-grade class, you might say, "We always do our best."

For middle school children, you might frame the rule to read, "We complete all our work on time and always do the very best we can."

Rule 2: Listen and Follow Instructions

This rule emphasizes the importance of respecting authority and always being responsive to instructions quickly.

It'll govern how learners stick to established routines and follow the teachers' expectations.

The rule on listening covers a range of behaviors that have to do with:

Safety protocols

Classwork

Schedules

Assignments

Interactions with the teacher

Rule 3: Respect the Teacher and Other Students

Respect is an essential ingredient in all communications. Establishing respect towards other people sets the tone for how students interact with the teacher and other learners.

Specifically, the rule entails:

Listening to teachers and all other staff

Listening to the views and opinions of other learners

Being kind and using positive words

Using a respectful tone

Being courteous

Not damaging class materials

Respecting other people's personal space

Rule 4: Safety First: Keep Hands, Feet, and Objects to Yourself

Instead of making rules that focus on what not to do, like "don't hit others" and "don't fight," this rule focuses on what students can do to make sure everyone is safe.

This broad rule prevents a lot of the issues that arise in the classroom like:

It promotes a safe classroom environment where everyone can learn and work together in peace.

Using Positive Classroom Rules for Student Success

Positive rules allow for a positive classroom environment. Students learn to respect the teacher and each other. The classroom becomes a safe place where all students can learn and try their best, leading to more successful educational outcomes.

Most importantly, positive rules set the platform for the holistic transformation of students. They develop a positive outlook towards life and challenges, setting them up to be well-adjusted individuals.

Imagine if positive rules didn't belong only in the classroom?

If the whole school implemented a program that focused on positive discipline and a positive curriculum, the result would be a phenomenal improvement in discipline and grades.
With Positive Action, the dream of a positive and successful learning environment is a reality. "This is what school should be for all children everywhere: a place where people want to be; a place where they are safe to learn and grow."
This is what Dorothy Solomon (former Artist in Residence for the Arts in Education program in Utah) had to say when she came across schools that had implemented the Positive Action curriculum.

It's more than just a theory; the Positive Action curriculum has brought transformation to schools for many years. With Positive Action, the school becomes a launchpad of dreams.

Children grow a new found love for learning, teachers are happy-not overwhelmed, and the administrators can do their job and not spend hours handling disciplinary issues.

"Over a 12-year period, as I conducted writing residencies throughout the region, I learned to recognize Positive Action schools when I walked through the door. At a Positive Action school, I could count on receiving respect and attention from students, teachers and administrators; I knew that the students would do their best in their writing and their behavior. Our results were always amazing, our performance programs inspiring. So many students produced stellar work that I began to track the difference between "ordinary" schools and Positive Action schools." Dorothy Solomon.

Positive Action's curriculum is not all talk. It's been tried and tested and has been proven to improve behavioral challenges and academic success.

The numbers don't lie. Statistics show the transformative power of the Positive Action curriculum in several outcomes ranging from absenteeism to mental health and drug use.

By implementing Positive Action in your school, you foster a positive sense of self-concept in your students that'll be a stepping stone for their success in every sphere of life.

Schedule a webinar today to learn more about the Positive Action curriculum and discuss how best to implement the program in your school.

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4 Positive Classroom Rules to Achieve Student Success in 2023

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Without proper guidance, children will inadvertently self-sabotage their future. Developing the principles that lead to success doesn't often come independently. That's why it's critical to put rules in place at home and school to empower children to succeed.

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Learning goals are broad, general statements of what we want our students to learn and provide:

Setting goals gives us a real road map to where we want to go. The same when we provide goals to learners. Learning goals are the heart of a course design and need to be made clear at the planning stage.

An instructor can use those goals as a roadmap to prepare an online class. In this article, we are going to explore in-depth the role of Learning Goals and Objectives in course design and how to prepare a lesson plan based on them.

Defining Learning Objectives

The best way to use goals as a roadmap for a course design is to make them more clear and concise by determining specific learning objectives.

Learning Objectives are measurable subgoals of a lesson and inform particular learning outcomes.

Writing learning objectives keeps you focused and helps you in planning. This is easily achieved with the use of action verbs that describe learner capabilities at the end of a course.
From the learners' point of view, objectives help them understand what the instructor expects of them and what they must expect of themselves.

What is the Difference Between Goals and Objectives?

Many people confuse the definitions of goals and objectives, and often confuse the terms.

Learning goals are long-term, broad, and achievable, but not necessarily measurable.

On the other hand, learning objectives are also referred to as learning outcomes because they are immediately linked to the expected outcomes; what we can expect learners to be able to do by the end of the course.

Learning objectives can then be broken down into small learning activities, or assessments.

Changing one of these three components greatly affects the other two. So, this process is dynamic while planning course content. The table below can help you understand how goals differ from objectives:

Is it clear enough yet?

Now, let's see a real example of an instructional goal vs. the objectives in an Art course and Photoshop course:

Learning Objectives

- Learners will be able to identify. whether a print is a woodcut or a lithograph.

- Learners will be able to justify this identification.

- Learners will be able to manipulate layers.

- Learners will be able to correct colors.

- Learners will be able to paint.

- Learners will be able to create special effects.

Why is it Important to Set Objectives?

When setting Learning Objectives:

You can adequately organize the course material because you can establish a logical sequence of learning milestones.

You can immediately align objectives with evaluation methods.

You communicate expectations to your learners, so you help them evaluate themselves.

Finally, learners can interconnect goals through your courses.

Objectives tell the learner how they will be able to know, not merely quess, whether or not they have learned and understood the lesson.

How Should Objectives be Formed?

Objectives should be specific, concise, observable and measurable. Each learning objective should target one particular aspect of student performance and be expressed with a single action verb.

There is a specific order according to which learners process information in a course. Bloom's taxonomy helps understand this natural order. What Bloom did is describe the levels of student learning, that could help a designer set the right objectives:

Following this taxonomy is the most surefire way to boost learning to a higher level. The following table depicts everything we are talking about. In it there are examples of verbs and activities you can use to formulate your course objectives. Take a look!
Examples of how to use the listed verbs:
- Learners will be able to use a rule to determine if a sentence is grammatically correct.
(Application stage)

Learners will be able to classify foods according to their origins.
(Analysis stage)

Learners will be able to discriminate the program's peculiar features.
(Evaluation stage)

See how it goes? You may struggle at first to apply this method, but it provides an analytical design, worthwhile to try out!

You will see how much more your learners will engage in your course.

While designing your objectives, it is optimal to follow Bloom's hierarchical order of objectives and not dismiss lower levels as unworthy so that learners have all the requirements regarding previous knowledge to proceed.
Important tips:

Consider developing 2-3 learning objectives for each section of your course.

If the objectives are several, organize them into subcategories.

Use simple language, speak personally (ex. 'You will be able to') and keep objectives short.

Don't use more than one sentences to express your objectives.

Don't list multiple verbs in one objective - since every action will be measured and assessed differently, each verb should be in a separate objective.

Communicate your objectives through your course page, your welcoming video or discussion with your learners. In a next article I am going to show you how to express your objectives not in a listed manner but in a very creative one!

Designing Your Course Using Learning Objectives

Let's suppose you have chosen your topic and you are determined about what to teach in your course. When in the process of completing these steps, it is optimal either to use a pen and a paper or a concept map application to create connections between your ideas.

1 Imagine your course.

Brainstorm a list of all the possible things you want to teach and might include in your course.

2 Draft your course goals.

Write at least 2-3 goals to shape your ongoing course design. Here, we give you some questions that will help you plan your course goals:

"In this course, I will emphasize in..."
"The main themes learners will go through are..."
"The big picture I want to promote through this course is..."

Suitable verbs to use to set goals are shown below. "Through this course, you will..."

3 Design Learning Objectives

Using the table above, design your Learning Objectives. Break down your goals to form more specific and measurable learning objectives. Link those objectives to the corresponding sections.

Consider: For whom are you writing your learning objectives? Analyze your target audience and their pre-existing knowledge.

Keep overall course objectives to no more than a dozen-this will keep you focused on the essentials.

Don't exaggerate trying to write even more precise learning objectives-the main point is to express as clearly and plainly as possible.

4 Write the Activities

For each objective of the course, write down some corresponding activities that you are planning to use to accomplish that objective.Through these activities, students will achieve the objectives you set for them. Other activities not mentioned above are:

Reading a text.

Reading worked-out example problems.

Answering short objective questions.

Discussing issues with other learners.

Conducting research.

5 Develop Assessments

Ideally, as you are drafting course goals and learning objectives, you are also beginning to develop the assessments for the course. Decide which questions you will include in your questionnaires or exams (as well as the type of questions you will use) or the content of your assignments based on the objectives you have set.

Align your assessment activities with your objectives. This way you can be sure that your learners have the desired progress.

Reflect on your objectives and consider the following:

Are your course objectives achievable given the available resources?

Are your course objectives in agreement with the course goals?

Can learners' performance on the objective be measured?

Are there real measures stated (rate numbers, percentages or frequencies)?

When do you want learners to accomplish the objective?

Are you attempting too much so that your objectives are not achievable?

Is the objective valuable for the learner?

What if I Have Already Created My Course?

You may argue with the above if you have already created your course without having formed clear goals and objectives. But imagine how much you could improve your material by reviewing what you want to achieve and also how happy your old or new learners will be if you add this information to your course.
How to update a course using learning goals and objectives:

1. Review all of the material of your course thus far.

2. Identify any patterns in themes, content, hopes, objectives, and activities.

3. Group similar items together.

4. Give titles to each group of items. You automatically see what your objectives are.

5. Identify the most important things you hope learners will take away from the course and what you want their learning experience to be. These are your course goals!

Then, you can create a great lesson plan based on the learning objectives, goals and activities you have decided on.

Further Reading

To prepare quality educational materials using learning goals, objectives and outcomes is a challenge worth pursuing. It will translate into a higher valued course, satisfied students and will help you in the process of creating your own course.

For this purpose, we suggest the following literature for further studying:

Learning outcomes and instructional objectives: is there a difference? Ronald M Harden - Link to article

Choosing teaching methods based on learning objectives: An integrative framework. Sarah E. Bonner - Link to article

Bloom's taxonomy revisited: Specifying assessable learning objectives in computer science. Christopher Starr, Bill Manaris, Roxann H. Stalvey - Link to article

Academic Sources

Designing and Assessing Courses and Curricula, Third Edition, 2008. Robert M. Diamond. Jossey-Bass: San Francisco, CA.)

Harden, R. M. (2002). Learning outcomes and instructional objectives: is there a difference?. Medical teacher, 24(2), 151-155.

Bonner, S. E. (1999). Choosing teaching methods based on learning objectives: An integrative framework. Issues in Accounting Education, 14(1), 11-15.

Starr, C. W., Manaris, B., & Stalvey, R. H. (2008). Bloom's taxonomy revisited: specifying assessable learning objectives in computer science. ACM SIGCSE Bulletin, 40(1), 261-265.

Bloom, B. S. (ed.). Taxonomy of educational objectives: Handbook 1: Cognitive domain. Longmans, Green and Company, New York, 1956.

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Learning Goals and Objectives in Course Design | LearnWorlds Blog

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Learning goals are broad, general statements of what we want our students to learn and provide: Direction, Focus, and Cohesion Setting goals gives us a real road map to where we want to go. The same when we provide goals to learners. Learning goals are the heart of a course design and need to be ...

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7 Differentiation Strategies for Your Classroom

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7 Differentiation Strategies for Your Classroom

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All students are unique and special in their own way. Each learns in a different way and needs their education to be individualized.

But differentiating lessons for gifted students can require even more thought and extra planning.

Gifted learners tend to go through their learning activities rapidly and require modifications to their education for them to be fully engaged in the classroom.

If you're struggling to know exactly how to differentiate lessons for gifted students, this is just the article for you. We'll highlight instructional strategies to use that will meet your student's need for enrichment in the classroom, as well as pitfalls to avoid.

What does "Gifted" mean?

The National Association for Gifted Children defines gifted as " students with gifts and talents performed or capable being performed at higher levels compared to others the same age, experience, and environment. "

If your school has a gifted program, they likely also have their own definition and benchmarks that qualify a student as gifted. It is important to note that there is not a unified definition from all the states concerning what gifted means.

Gifted students are seen across all racial, socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds.

And there is no one behavior or skill set that defines a gifted learner. Some are gifted in athletics or leadership while others are gifted in the sciences or social skills.

Why is differentiated instruction needed for talented students?

Gifted students are often bored in a typical classroom. This can result in them just zoning out of the lesson or misbehaving. In situations where gifted students are left unchallenged for long periods of time, the students may never learn how to learn in a classroom.

These students need unique opportunities to analyze, evaluate, create and reflect in challenging ways. Differentiating the lesson according to their strengths can help make this happen.

Building differentiated lessons is about the philosophy and practice rather than a strict step-by-step process. You can tweak this practice to match your students' readiness, interest, learning styles and academic needs.

In general, differentiating lessons is a helpful strategy for all student learning. Education scholar Carol Tomlinson emphasizes, " Differentiation really means trying to make sure that teaching and learning work for the full range of students."

However, this article will specifically focus on why it's necessary for gifted students. When a student is contemplating skipping a grade but isn't quite ready to make the leap or is only gifted in a particular subject, differentiated lessons are a great solution.

8 Differentiation strategies for gifted learners

There are a lot of ways to use differentiation with a lesson. Different approaches will likely work better for a particular topic or student. Here are some ideas to get you started.

1. Create tiered assignments
Tiered assignments allow learners to complete the same assignment at different levels of difficulty.
How you implement this strategy will vary based on your classroom. For example, you may design an assignment for the middle tier of students and then add additional challenges for gifted students.

Another option is designing a more difficult assignment and then adding scaffolding, such as a graphic organizer or supplied reading material, to those at or below grade level.

With this strategy, it is important to routinely assess your students to understand where they are at. This way you will always know who needs advanced content and who needs more help.

2. Shorten the explanations

Gifted students typically understand a concept the first time it is explained, whereas their peers may need the content to be taught a few different ways.

Try giving a short pre-assessment or a pop quiz once you have taught the concept one time to see if the gifted students can move on to the next topic.

Doing this will hopefully prevent boredom and, in turn, misbehavior from gifted students.

3. Use flexible apps

When bringing technology into your classroom and blending the learning experience, choose apps and games with flexibility. Look for options where gifted students can work on more complex concepts while other students work closer to grade level.

There are plenty of apps, like Prodigy Math, that engage students and evaluate their skills to determine if they are learning math problems at the right level. Prodigy Math then uses adaptive algorithms to continue to challenge the student.

Apps like this can also help strain teachers less when planning differentiating lessons since they don't have to design the tiers themselves.

4. Offer open-ended and self-directed assignments

Open-ended tasks are great for differentiated lessons because they leave plenty of room for students' skills and ideas to shine. They are especially good at stimulating higher-order thinking skills such as problem-solving.

Self-directed assignments give gifted learners responsibility for their own development and let them decide how far they want to take their own learning. Assignments with open-ended questions encourage students to offer creative responses, work in small groups and build other ways to further explore. But make sure you deliver open-ended sessions with an end goal rather than leaving the students alone.

5. Introduce project-based learning

Project-based learning is effective since it mimics the real world. In a project-based assignment, learners conduct research, ask complex questions and improve management skills. Oftentimes, projects end with a presentation, which is great for practicing public speaking.

Projects can be completed in small groups or by each student individually. This learning method is especially beneficial for gifted learners due to its depth, student choice, real-world learning and collaboration opportunities.

Project-based learning tends to go over the best when the assignments relate to a student's interests. For example, a high school student interested in social studies could be tasked with designing advocacy around an issue of their choice.

6. Try a compact curriculum

A compact curriculum is similar to shortening explanations, but it will actually throw out whole lessons that the gifted student already understands. Instead, the gifted student will be given lessons on content they've never been exposed to.

Most often in this method, students will be given a pre-test that allows them to show mastery over various problems. Then, the curriculum is adjusted.

It's important to remember that curriculum development for gifted students is a dynamic process.

7. Pair gifted students up

Another strategy is being more intentional in how you pair students up in collaborative projects. Putting gifted students together in cluster groups boosts their achievement since they are able to work at a faster pace.

You may even find that in specific subjects, students that are gifted in that area can be paired up for their own differentiated lesson while you teach the rest of the class. These pairs can work on advanced content and learn from each other.

8. Always keep learning

Teaching requires constant innovation and growth with a new classroom of kiddos each year. You will always be tweaking what you are doing based on new things that you learn.

In the last two years, the pandemic has required flexibility and accelerated digital learning in ways we had never seen before.

The challenges that came with this got teachers talking and opened up a dialogue about what learning strategies work. It created a community where more experienced teachers could impart their knowledge to others.

Gifted education pitfalls to avoid

As with any strategy, there are ways to do it well and ways to do it that are not so great. Try to avoid these three common mistakes when differentiating lessons for gifted students.

1. Using gifted students as teaching assistants

While gifted students may seem like a great help in the classroom, they should not be tasked with mentoring or tutoring other students. They need to be challenged in their own education and reteaching a concept that they already know doesn't do that.

A different way to go about this is having flexible grouping projects that let students work together for a short period of time. These projects allow gifted students to practice interacting with their peers and allow other students to learn from gifted students, but it's temporary.

This method allows gifted students to learn and avoids attaching a 'teacher' role to their interactions.

2. Working independently without oversight

A differentiated lesson for gifted learners should lead to more collaboration and content enrichment without the learner working constantly on their own. Assigning open-ended tasks without oversight or accountability can actually have the opposite effect of what you're going for with gifted learners.

Ensure that lessons allow for student choice while still conforming to school district standards. And check in often with your gifted students.

3. Assuming mastery in all subject areas

Don't assume that just because a learner is gifted in one area means that this means they are gifted in every area. For example, a student may be reading at a high school level but is not a strong writer. Or they may excel at math problems but struggle to understand graphs in science.

Evaluate each subject area individually before assigning advanced lessons to gifted students.

Creating a learning environment for everyone

Differentiated lessons can be a great tool for gifted students in your classroom. But there are best practices to keep in mind when you're constructing lessons. Differentiating lessons helps challenge gifted students and keep them engaged in your classroom.
If starting the process of planning differentiated lessons feels overwhelming to you, using Prodigy can be a great first step.
Whether you're teaching in a math or English classroom, Prodigy is a fantastic free teaching resource that customizes each student's experience with adaptive content.

Prodigy helps make it easier for you to differentiate instruction across your classroom, with no grading required! Teachers simply select what curriculum-aligned skills they'd like to test on their students or let Prodigy's adaptive algorithm assign content to help a student grow, including those in gifted or talented strands.
It's also free for teachers and schools! See how it works below: Create your free account

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7 Ways to Differentiate Lessons for Gifted Students

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All students are unique and special in their own way. Each learns in a different way and needs their education to be individualized. But differentiating lessons for gifted students can require even more thought and extra planning. Gifted learners tend to go through their learning activities rapidly and require modifications to their education for them to be fully engaged in the classroom.

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OF FAITH AND WORK

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Maximizing the Learning of All Students

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This module discusses the importance of differentiating three aspects of instruction: content, process (instructional methods), and product (assessment). It explores the student traits-readiness level, interest, and learning preferences-that influence learning (est. completion time: 3 hours).

Work through the sections of this module in the order presented in the STAR graphic above.

Related to this module

Copyright 2022 Vanderbilt University. All rights reserved.

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Differentiated Instruction: Maximizing the Learning of All Students

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This module discusses the importance of differentiating three aspects of instruction: content, process (instructional methods), and product (assessment). It explores the student traits-readiness level, interest, and learning preferences-that influence learning (est. completion time: 3 hours). Work through the sections of this module in the order presented in the STAR graphic above.

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50 Strategies for differentiated Instruction 

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50 Strategies for differentiated Instruction 

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Here are 50 strategies for differentiated instruction to better meet the needs of your diverse, evolving learners.

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25+ secrets to effective planning and preparation

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25+ secrets to effective planning and preparation

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New teacher planning is daunting! I sat down and looked at all the things that would've helped me in my first year and wrote them out for you!

Are you a new teacher looking to make a lasting impact in the classroom? Unlocking the secrets to effective new teacher planning and preparation is the key to success in the world of education. As a new teacher, the daunting task of creating lesson plans, organizing materials, and managing time can feel overwhelming.

From setting clear objectives to utilizing technology and collaboration, we will explore practical tips and proven methods to help you navigate the complexities of lesson planning, engage your students, and create an even classroom environment that fosters learning and growth.

So, whether you are embarking on your first year of teaching or seeking to enhance your planning skills, join us as we unlock the secrets to effective new teacher planning and preparation.

What are the 5 Phases of New Teachers?

The five phases of new teachers are anticipation, survival, disillusionment, rejuvenation, and reflection. The school year is cyclical and many of us cycle through these emotions in our first few years. It's completely normal and it usually gets easier.

There are so many strategies out there that promise to perfect your teaching strategies or classroom management, but teachers can be exhausting and emotionally draining.

What do first year teachers struggle with?

New teacher planning: First year teachers often struggle with lesson planning and time management. If you are in a heavy content area like English or Math, there is little down time and schedules are always busy. If you're a teacher in a lower socio-economic area, you might find yourself covering for teachers fairly regularly due to staffing shortages. That leaves little time to plan. Special Education teachers have unending paperwork.

Once you have established some lesson plans, decided on a classroom management style, and find a groove, it gets easier.

What every first year teacher should know?

1. Lesson planning gets easier.

2. It's normal to feel overwhelmed and responsible for everything.

3. The first year is always the hardest, so try to lean on your colleagues for support.

4. If you're the only subject specific teacher at your school, then look at websites like Teachers Pay Teachers, or other teaching websites for support in your content area.

5. Also, classroom management gets easier!

Why do so many new teachers quit?

Teachers quit because teachers need support in ways other career professionals do not. Our job is emotionally, mentally, and physically taxing. We must rely on our teams and our administration for support.

New teachers need time to prepare together, build trust in their teams, learn from veteran teachers. This is important because every school is different and teachers need time to adapt to their environment.

In addition, teaching can be contentious. We see over 100 students each day and we need support dealing with parents and students.

Finally, many educators make a lot less than their business counterparts. In many cases, it is more cost effective to leave teaching for a less stressful career.

Who Should Support You as a Beginning Teacher?

If you're at the right school, the entire school will support you.

1. Your content area team is a great source of support. Pick one teacher you feel the most comfortable with and befriend them. There's probably a Google Drive or plethora of lesson plans on someone's computer to help you get started.

2. The administration team provides direction regarding procedures and reviews.

3. The front office is often in charge of payroll and scheduling, so make sure you are gracious when you need support!

4. Be kind your janitorial and maintenance staff are because they fix things for you!

The Importance of Effective New Teacher Planning and Preparation

Effective planning and preparation are essential for new teachers to provide quality education and ensure student success. One of the key benefits of effective planning is that it helps teachers stay organized and focused.

Another important aspect of effective planning is that it enables teachers to differentiate their instruction. Every student is unique, with different learning styles, abilities, and needs.

This may involve incorporating different instructional strategies, providing additional support for struggling learners, or challenging advanced students with extension activities.

Understanding the Purpose of New Teacher Planning and Preparation

Before diving into the nitty-gritty of planning and preparation, it is important to have teachers understand the purpose behind these activities. Planning is about envisioning the desired outcome and designing a roadmap to achieve it. The purpose of planning is to ensure that every minute spent in the classroom is purposeful, meaningful, and aligned with the intended learning outcomes.

Preparation, on the other hand, involves gathering the necessary resources, materials, and tools to support the planned instruction. This includes creating or selecting appropriate instructional materials, organizing manipulatives and props, and familiarizing oneself with the content and pedagogical strategies that will be used during the lesson.

Preparation is about equipping oneself with the knowledge, skills, and resources needed to deliver effective instruction and engage students in meaningful learning experiences.

Why New Teacher Planning Is Important for Classroom Management

Lesson planning is important for classroom management because when lessons are prepared in consideration of learning objectives, interests, and student abilities, classroom management is a non-issue. Students are less disruptive and fidgety when they are engaged.

Focused Teacher Lesson Planners

I don't own a teacher planner. However, I used them in my first few years as a teacher because it made lesson planning clearer. Planning lessons was easier when I had something physical to look at. I needed to see weekly activities in print. I've also tried digital planners. I think they are useful if you use them, especially in your first few years. I still have my first teacher planner!

Key Elements of Effective New Teacher Planning and Preparation

There is a fairly straightforward way to creating lesson plans. Remember - Straightforward does not mean easy. This is a process you will internalize after lots of practice.

5 Steps in The New Teacher Planning Process:

1. Establish student learning outcomes first. How will students succeed in the lesson? Objectives specify what students should know, understand, and be able to do by the end of a lesson or unit. When setting objectives, it is important to make them specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). This ensures that the objectives are clear, achievable, and aligned with the desired learning outcomes.
Consider your students' prior knowledge: Before introducing new content, it is important to assess your students' prior knowledge and build upon it. Consider what your students already know and understand about the topic and use this information to inform your instruction.

2. Collect the sources and materials for the lesson. When planning, consider the types of assessments that will be used to measure students' progress and understanding. These may include formative assessments such as quizzes, observations, and class discussions, as well as summative assessments like tests, projects, and presentations.

3. List the procedures for the lesson. As you list out the steps & procedures for the lesson, consider how you may need to adapt the lesson for all learners. You want to be able to teach to all students.
Differentiate instruction: Consider instructional design and plan for differentiation to meet the diverse needs of your students. Consider the various learning styles, abilities, and interests of your students and incorporate strategies that cater to these differences. This may involve speaking with parents, offering extension activities, or using flexible grouping strategies. You may want to incorporate communication logs for your class. I used them as a new teacher and they helped a lot!

4. Choose the learning activities, lecture, discussion, games, etc. When designing activities, consider the interests, abilities, and learning styles of your students. Incorporate a variety of instructional strategies such as hands-on experiments, group discussions, multimedia presentations, and real-world applications.
Remember to make the activities interactive, collaborative, and relevant to students' lives to enhance their engagement and motivation.

5. After you complete the lesson, reflect and make notes of any changes or tweaks necessary. Assessments provide students with opportunities to test and practice the knowledge and skills articulated by their learning goals and to provide feedback on progress. Use the note pages in your teacher planner to keep track of changes for next year.

New Teacher Planning Creates More Student Success

Don't over-complicate the learning objective. When planning lessons, keep the main learning activity straightforward.

I've taught almost every age group at this point. Pre k students are not that different from elementary, middle school or high school students. Keep the learning targets attainable. Ensure students know how to measure success.

Utilizing Technology Effectively for New Teacher Planning

Incorporating technology tools into your planning and instruction can help create engaging, interactive, and personalized learning experiences for your students. Check out your school's app library to see what they have available. Tip: try not to overuse any one app.

New Teacher Planning: Utilizing Resources and Materials Effectively

As a new teacher, it is important to familiarize yourself with the resources available to you and understand how to use them effectively. Here are some tips to help you utilize resources and materials effectively:

1. Explore textbooks and curriculum materials: Take the time to thoroughly review the textbooks and curriculum materials provided by your school or district before the school year begins, if possible. Familiarize yourself with the content, structure, and organization of these resources.

2. Tap into library resources: The library can be a treasure trove of resources for teachers. Take advantage of the books, magazines, and other materials available in the library. Incorporate reading materials, research projects, and access to other library resources into your lessons to provide additional content and support.

3. Engage with online resources: The internet provides a vast array of educational resources that can enhance your instruction. Explore educational websites, online databases, and digital libraries for relevant articles, videos, simulations, and interactive learning activities. Use these resources to supplement your lessons, provide further explanations, or offer additional practice opportunities for your students.

4. Leverage community resources: Look beyond the walls of your classroom and tap into the resources available in your community. This may include guest speakers, field trips, community organizations, or local businesses. Incorporate these resources into your lessons to provide real-world connections, practical examples, and opportunities for students to apply their learning in meaningful contexts.

5. Create your own materials: The first year, teachers want to create the perfect lesson plan for every day, but you also don't have to reinvent the wheel. See what you have available. Then, go through and choose a few things to make.
This could be in the form of worksheets, graphic organizers, manipulatives, or other hands-on resources. Customize these materials to meet the specific needs of your students and align them with your lesson objectives. But, please DON'T BURN YOURSELF OUT THE FIRST SCHOOL YEAR.

New Teacher Planning: Designing an Inclusive Classroom

Every student deserves a quality education. Take time to get to know your students and when preparing for your classes, take time to ensure your classroom is inclusive. Students with glasses may need to sit near the front of the class. Students who wiggle may need a fidget toy or a signal to let you know they need to move.

Incorporating Differentiation and Assessment in New Teacher Planning

Differentiation in assessment may look different for some students. Here are some tips for planning assessments:

1. Know your students: Take the time to get to know your students as individuals. Understand their strengths, weaknesses, interests, and learning styles. This will help you tailor your instruction and provide appropriate support and challenges for each student.

2. Use flexible grouping: Group students based on their needs, abilities, or interests. This allows you to provide targeted instruction and support to specific groups of students. Consider using different grouping strategies such as whole-class, small group, pairs, or individual work to meet the diverse needs of your students.

3. Offer choice: Provide students with choices in how they demonstrate their understanding or complete assignments. This allows students to showcase their strengths and interests while still meeting the learning objectives. For example, instead of assigning a traditional written essay, give students the option to create a video, design a poster, or give a presentation.

4. Provide scaffolds: Offer support to students who may be struggling with the content or skills. This may involve providing additional examples, breaking down complex tasks into smaller steps, or offering graphic organizers or other visual aids. The goal is to provide the necessary support to help students achieve success.

5. Offer extension activities: Challenge advanced students with extension activities that go beyond the basic requirements. This may involve providing additional readings, research projects, or open-ended assignments that allow students to explore the topic in greater depth. The goal is to provide opportunities for students to further develop their knowledge and skills.

When it comes to assessment, consider using a variety of assessment methods to gauge students' understanding and progress. This may include formal assessments such as tests, quizzes, or projects, as well as informal assessments like observations, class discussions, or self-reflections.
Use the results of these assessments to inform your instruction, provide feedback to students, and make any necessary adjustments to your lesson plans.
Time Management Strategies for New Teacher Planning

Time management is a crucial skill for new teachers. With so many responsibilities and tasks to juggle, it is important to prioritize, plan, and organize your time effectively. Here are some time management strategies to help you stay on top of your workload:

1. Set priorities: Identify your most important tasks and prioritize them. Write them in your teacher planner. Focus on the tasks that have the greatest impact on student learning or require immediate attention. This will help you allocate your time and energy efficiently.

2. Create a schedule: Develop a daily or weekly schedule that outlines your teaching responsibilities, planning time, meetings, and other commitments. Stick to this schedule as much as possible, but also allow for flexibility and adjustments when needed.

3. Break tasks into smaller steps: Large tasks can feel overwhelming, so break them down into smaller, manageable steps. This will make it easier to tackle the tasks and track your progress.

4. Use a teacher planner or digital tools: Find a planning system that works for you, whether it's a physical planner, a digital calendar, or task management software. Use a planner or this tool to record deadlines, plan your lessons, and keep track of your to-do list.

5. Avoid multitasking: YOU WILL LITERALLY GET PULLED IN A MILLION DIRECTIONS. However, multitasking can actually decrease productivity and lead to errors. Instead, focus on one task at a time and give it your full attention. This will help you complete tasks more effectively and efficiently.

6. Delegate and collaborate: Don't be afraid to ask for help or collaborate with colleagues. Share the workload by dividing tasks or seeking input and advice from more experienced teachers. This can save you time and provide valuable insights and support. If possible, meet weekly to plan together. It will help you to check-in with another teacher regularly.

7. Take care of yourself: Remember to prioritize self-care and avoid burnout. Take breaks, exercise, get enough sleep, and engage in activities that help you relax and recharge. When you take care of yourself, you will have more energy and focus to devote to your teaching responsibilities.

Collaborative New Teacher Planning and Sharing Best Practices

Collaborative planning and sharing best practices can greatly enhance your teaching practice. By working with colleagues, you can tap into their expertise, gain new insights, and benefit from their experiences. Here are some ways to engage in collaborative planning and share best practices:

1. Join a professional learning community: Seek out opportunities to connect with other educators in your school or district. Join a professional learning community or participate in grade-level or department meetings. These forums provide a platform for sharing ideas, discussing challenges, and collaborating on lesson planning and instructional strategies.

2. Attend professional development workshops and conferences: Take advantage of professional development opportunities offered by your school, district, or professional organizations. Attend workshops, conferences, or webinars that focus on teaching best practices, curriculum updates, or instructional technologies. These events allow you to learn from experts in the field and network with fellow educators.

3. Collaborate with colleagues: Work with your colleagues to plan lessons, share resources, and co-teach if possible. Collaborative planning allows you to benefit from the expertise and ideas of others, while co-teaching provides an opportunity to observe and learn from each other's teaching styles.

Conclusion: The Importance of New Teacher Planning

Every teacher dreams of the perfect classroom. There are many tips to keeping your curriculum organized and your lesson plan fun & engaging, all while providing equitable access to your students.

Use a teacher planner or digital planning pages to help keep you organized. Use planning pages to write out your lesson plan, and use note pages to reflect on lessons.

Keep the process of learning standards straightforward but engaging. Try not to plan during class time but keep an alternate lesson in the wings in case you need one or something doesn't work. Lesson plan with your team. Find a mentor teacher at your school for support. Try to plan weekly.

The reality is we are often pulled in a million directions and the desire for perfection can lead to burnout. Prioritize your well being as a new teacher. Keep focused on your priorities and try to filter out the noise. You will have a great first day and successful school year!

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25+ Secrets to Effective New Teacher Planning and Preparation

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New teacher planning is daunting! I sat down and looked at all the things that would've helped me in my first year and wrote them out for you! Are you a new teacher looking to make a lasting impact in the classroom? Unlocking the secrets to effective new teacher planning and preparation is the key ...

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Elementary classroom organization. Ask any veteran teacher why it's important, and you're bound to get an earful - both about how it helps and how it can be a challenge! But when you're facing an open classroom and wondering how to whip things into shape, what you really need are solid classroom organization ideas.

Not only do we have some of the best organization ideas to start your school year off on the right step, but we've also taken a look at how to organize a classroom in ways that will bolster learning.

How Does Classroom Organization Affect Learning?

As Teach Starter resource creator (and 13-year teaching veteran) Brittany Collins puts it: Classroom organization isn't just for you, the teacher. It's also for your students, to help them find what they need, when they need it. They don't need to waste valuable lesson time wandering around, looking for their clipboards or headphones, because they're in the same place every time. Plus when you've got a solid organization system in your classroom, students also know where and how to put things away, which helps keep the learning space neat and more conducive to learning.

Ever heard the old saying about a messy desk (or room) and a messy mind? That's not just an old wives' tale. Research shows that a well-organized classroom makes students feel safe and creates structure, which in turn can improve academic outcomes.

Classroom Organization Ideas

So you need to manage the copious amount of paperwork that will most likely start hitting your desk within hours of starting the school year, consider these classroom organization ideas and hacks to make all that ... STUFF ... easier to keep track of! From organizing your teacher desk to student stuff, let's dive in, shall we?

Create Classroom Jobs

Want to get students involved in classroom organization from the first day of school? Classroom jobs go a long way toward fostering organizational skills in students and ensuring they have buy-in to make their classroom an organized and welcoming space!

Make filling out a classroom job application their day one homework assignment to start the year off right!

Create a Turn-In Bin

Teaching your students to be organized is a skill that will serve them for the rest of their lives, and this trick will do just that ... while also helping with your classroom organization. Southern California teacher Paige has a "turn-in bin" in her classroom with file folders marked for each student. That way students know that when it's time to turn in their work, they shouldn't just drop it somewhere on her desk, where it runs the risk of being lost or creating a chaotic working environment.

Instead, students know to go to their classroom turn-in bin, find the folder marked with their name, and add their work. In turn, Paige already has everything sorted by the students! Genius!

Need a label for your turn-in bin? Make a custom one in Studio!

Make "Sharpened" and "Unsharpened" Containers

Make it easier to grab a sharpened pencil with containers labeled with "sharpened" and "unsharpened." This lets students - and let's face it, you - know where to drop unsharpened pencils so they can get right back to work ... and leave the sharpening for the class sharpener to take care of during downtime. Need fun labels? You can make your own in Studio.

Sort Your Drawers By Day of the Week

To create the drawer set up below, use a set of five desk drawers (we purchased this one from Target). Use some washi tape to decorate each drawer (who doesn't love a bit of washi tape?). Finally, you can use any of our customizable tray labels to create the days of the week.

Once downloaded, we printed these tray labels two to a page to get the correct size for the drawers. Now you've got an organized system for your week of lesson plans and everything you need day by day!
Print an editable weekly lesson plan template for easy weekly planning!
Dish Rack = Student Work Filing System

Have you tried using a dish rack in the classroom? Hear us out! You can put students' work samples in there, making them easily accessible for meetings that you may have for that particular student. The front compartments of the dish drying rack could be used for pencils or name tags - whatever you may need handy on your desk during the day.

Grab an inexpensive rack at the dollar store and use one of these customizable name tags to label each folder (we used the 16 name tags to a page option).

Organize It All With Binder Clips

We all know the feeling. Your desk is clean at the beginning of the day, then during the craziness that is a school day, your desk is suddenly covered in the paperwork that then gets put into every growing Mount Paper on your desk. That's where these printable binder clip label templates become surprisingly helpful as a classroom organization idea.

Organize by Color

Is there anything we teachers won't color code? Quick answer: NO! And for good reason too - color coding is proven to help students organize their thinking and make connections. But it doesn't just help our students. Color coding can make classroom organization a snap too.

Take this fun classroom organization idea from kindergarten teacher Mackenzie Lee Fuggett who bought plastic candy jars from the dollar store and loaded each one with individually colored markers. It makes it easy for students to know where to return each marker, and it's pretty to boot!

Office Supply Organization

You can't do classroom organization hacks without featuring the ever-famous office supply drawers! These drawers and the different ways to decorate them have been all over social media! I purchased these drawers from our local hardware store and used washi tape (again, I may be addicted) to decorate each drawer.

Then, use our customizable desk name tags to label each drawer with whatever you want! This organization hack prevents your drawers in your desk from getting full of all of those bits and bobs that you seem to collect as a teacher.

Sub Tub

Sometimes you know when you're going to have a sub ... and then sometimes you get walloped by a case of strep throat that kicks in on a Saturday, and you've got to worry about what's going to happen on Monday morning.

Grab a milk crate, a laundry basket, or really any container that will fit the supplies you need for your substitute to get the job done, and set it up in one spot in the classroom where you can easily direct your sub.

How does this keep you organized? Let's put it this way: Have you ever come back to chaos when you had to be out unexpectedly? Exactly. The more you can prepare your sub, the more organized things will remain!

Don't forget these must-haves for your sub tub:

teaching resource

Print this "while the teacher was gone" template for your sub to fill out when you are away.

1 page Grades: PK - 6

teaching resource

Use this selection of templates to provide information to substitute teachers that come into your classroom.

16 pages

Classroom Closet Organization

Storing all of those amazing resources that you have spent hours and hours printing and laminating is always a big question we get asked! Of course, you can store them in colored baskets, but sometimes, those amazing resources get forgotten about.

Using coat hangers and a tie hanger is just perfect! It's another simple, yet effective, solution to ensure you get your use out of those teaching resources you have spent so much of your life creating!

Student-Centered Work Bins

Much like the turn-in bin, creating bins that let students know where to find the work they need puts the kids in the driver's seat when it comes to classroom organization! Set up milk crates with extra work, make-up work, extra supplies ... really anything kids might need where they can help themselves.

Not only does it help with your classroom management, but it can help keep YOU organized as you have a specific place to put each thing!
Don't forget to print labels for each bin!
Tabletop Organization

Do you organize your classroom seating in groups or pods? You're going to need this trick from teacher April of @inseasonspaces . Buy inexpensive plastic plates and containers, and hot glue the containers to the plate for easily organized supplies that you can put on each table for your students!

It may take some time to set up some of these organization hacks, but we promise it will relieve some of the disorganized haze teachers often find themselves in when they look down at their messy desk or work area!

Need more classroom organization tips? Check out tons of resources for organizing that you can print in no time!

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12 Elementary Classroom Organization Ideas Every Teacher Can Use

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Elementary classroom organization. Ask any veteran teacher why it's important, and you're bound to get an earful - both about how it helps and how it can be a challenge! But when you're facing an open classroom and wondering how to whip things into shape, what you really need are solid classroom organization ideas.

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10 tips for conveying bad news in a parent-teacher conference

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Here are 10 tips to help you share bad, difficult, or sensitive news with a student’s parent and get the best possible outcome.

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Adler, C. (2004). Seven Strategies to Teach Students Text Comprehension.

Armbruster, B. B., Lehr, F., & Osborn, J. (2001) Put reading first: The research building blocks for teaching children to read kindergarten through grade three. Washington, DC: The U.S. Department of Education.

Boulineau, T., Fore, C, Hagan-Burke, S. and Burke, M. (2004). Use of Story-Mapping to Increase the Story-Grammar Text Comprehension of Elementary Students with Learning Disabilities. Learning Disability Quarterly, Vol. 27, No. 2 (Spring, 2004), pp. 105-121

Nell K. Duke, P. David Pearson, Stephanie L. Strachan, and Alison K. Billman (2011) Essential Elements of Fostering and Teaching Reading Comprehension . From What Research Has to Say About Reading Instruction (4th ed.), International Reading Association.

Nell K. Duke, Alessandra E. Ward, and P. David Pearson (2021). The Science of Reading Comprehension Instruction , The Reading Teacher, Vol 74, No. 6 (May-June 2021).

Dunst, C, Simkus, A, Hamby, D. (2012). Children's Story Retelling as a Literacy and Language Enhancement Strategy. CELLreviews 5(4). Asheville, NC: Orelena Hawks Puckett Institute, Center for Early Literacy Learning.

Santa, C., Havens, L., & Valdes, B. (2004). Project CRISS: Creating independence through student owned strategies 3rd Edition. Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.

Timothy Shanahan et al., Improving Reading Comprehension in Kindergarten Through 3rd Grade (2010). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences.

Trabasso, T., & Bouchard, E. (2002) Teaching readers how to comprehend text strategically. In C. Block and M. Pressley, (Eds.) Comprehension instruction: Research-based practices (pp. 176-200). NY: Guilford Press.

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Story maps use graphic organizers to help students learn the elements of a book or story. The most basic story maps focus on the beginning, middle, and end of the story. More advanced organizers focus more on plot or character traits.

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Autism Worksheets & Printables | Special Education | Twinkl

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Our PDF Autism Worksheets feature great activities and tips to help autistic children thrive. Teach letters, numbers, better behavior, autonomy, and more!

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Use the options below to create customized views of the 2020 Colorado Academic Standards. For all standards resources, see the Office of Standards and Instructional Support.

Need Help? Submit questions or requests for assistance to bruno_j@cde.state.co.us

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Use the options below to create customized views of the 2020 Colorado Academic Standards. For all standards resources, see the Office of Standards and Instructional Support. Need Help? Submit questions or requests for assistance to bruno_j@cde.state.co.us

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Assessment is at the heart of our teaching practice. We use backward planning and start with the end in mind. We ask ourselves questions like, "what do we want our students to know?" and "what will our students be able to do?" Because assessment is so important, it's no surprise that there are a ton of tech tools for assessment. Trying to find what you're looking for is time-consuming! That's why we've picked the ten best tech tools for student assessment, keeping your goals in mind.

Goal: I want to find out what my students learned

I wish we could read students' minds, but since we can't, we use exit tickets. If you rely on this best practice to plan your next instructional move, you have a lot of options. I love Google or Microsoft Forms. They are easy to use, and you can create multiple choice or short answer questions for students to complete. All the data is there for you.

Learn more:

Goal: I want to hear from my students and watch them share what they've learned

Flipgrid is a social media-style video discussion platform great for generating class discussion around topics, videos, or links posted to the class grid. Students can video record their responses to share with the teacher or class. It's a great tool for supporting your students to make their thinking visible.

Learn More:

Goal: I want to do a quick check in during my lesson

Mentimeter lets you add polls, word clouds, Q&As, and more to presentations and create an interactive experience for students, who can vote on/respond to questions and engage with the presentation in real time. This made our list because there's so much variety in the types of formative assessments you can give in real time.

Learn More:

Goal: I want to see my students' thought process and their answer

Jamboard is a digital whiteboard that is compatible with the GSuite services. It's a game changer for emphasizing the process of learning over the product. Math teachers love how students solve and explain their solution. If you don't use Google, Padlet is our runner up.

Learn More:

Goal: I want to listen to my students' read to assess fluency

Students read aloud and answer questions on their device (almost any device works). Within 24 hours, you get a running record with scores for accuracy, fluency, and comprehension. A free basic account includes 10 reading assessments/month.

Learn More:

Goal: I want to include checks for understanding as my students learn

EdPuzzle is a video editor that allows both teachers and students to add voice-overs, comments, resources, and quizzes to existing or self-created online videos. Best part? All the students' answers are gathered for you so you can quickly assess.

Learn More:

Goal: I want to put checks for understanding in my slides

Pear Deck is an interactive presentation and lesson delivery tool. Students use their devices to follow along with the teacher's slideshow on a classroom screen. Throughout, teachers can pause at points where they've added interactive questions and collect real-time data about student understanding.

Goal: I want my students to give each other feedback

Once you set up your assignment, pick a feedback rubric (or create your own), and select your assignment. Your students take it from there. They submit work, review each others', and then act on the feedback. Best part? There's a teacher overview where you can see it all.

Learn More:

Goal: I want to give a quiz or test

There are a lot of options with this tool. You can include multiple choice, true/false, and short answer questions. I love how you see students' results in real time, and you can add explanations if students get a question wrong. Students can get instant feedback, or you can make the quiz self-paced or lead it yourself. My favorite feature: Space Race, a group quiz where students "race" to cross the finish line.

Learn More:

Goal: I want grading to take less time

No matter what grade and subject you teach, grading takes time that we don't have. Enter Floop. This tool is a cloud-based website where students get annotated feedback from you and their classmates. Using any internet-connected device, students upload images of an assignment to the platform, and you put markers in places where you want feedback. Students are able to see and respond to comments, creating a feedback loop.

Learn More:

Goal: I want one tool that does different types of assessment

Spiral is a free suite of four apps. Use Quickfire to give a formative assessment in real time and hear from all of your students. Discuss makes your slides more interactive for students. Team Up supports student collaboration, and Clip turns public-facing videos into a live chat with questions and quizzes.

Learn More:

Plus, check out 50 Free Seesaw Activities and Resources For Every Kind of Classroom

Want more articles like this? Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter so you can get our latest picks.

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The 10 Best Tech Tools for Student Assessment

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Assessment is at the heart of our teaching practice. We use backward planning and start with the end in mind. We ask ourselves questions like, "what do we want our students to know?" and "what will our students be able to do?"

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Differentiated Instruction for English Language Learners

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Each student comes to school, not only with unique academic needs, but also with unique background experiences, culture, language, personality, interests, and attitudes toward learning. Effective teachers recognize that all of these factors affect how students learn in the classroom, and they adjust, or differentiate, their instruction to meet students' needs.

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2 Secrets to Making Lesson Planning Easy

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2 Secrets to Making Lesson Planning Easy

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Planning lessons for every subject each week can be overwhelming. By creating a pacing guide and batching lessons, teachers can focus on one topic at a time.

This is what lesson planning looks like when using the traditional method: you grab your reading textbook, a pacing guide (if you have one), read alouds, and a few center activities. You try to plan for Monday, but the first ten minutes are spent staring at a blank screen, then typing something and immediately deleting it. About ten minutes in, you start to find your groove, and the remaining days of reading plans go a lot faster.

Then you have to stop and grab your math textbook, pacing guide, and some worksheets, and open a few websites you like to use. Or maybe you spend an hour scrolling through Pinterest. Once again, you are stuck when it comes to the first day or two of lessons. It takes a while to find your groove again.

Task switching is time-consuming! Just getting out different materials for each subject takes up time. But even more time is consumed getting your brain in the flow. When you switch from one subject to another, it takes your brain some time to catch up. Lessons that should be relatively easy to plan end up taking twice as long.

When you batch, you are focusing only on one subject. You only need to get out one set of materials. It will still be challenging to get started, but once you get going, your brain will be able to stay focused on the one task and stay in a flow. According to Psychology Today,* we take only about a tenth of a second to switch tasks, but that switch can reduce our productivity by 40 percent! Basically, when we switch tasks, we use different parts of our brain, which tires us out way quicker than when we're focused on a single task at a time. And that doesn't even include having to pull out different materials every few minutes.

A fantastic reason to adopt the habit of batching your lesson plans is that it leads to higher-quality plans. The majority of your lesson plans will be created from that state of flow. This is when your brain will do the best work, because it is more focused. The lesson plans you write last-minute on Sunday night while watching your latest Netflix obsession are almost never your best work.

Another bonus of batching your lesson plans is that you will have more time to prep for the actual lesson. If you need materials from the store, you will have time to grab them the next time you grocery shop. This means you won't have to make a last-minute trip after school when you are exhausted and wearing a Ms. Frizzle dress that was the perfect addition to your science lesson that day.

If you need to make copies, you will have time to plan a photocopy session. This means you won't be waiting in a long line on Monday morning stressing because the person in front of you is making copies of every single spelling list for the entire year. The extra prep time will also allow you to laminate materials so that you can use them year after year.

Getting ahead on your lesson plans means materials can be prepped during school time rather than during personal time. Not to mention starting your week without materials and feeling unprepared is super stressful!

START WITH PACING

Before we jump into planning lessons, we need to talk about how to break down an entire school year into semesters, quarters, weeks, and individual days.

In my early days teaching, I was winging it. I would think, "At this pace, are we going to cover all of the standards before testing? I sure hope so! We will find out soon enough."

This usually resulted in tons of stress at the end of the year when I discovered we needed to squeeze two whole math units into the last week. Sound familiar?

It's sort of crazy how little help we get about how we should teach students everything in a school year. One time, my school gave us teachers a list of what we had to teach our students that calendar year . . . but that was it. Another time, an administrator in my district said that she should be able to walk into any third-grade classroom and that all the teachers should be doing the exact same lesson at the exact same time. But she didn't give us a schedule, so I'm still not sure how that was supposed to work.

The best preparation I received was when my district gathered a couple teachers from each grade level and had us create a full-year pacing guide for reading, writing, and math. My mind was blown! This document was like getting a copy of my own treasure map. I actually had a map that helped me pace out my lessons for the year. If the map said I had three weeks to work on fractions, then I knew I was on track if I spent a full three weeks on that unit. No more guessing and scrambling.

But most schools don't work that way.

Thanks to Common Core, most states in the United States have similar standards when it comes to what skills students need to learn at each grade level. Using those standards, teachers figure out how much time to spend on a particular skill-for instance, teaching multiplication in third grade, as I did.

Having a map will make lesson planning faster because you no longer have to make decisions about timing. Should I spend one week on nouns or two? Should we start with fiction standards or nonfiction standards? All of these decisions are made already! You are actually batching all the pacing decisions.
Start with one subject at a time.
If you already have a pacing guide, you are among the lucky ones. Go do a little happy dance. If you do not have a pacing guide, you aren't alone. (You can still do a happy dance if you want.) Most districts do not provide this resource for all subject areas. The good news is that you can create your own pacing guide. It's not hard! Making the decisions in one sitting is so much easier than having to come back to pacing every single week when you are doing your planning.

1. Break the subject into units of study. For example, for math you might have to teach your students topics like place value, addition, subtraction, multiplication, fractions, et cetera.

2. Break these units down into more specific lessons. In your multiplication unit you will have lessons on repeated addition, equal groups, arrays, and so on.

3. Write the number of weeks you would like to spend on each unit. Pretend it is your dream world and you have all the time that you want.

4. Calculate the number of weeks you actually have for teaching this subject. Remember to take into account things like the first week of school, Thanksgiving, spring break, and testing.

5. Determine the difference between the actual number of weeks you have to teach and your dream number of weeks. Start carefully editing the number of weeks based on your reality. Play with these numbers until you feel comfortable. Or at least as comfortable as possible, because we all know that there is never enough time!

6. Put dates next to each unit and/or lesson.

Now you have your very own pacing guide! Will it be perfect?

Nope. In fact, I can guarantee you will find problems with the pacing during the year. Just make notes and adjust the pacing guide each year. It's an evolving document that serves as a map rather than a written-in-stone document you must vow to live by.

Once you have your pacing guide, take out a calendar. Map out how many weeks you expect to spend on each unit. (And yes-I know timing changes based on the unique needs of your learners. We are simply outlining a plan that's meant to be flexible. I'll talk about how to adjust these plans later on.)

Now you are ready to batch!

HOW TO BATCH LESSON PLANS

A typical lesson planning session includes creating plans for one week for five different subjects. Batching your lesson plans is different from the traditional lesson planning because you are creating several weeks of plans for just one subject. There are two different ways to batch your lesson plans, and you will want to choose the recipe that best fits your personality. I recommend trying both before you decide what you'll use moving forward.

Let's go back to the cookies I mentioned earlier. I believe there are two different types of chocolate chip cookie bakers. Which one are you? I am the kind of person that buys premade cookie dough. This works for me because I don't have to think much about how to make the cookies and the results are exactly the same every time. This is how the five-week batching plan works. Every batching week looks the same and produces the same results. You are always creating five weeks of lesson plans during your lesson planning time. You don't have to think much about the plan because it doesn't change week to week. It's as simple as done-for-you cookie dough.

Some people make the cookies from scratch using the Toll House recipe. You have to admit that these cookies are more work, but they are so freakin' delicious. This baker has to do a little more planning to get ingredients, measuring, mixing, and dishes. The extra effort is worth it for this person. This is how the unit batching plan works. With this plan, you will create a batch of lesson plans for an entire unit within one subject. It's the ultimate time-saver because you aren't batching only for a specific subject; all the lessons you are planning are related in some way. This means your brain can focus on just one topic. And when you finish the batching session, you won't have to plan for that unit ever again. All your opinion-writing lessons could be completed in one planning session! All your fraction lessons could be completed in another planning session.

The unit batching method takes a little more planning effort because every unit isn't the same length. One week, you might plan a three-week unit for reading, and another week, you might plan a five-week unit for math. You will have to keep track of this on your calendar so that you don't unexpectedly run out of math lesson plans and have to do last-minute planning on Sunday night. That said, the unit batching plan makes it very easy to save the plans from a unit and reuse them for next year! Just imagine how fast lesson planning will be next year when all you need to do is pull up your multiplication plan file and make minor adjustments.

Which type of batching should you do? That really depends on your preference and your personality. If you prefer a simple, predictable routine that requires the same amount of effort, time, and lessons produced each week, then you will probably like the five-week batching plan. But be aware that this method might have you lesson planning multiple topics in one planning session. For instance, you could plan addition, subtraction, and multiplication lessons during the same day. If that doesn't bother you, this might be the plan for you.

Some people like to organize their thoughts and lessons thematically. Their vision is more big picture and they prefer to tackle all the lessons in one unit at a time. If it's going to drive you crazy to stop lesson planning in the middle of a unit, or after week three of a four-week unit, you might prefer the unit batching plan.

With this plan, you'll know that at the end of your batching session you will have completed every lesson you needed for the whole unit, whether that's geometry or plants. But you'll have to be more flexible with your batching sessions because not all units are exactly the same length. You'll also have to be very organized and keep detailed notes about when you need to plan the next unit. If this doesn't sound like you, you might want to stick with the five-week batching plan.

The reality is that both batching plans are time-savers. I just want you to be honest with yourself and choose the strategy that you are most likely to be successful with and continue using all year. If you're still not sure which will work best for you, pick the one that resonates with you the most. If you love it, great! If not, try the other method. Even if you switch batching methods, you'll still be ahead of the game.

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2 Secrets to Making Lesson Planning Easy

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Planning lessons for every subject each week can be overwhelming. By creating a pacing guide and batching lessons, teachers can focus on one topic at a time. This is what lesson planning looks like when using the traditional method: you grab your reading textbook, a pacing guide (if you have one), read alouds, and a few center activities.

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Using learning intentions and success criteria can help teachers ensure that their activities align with what they want students to know.

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As an instructional coach, I collaborate with nearly 65 teachers at an urban high school. My goal is to support teachers of many subjects in embedding literacy in their lessons without disrupting their classroom objectives.

I often work with our novice teachers and student teachers by reviewing their lesson plans and recommending literacy skills that reinforce their learning intentions and success criteria, which are defined by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey as "what you want students to know and be able to do by the end of one or more lessons." Without learning intentions and success criteria, they write, "lessons wander and students become confused and frustrated."

When I ask new teachers to tell me the purpose of their lessons, they often describe the activities they've created. For example, recently I was collaborating with a student teacher who was eager to teach the Bill of Rights to her freshmen. She began our conversation by explaining that she was going to read real-life scenarios with differing perspectives and ask students to move to the front of the classroom if they agreed with a particular scenario or to the back of the classroom if they disagreed. Afterward, she would ask students to explain their decisions.

Her excitement was palpable. She showed me the scenarios she had written, the "Agree" and "Disagree" signs she had created, and the worksheet she had designed so that students could brainstorm their own Bill of Rights.

When she finished, I commended her on the work she had done. Clearly, she had thought about the activity in detail. Next I asked her about the point of the lesson-what she wanted students to get out of it.

What she wanted-for her students to know what the Bill of Rights is, where to find it, why it's important, and why we still need it today-was not actually conveyed by the activity. She hadn't written a learning intention and the accompanying success criteria yet because she had been so excited to refine her activity. Without them, however, all she had was an activity-one that was not aligned with her goals for the day.

Learning Intentions and Success Criteria

Crafting a quality learning intention takes planning. Often, teachers will use an activity as their learning intention-but a learning intention goes beyond an activity. It focuses on the goal of the learning-the thing we want our students to know and do. The learning intention helps students stay focused and involved.

It's important to create the learning intention first, and then determine the success criteria that students can use to assess their understanding-and then create the activity and some open-ended questions that help students learn.

When I was working with the teacher on her Bill of Rights lesson, we took a step back to develop the learning intention and its success criteria. The learning intention was this: "I can explain the Bill of Rights, its purpose, and its relevance to my life." The success criteria were built around students' ability to annotate and paraphrase the Bill of Rights, and to explain its importance, both in general and in their own lives. Annotating, paraphrasing, and analyzing are skills that are based on ACT College and Career Readiness Standards and Common Core State Standards, and they could be seamlessly incorporated into the lesson with minimal effort.

Learning intentions and success criteria are valuable across all subjects. In algebra, for example, a learning intention might be "I can understand the structure of a coordinate grid and relate the procedure of plotting points in quadrants to the structure of a coordinate grid." The success criteria for this intention could be that students can talk and write about that procedure, using the correct vocabulary; that they can plot and label points in each quadrant on a coordinate grid; and that they can create a rule about coordinates for each quadrant.

In environmental science, if the learning intention is "I can recognize the history, interactions, and trends of climate change," the success criteria could be that students are able to locate credible research about the history of climate change and share their research with their peers, that they can demonstrate the interactions of climate change and explain the value of those interactions, and that they can show the trends of climate change utilizing a graph and explain the value of the trends.

A Way to Focus Lesson Planning

Although engaging students in their learning is certainly necessary, the student teacher I was working with became acutely aware of the value of the skills she was attempting to help students develop and why those skills-not the activity-should drive instruction.

During her next class, she posted the learning intention and success criteria where students could readily see them. Next, she asked her students to paraphrase the success criteria, making sure they understood what they were about to do. She referred to the learning intention and success criteria several times throughout the lesson so that students could determine their own level of understanding and, if necessary, decide which skills they understood and which ones still needed support. She followed up with an exit ticket, asking students what they had learned in the lesson, how they learned it, and why learning it was important.

What do you want your students to know? Why is that important?

Can they learn this information another way? How?

No matter what subject you teach, as you plan your instruction, ask yourself these questions:

Only once you've thought though your answers should you begin writing your learning intention and success criteria. Keep the activities you've created-but don't make them the center of the lesson or the goal of the lesson. Spend your time designing a learning intention and success criteria that will support your students' learning and skills that they can apply to all facets of their academic life.

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Using learning intentions and success criteria can help teachers ensure that their activities align with what they want students to know.

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Effective Lesson Planning: 3 Proven Ideas

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Effective Lesson Planning: 3 Proven Ideas

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Amy Stock, MSCustomer Experience Manager

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Effective Lesson Planning: 3 Proven Ideas

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It’s essential to teach your students using careful time management and effective methods.

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Culturally Responsive Teaching: Definition, Strategies & Examples

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Culturally Responsive Teaching: Definition, Strategies & Examples

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All Posts

No single teaching approach will engage each student at once, but building a strategy to consistently deliver culturally-responsive teaching lessons will help you appeal to diverse learners with distinct backgrounds.

Rooted in differentiated instruction principles, culturally-responsive pedagogy aims to link content - from delivery to assessment - with students' ancestral and contemporary cultures.

To augment their understanding and responsiveness, this involves:

Empowering students to share thoughts

Integrating diverse work and study practices

Understanding student learning needs and styles

Emulating culturally-significant instruction styles, such as oral storytelling

To help you plan and deliver lessons that resonate with a diverse classroom, we'll explain what culturally responsive teaching is and how it is implemented.

We also put together 15 culturally-responsive teaching strategies and examples that will resonate with diverse students and foster an inclusive classroom environment.

These strategies are available as a downloadable list below for quick reference so you can reference them during classroom instruction.

Let's start with some simple explanation of what culturally responsive teaching actually means.

What is culturally responsive teaching?

Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) is a pedagogy that acknowledges and embraces students' cultures, languages and experiences - and relates them to classroom learning.

Culturally responsive teachers are actively aware of the various cultural backgrounds present in their classrooms, and act as a facilitator of lessons that can resonate with each.

It is not an easy task - creating this learning environment requires not only a high level of cultural competence, but also an intentional effort to learn about students' backgrounds and cultures.

It can be majorly beneficial to closing achievement gaps between students of different backgrounds and addressing inequities in the classroom. You can also create stronger partnerships with your students by fostering a learning environment where they are represented clearly.

Conditions for creating a culturally-responsive classroom

Reflected in the 15 strategies and examples in the next section, there are four conditions any teacher must fulfill to establish a culturally-responsive classroom, according to an authoritative academic book about the subject called Diversity and Motivation.

As you prepare and deliver any lesson, strive to:

Establish inclusion

This starts by highlighting how the topic you're teaching may relate or apply to students. For example, many societies and cultures have fireworks festivals.

While such a festival runs, you could teach how to calculate speed using fireworks in sample questions. Establishing inclusion also involves regularly grouping students with different classmates, encouraging discussion to solve problems. In doing so, they can share unique perspectives and diverse background knowledge.

Develop positive attitudes

This further focuses on relating content to students. A popular method is allowing them to choose between activities and assessments that let them showcase their values, strengths and experiences.

For example, while providing clear learning goals and evaluation criteria, encourage students to submit their own project ideas.

Enhance meaning

You can bolster lesson content by drawing connections with real-world issues, asking students to use opinions and existing knowledge to address them.

For example, when teaching about government, you could contextualize concepts through municipal political issues. When appropriate, use student jargon to clarify these issues or improve communication in general.

Foster confidence

Make the assessment process less intimidating by offering different ways to demonstrate skills and understanding. For example, avoid handing out quizzes that are purely multiple choice or fill-in-the-blank.

Among other question types, mix in problems that involve writing short- and long-form answers. After, give students time to assess their own progress and performance, helping them focus on growth.

Meeting these four conditions largely relies on using specific approaches, such as the 15 explored below.

15 Culturally-responsive teaching strategies and examples

1. Learn about your students

At the start of the year or semester, demonstrating a desire to adapt your teaching style to students can help them feel valued. Because open communication should uncover their learning needs and preferences, try:

Distributing questionnaires, asking about interests

Handing out surveys, gathering information about learning styles

Holding open discussions, allowing students to talk about positive experiences from past classes

Once you've gathered enough information, tell the class you'll focus on adjusting your teaching approach to help them learn as best as they can. Students should quickly warm up to you.

2. Interview students

You'll build a stronger understanding of students' values and habits - as well as strengths and weaknesses - by individually asking them questions. While running a large-group exercise, pull each student aside for a few minutes. Ask about:

Hobbies

Their favourite lessons and activities

Which kinds of exercises help them remember lessons and improve skills

Note what each student says to identify themes and different preferences. Then, when possible, relate content to their interests and deliver lessons that appeal to shared strengths.

3. Integrate relevant word problems

Many students will take a greater interest in math if you use word problems to contextualize equations. Working with 41 7th grade students throughout an academic year, a study published by the Canadian Center of Science and Education used such contextual learning strategies to increase test scores by more than 44%. Create culturally-relevant word problems by:

Including student names to make subject matter relatable

Linking to student interests, such as by measuring the shot distance of a famous soccer player

Referencing diverse cultures, such as by determining the diameter of a specific ethnic food platter

Using these word problem tips will not only help you establish a culturally-responsive classroom, but engage students more than by using abstract questions.

4. Present new concepts by using student vocabulary

Delivering relatable content goes beyond math class. In any subject, you can grab and keep student attention by using their vocabulary to build understanding before moving to academic diction. Let's say many of your students are sports fans with family from soccer-crazed nations. Use a soccer example to demonstrate metaphors in language arts class:
Andrea Pirlo is an eagle on the pitch, armed with vision sharp enough to detect the smallest openings and recognize opportunities his opposition can't.
This kind of culturally-responsive language should open the door to presenting challenging skills and concepts, engaging students while doing so.

5. Bring in guest speakers

Guest speakers can bring context and passion to history, geography and social studies lessons, capturing student interest.

A war veteran could deliver a vivid narrative of his or her experiences. A mountaineer could give a striking recount of scaling Lhotse. Both could answer questions many teachers would struggle with, while engaging students much more effectively than a slideshow.

Plus, according to a study by the Economics of Education Review, students are often encouraged to work harder when they share a background with an educator. So, diverse guest speakers may inherently engage and motivate students who share a culture with them.

6. Deliver different forms of content through learning stations

Whether due to culture, socialization, preference or learning needs, students respond differently to different types of content. You can provide a range of material to each student by setting up learning stations. Each station should use a unique method of teaching a skill or concept related to your lesson.

For example, students can rotate between stations that involve:

Playing a game

Creating artwork

Watching a video

Reading an article

Completing puzzles

Listening to you teach

After going through each station, you can help students further process the material by holding a class discussion or assigning questions to answer.

7. Gamify lessons

Want another way to consistently diversify content and its delivery, appealing to different learning styles? Gamify some lesson elements. Easy-to-implement practices include:

Offering rewards, such as badges, for completing specific tasks or achieving certain scores

Setting a clear learning goal for the lesson, charting progress throughout the class to motivate students

Creating an "instruction manual" for a project, which contains the rubric and best practices for earning a high grade

Plus, gamifying your lessons is a way of making connections with contemporary gaming culture - helping students within this culture process and demonstrate understanding of content.

8. Call on each student

Call-and-response - the practice of asking students frequent questions while giving lessons - usually keeps them engaged, but also enables them to share thoughts and opinions. Involve everyone by:

Encouraging the sharing of personal perspectives, when a question allows for it

Calling on students without their hands up, acclimatizing them to speaking amongst peers

Asking a question after each new point or thought, having a student teach back the concept you just spoke about

By lesson's end, this call-and-response approach should allow each student to speak at least once.

9. Use media that positively depict a range of cultures

Children process content more effectively when their cultures and languages have places in the curriculum, according to an oft-cited academic book about teaching in multiracial schools.

Using media, such as books and movies, that positively depict a range of cultures and are relevant to your syllabus can partially address this need. Finding options through databases such as IMDB or American Literature isn't a tough task.

As a bonus, using different media should boost engagement levels.

10. Offer different types of free study time

Free study time typically appeals to students who prefer solo learning, but many cultures prioritize learning in group settings. You can meet both preferences by dividing your class into clearly-sectioned team and individual activities, such as the following:

Provide audiobooks, which play material relevant to your lessons

Create a station for group games that teach curriculum-aligned skills

Keep a dedicated quiet space for students to take notes and complete work

Allow some students to work in groups while taking notes and completing work, away from the dedicated quiet space

Presented with these options, free study time should appeal to a wider range of learners.

11. Encourage students to propose ideas for projects

By asking students to submit ideas for their own projects, the benefits of choice extend beyond free study time. Specifically, they should build confidence by showcasing their strengths and existing background knowledge.

So, encourage them to pitch ideas for taking a project from concept to completion. A student must show how the product will meet academic standards in his or her pitch. If the idea falls short, give the student ideas to refine it. If the student can't refine the idea, he or she can choose a project from a list of options you provide.

Not only will you be pleasantly surprised by some pitches, but you may generate ideas for future culturally-responsive exercises and assessments.

12. Experiment with peer teaching

There'll almost always be some student vocabulary and communal practices you never pick up on. But you can fill these gaps through peer teaching. Relatively-simple exercises include:

Students who read and discuss story passages with peers recall more content and score higher on assessments, according an Ohio University pilot study. And, according to a science education study, students who work in pairs and groups typically perform better on tests that involve reasoning and critical thinking.

Such results are largely achieved due to students discussing and rationalizing concepts in their own words, many of which belong to contemporary cultural lexicon and are not academic.

13. Establish cooperative base groups

Cooperative base groups - which come from collaborative learning pedagogy - allow students to regularly learn and process content together.

Your role consists of creating groups of three or four, scheduling meeting times and detailing agendas for them. Filling knowledge gaps and encouraging communication is also involved. Students' roles focus on supporting each other while striving to meet learning goals over the year.

While working in base groups, students can:

Review lessons

Take on guided research

Address each other's questions

Complete in-class assessments

The connection to culturally-responsive teaching is the same as peer learning: cooperative base groups encourage students to make sense of concepts you've taught by using their own words and thoughts.

14. Run problem-based learning scenarios

The flexibility of problem-based learning lends itself to culturally-responsive teaching. This is because, when presenting a relatable real-world problem for your students to solve, two cultural connections will typically occur.

1. First, there will likely be a cultural link in the question, whether it's explicit or students make it themselves.

2. Second, because they can apply different approaches toward problem-solving, they may use unique cultural perspectives.

But if you want to create a scenario with explicit cultural ties, consider:

Encouraging students to take historical, sociological and anthropological viewpoints

Framing the problem using ethnic events - for instance, solving logistical challenges of running a heritage festival - in the area

Regardless, the student-centred nature of problem-based learning will allow your class to use culturally-relevant examples and information when appropriate.

15. Involve parents by using take-home letters

Involving parents in their child's learning is a core part of almost any culturally-responsive teaching approach -- they act as the main educators in many societies and can provide cultural context. When starting a new unit or trying out an education tool for the first time, consider sending a letter home to parents.

For reference, here's the letter Prodigy provides to its teachers. This opens the door to parent participation. While not all parents will be subject matter experts, most should be able to provide guidance.

Downloadable list of culturally-responsive teaching strategies and examples

Click here to download and print a simplified list of the 15 culturally-responsive teaching strategies and examples to keep at your desk.

Interested in other teaching strategies to deploy in your classroom?

Culturally-responsive teaching strategies overlap in important ways with many other pedagogical approaches. Consider researching other teaching and instructional strategies to help bolster your approach, or combine different elements of each strategy!

Active learning strategies empower, engage, and stimulate your students as they put them at the center of the learning process.

Experiential learning activities, in contrast to traditional learning activities,aim to develop knowledge and skills through direct, firsthand experience.

Project-based learning involves an open-ended approach that sees students work alone or collectively to work on engaging, intricate curriculum-related questions or challenges..

Inquiry-based learning is broken down into four categories, all of which emphasize student questions, ideas and analyses.

Adaptive learning focuses on changing - or "adapting" - content for each student on an individual basis, especially with the help of technology.

Social emotional learning activities help students build social skills, establish healthy relationships and manage their emotions.

Final thoughts about culturally-relevant pedagogy

Delivering culturally-responsive lessons can not only help you engage students, but allow them to make personal connections with content.

Student populations across your school district are comprised of different races, backgrounds, cultural identities and socioeconomic statuses - it's important that teaching practices reflect and embrace these differences.

Greater student investment should lead to other benefits, such as more rigor and motivation. A happier, focused classroom is the ideal outcome.

Prodigy is a digital game-based learning platform that delivers a range of culturally-relevant math content through engaging word and scenario-based problems. Standards-aligned, it's used by millions of teachers and students across the world.

Create your free teacher account

Create your free teacher account

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Culturally Responsive Teaching: Definition, Strategies & Examples

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Need to engage your diverse classroom? Try using these 15 culturally-responsive teaching strategies and examples, complete with a downloadable list.

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Getting Started With Culturally Responsive Teaching

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Getting Started With Culturally Responsive Teaching

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Culturally Responsive Teaching

Understanding students' lives can help teachers foster a sense of belonging and ensure that all students feel respected and challenged.

The world of education is buzzing with talk of being more culturally responsive, but what does that mean, and how important is it really?

When I talk about culture, I'm talking about norms, beliefs, and behaviors that are passed down from one generation to the next-the things that explain why a student might answer a question the way he does or why another might not feel comfortable looking you in the eye when you're speaking to her. These aspects of culture are among the most misunderstood in the teacher-student dynamic and are often the things that cause students to get into the most trouble in the school discipline system. Culturally responsive teaching (CRT) attempts to bridge the gap between teacher and student by helping the teacher understand the cultural nuances that may cause a relationship to break down-which ultimately causes student achievement to break down as well.

In her book Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, Zaretta Hammond writes that "by third grade, many culturally and linguistically diverse students are one or more years behind in reading." CRT is one of the most impactful tools for empowering students to find their way out of that achievement gap. This alone makes being culturally responsive one of the most important things you can learn at this moment.

Getting Started

The first step in being culturally responsive is to do an internal audit-yes, you read that right, an audit: truly digging deep inside of ourselves and recognizing and naming those things we don't want to look at or talk about. The experiences we've had along our journey in life have formed stereotypes which have then turned into implicit bias. These unintentional, unconscious attitudes impact how we relate to our students and their parents, and how we choose curriculum, assess learning, and plan lessons. Harvard University's Project Implicit has an online test you can take to examine your implicit bias.

Culturally responsive teachers also have to be aware of the sociopolitical context schools operate in and dare to go against that status quo. Students need to understand the system that is working around them in schools. Give them context and don't be afraid to talk about the tough subjects that may not be addressed in your school. In addition to Hammond's Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain, another great resource is Affirming Diversity by Sonia Nieto. The most important part of this work is a willingness to do something different to get different results, with the goal of increasing academic achievement.

For your audit, take some time to ask yourself hard questions and reflect on past and current practices. Are you operating from a place of critical care within your classroom-a place that marries high expectations with empathy and compassion? Are your students, regardless of socioeconomic status or background, being held to high standards? Has your past interaction with a particular race of people impacted your ability to communicate with parents? Identify those places in your instructional planning where you might have allowed your implicit biases to prevent you from pushing your students to achieve at optimal levels. Answering questions like these might be hard, but in order to create change, you have to identify and unearth the roots of your teaching practice.

Now that you have conducted an internal self-audit, your curriculum will need one as well. What books are students reading? Do they have a voice in what they read, where they sit, how they interact with each other?

Encourage students to make a social media campaign that champions their favorite cause, and have them bring evidence of their results to class to discuss the role social media plays in social change.

Use current songs that students might love to analyze the use of literary techniques and imagery in music videos. Taylor Swift's "Wildest Dreams" is a great one. Better yet, instead of assigning a song, ask students for their suggestions.

Watch and discuss documentaries like Race: The Power of an Illusion.

Zaretta Hammond shared three simple strategies you can use to make lessons in any subject more culturally responsive.

Empowering students to take ownership of not just their learning but the environment itself is another critical component of CRT. One strategy for fostering a student-centered environment is having students create a classroom agreement that answers the question: "How will we be together?" Allowing students to answer this question will give you a window into how their cultures dictate the ways in which they want to feel respected, heard, safe, and included in the classroom and in their interactions with one another and with you. This reinforces the idea not only that they belong but that the way they show up at school every day, with all of their outside experiences in tow, has value.

Finally, put some thought into your lesson planning. You have taken the time to reflect and really look into your own biases that may have been getting in your way. You have revamped your classroom environment to reflect your students' voices, their various cultural needs, and their choice. Now let's have some fun. For example:

Our students need us now more than ever, and we have to roll up our sleeves and do what we must to close the achievement gap. Culturally responsive teaching is one step in the right direction. The outcome is a student body that loves learning, excels academically, and has teachers who respond to their needs.

Being culturally responsive encourages students to feel a sense of belonging and helps create a safe space where they feel safe, respected, heard, and challenged.

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Getting Started With Culturally Responsive Teaching

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Understanding students' lives can help teachers foster a sense of belonging and ensure that all students feel respected and challenged.

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How Universal Design for Learning Can Help With Lesson Planning This Year

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How Universal Design for Learning Can Help With Lesson Planning This Year

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How Universal Design for Learning Can Help With Lesson Planning This Year

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The core concepts of UDL are particularly helpful for teachers moving between remote, hybrid and in-person teaching.

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Ethical Principles and Practice Standards

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Professional special educators are guided by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) professional ethical principles, practice standards, and professional policies in ways that respect the diverse characteristics and needs of individuals with exceptionalities and their families.

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Center for parents information and resources

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Finding the motivation to make positive lifestyle changes can be hard for anyone. For teenagers, it can be especially difficult when parents are the ones telling them to do it. But if they've fallen into unhealthy habits like vaping or alcohol abuse, change can be beneficial. Motivational interviewing is a form of therapy that creates a safe, non-judgmental environment for teens to establish their own goals and values and see how changing unhealthy behaviors can benefit them in the long run.

This series of articles comes from the Child Mind Institute, with most available in English and Spanish. Why might teens be resistant to therapy and how can parents and others to help them get the treatment they need? The articles explain how motivational interviewing can help teens gain the self-confidence to make important behavioral changes. To read more about motivational interviewing, and to connect with the articles in both English and Spanish, please visit CPIR's abstract.

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Center for Parent Information and Resources | Your Central Hub for Parent Centers Serving Families of Children With Disabilities

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Finding the motivation to make positive lifestyle changes can be hard for anyone. For teenagers, it can be especially difficult when parents are the ones telling them to do it. But if they've fallen into unhealthy habits like vaping or alcohol abuse, change can be beneficial.

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Through Your Child’s Eyes tool from Understood: Interactive media to understand what your child with a learning disability or attention issue goes through.

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There are five areas of development that are looked at during a multidisciplinary evaluation. These are communication, cognitive, physical, social-emotional, and adaptive development. Below are the NYS Early Intervention Program's descriptions of each:

Communication Development

Communication development involves the overall developmental progress in young children in acquiring the ability to comprehend and produce messages that allow them to understand and interact with the social world. Communication development typically progresses from the development of gestural and social pre-linguistic communication to the onset of first words and production and use of language. Children who experience delays in the acquisition of speech and language skills usually follow a typical pattern of development but at a slower rate than children who are not delayed. Marked regression or loss of language can be a sign of a serious underlying medical or neurological problem and may indicate the need for a comprehensive medical, psychological, and audiologic evaluation.

Communication disorders are impairments in the ability to receive, send, process, and comprehend concepts or verbal, non-verbal, and graphic messages. A disorder may be evident in the processes of hearing, language, and/or speech. Individuals may demonstrate one or any combination of these three aspects of communication disorders. Communication disorders in children may be the primary disability or may be secondary to other disabilities. ⁶³

Physical Development

Physical development, including hearing and vision, refers to physical changes in childhood, including alterations in body structures and functions. Aspects of physical development include gross and fine motor skills, the degree or quality of the child's motor and sensory development, health status, and physical skills or limitations. In addition, physical development interacts with psychological, behavioral, and social aspects of the developing child. Physical development is typically measured through the use of growth charts and physical indicators (such as height for weight and head circumference); assessment of sensory functioning, including hearing and vision; and, assessment of motor development.

Motor development, as with other areas of development, occurs in an orderly, predictable sequence of events for most children, although the rate and age of motor skill attainment varies from child to child. The process of motor development depends on the maturation of the central nervous system and muscular system. As these systems develop, a child's ability to move progresses. Motor milestones are defined as the major developmental tasks of a period that depend on movement by the muscles. Gross motor development involves skills that require coordination of the large muscle groups (e.g., sitting, walking, rolling, standing, etc.). Fine motor development is concerned with the coordination of smaller muscles of the body, including the hands and face. Fine motor skills use the small muscles of both the hands and the eyes for performance.

Developmental motor disorders are manifested by mild to severe abnormalities of muscle tone, movement, and motor skill acquisition. These include global developmental delays, hypotonia, hypertonia, and mild neuromotor dysfunction. Delays in motor development and clinical indicators of motor disorders or a diagnosis of motor disorders may be associated with delays or impairments in cognitive development.

Cognitive Development

Cognitive development refers to the changes over time in children's thinking, reasoning, use of language, problem solving, and learning, and children's approaches to interaction with their physical and social environments. Components of cognition include intelligence; arousal, orientation, attention, and executive function; memory (short and long term); information processing functions (such as pattern recognition, facial-emotional content, imitation, cause-and-effect associations, processing multiple sources of information simultaneously); representational thought; and reasoning and concept formation (problem solving, language, perspective-taking, social context and rules).

For children age birth through two, cognitive development involves learning to coordinate sensory input with emerging motor skills, development of object permanence, differentiation of self from others, and emergence of representational thought and symbolic play. Cognitive development is often assessed using standardized tests to derive a developmental quotient, mental index, or intelligence quotient. For children under age three, cognitive development is measured using a developmental or mental index. Children who score significantly below average using a standardized test would be considered to have substantial limitations in cognitive functioning.

Cognitive impairments in very young infants and toddlers are generally associated with a diagnosed physical or mental condition with a high probability of resulting in developmental delay (e.g., central nervous system abnormalities, syndromes or conditions, etc.) and include deficits in one or more components of cognition.

Social-Emotional Development

Social-emotional development involves progressive change in the way that children relate to their social world and their ability to differentiate and express emotions and perceive emotional states of other individuals. Social development refers to relating to others; the degree and quality of the child's relationships with parents and caregivers; feelings about self; and, social adjustment to a variety of interactions over time. Emotions reflect an individual's attempt or readiness to establish, maintain, or change the relation between him or herself and his or her environment (e.g., a child who overcomes an obstacle to a goal is likely to experience happiness); emotions become more differentiated as infants develop (e.g., crying behavior differs depending on whether the infant is hungry or angry); and, infants' strategies for regulating their emotions change over time (e.g., responses to distress develop from gaze aversion to self-soothing behaviors).

Children who are experiencing disorders or impairment in social-emotional development may exhibit patterns such as inability to form attachment relationships with caregivers, failure to develop joint-attention skills, perseverative behaviors, etc. Examples of disorders in this area of development may be found in Appendix B, which lists and describes psychiatric disorders that can affect young children. Diagnosed conditions such as those in Appendix B are characterized by qualitative and extreme problems and variations in child behavior and emotional development, in comparison with the "testing" or "trying" behaviors typical of most children in the two-to-three-year-old age group.

Adaptive Development

Adaptive development refers to the development of behaviors and self-help skills that assist children in coping with the natural and social demands of the environment, including sleeping, feeding, mobility, toileting, dressing, and higher-level social interactions. A child who is experiencing delays in adaptive development has difficulty in learning and acquiring these behaviors and skills. Delays in adaptive development may be associated with delays or impairments in other areas of development, including fine and gross motor skills, oral-motor functioning, cognitive development, communication development, and social-emotional development.

For more information please visit the NYS Department of Health's Bureau of Early Intervention's website

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Family Initiative Coordination Services Project is to facilitate, support, and develop parent involvement at all levels of the Early Intervention Program for childhood disabilities

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Self-concept can be defined as the view one has of herself and her abilities. A child's self-concept begins to develop at birth. It begins with how adults respond to her. Parents and caregivers create a positive emotional bond with an infant through warm and caring interactions. This positive emotional bond with parents and caregivers promotes a child's healthy self-concept.
As the child grows, her ability to interact successfully with her environment nurtures a healthy self-concept. This is critically important in early childhood. The development of a positive self-concept at an early age empowers the child to feel competent, try new things, and strive for success. As parents, we have the opportunity (and responsibility) to nurture a positive self-concept in our children.
What can parents do to nurture a positive self-concept?
1. Be mindful of the language you use to describe your children. Do not label them with words such as 'lazy', 'naughty', 'aggressive' or 'mean'. Instead, look for and point out your child's strengths.

2. Provide them with opportunities for success. Give your child age-appropriate tasks she can complete on her own. Having done so will give her a sense of pride and help build a "can do" mentality.

3. Show your children that you have faith in their goodness and in their abilities. This is a matter of language choice. For example, if your toddler, out of frustration, hits another child, you might say, "You naughty girl! How can you be so mean! I can't believe you hit him! You're in big trouble!" Or, you could say, "You got frustrated and hit him. It's not ok to hit. I know you didn't mean to hurt him. How can you express your frustration in different ways?"

4. Spend time together. A vital part of having a healthy self-concept is feeling loved and valued. Spend this time doing something fun and enjoyable for both of you, and avoid criticisms or lectures during this quality time.

5. Support your child's interests. Learn what your child is interested in and support him in mastering that skill or accomplishing his desired level of achievement. Feeling competent and good at something grows a positive self-concept.

6. Set reasonable rules and enforce them with lovingkindness. Your rules should be age-appropriate and clear. These help your child to feel safe and learn how to manage herself. However, enforcing them with a heavy hand when your child steps out of bounds can actually erode the self-concept. It's important to make sure your child knows that mistakes are a part of life and doesn't mean she's a bad person. When giving consequences, keep your child's dignity in mind.

7. Help your child to manage his emotions and work out problems. This is why problem-solving is such a big part of positive parenting. When children learn to solve their own problems, they build confidence and, therefore, a positive self-concept. Learning to manage emotions is key to having the ability to step back from a situation and view it objectively.

8. Maintain a connected relationship. Being connected keeps the lines of communication open, and this is especially important as your child grows into adolescence. Knowing that she has you to talk to, that you will listen without casting out immediate judgment and take her feelings seriously, will help her to feel supported, safe, and important.

9. Give her the opportunity to explore her environment, ask questions without feeling like a nuisance, and engage in make-believe play activities. Children are curious and imaginative, and we must be careful not to squash those traits. To nurture curiosity and imagination, allow ample time for free play and exploration.

10. Acknowledge effort and offer encouragement. Children need to know that first place isn't the goal, but that personal best is a win, no matter what place that lands them. As she grows, her own self-evaluation will become important to her self-concept, and she needs to learn how to emphasize her strengths and accomplishments, even if there is no trophy in the end.

A healthy self-concept is the foundation for the positive development and the over-all well-being of a child. When a child has a healthy self-concept, he sees himself as being loved, loving, and valuable, and that's what we all want for our children.

From: Creative Child

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10 ways to nurture your child's self-concept - CALM

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Self-concept can be defined as the view one has of herself and her abilities. A child's self-concept begins to develop at birth. It begins with how adults respond to her. Parents and caregivers create a positive emotional bond with an infant through warm and caring interactions.

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social and emotional skills suggestions 

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social and emotional skills suggestions 

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Social And Emotional Development | PBS LearningMedia

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Find lessons on Social And Emotional Development for all grades. Free interactive resources and activities for the classroom and home.

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Self-Check Behavior Checklist Maker | Intervention Central

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The ultimate goal of education is to mold young people into well-rounded individuals. That often includes making sure that the teaching and learning process flows as smoothly as possible.

In theory, your role as a teacher is to plan and deliver your lessons, and everything will fall into place.

Unfortunately, theory doesn't always apply in the real world. Truth be told, getting children to settle down and behave as expected is often a job and a half.

That's where positive behavioral management strategies shine.

Let's talk about some behavior management strategies you can tap into to enhance student behavior and allow teaching and learning to proceed as planned.

1. Maintain a Routine

Having a set routine is an important behavior management tool that helps to establish guidelines and behavior expectations.

A routine ensures that students know what's coming next, so you'll spend less time giving out instructions-freeing up time to do the real work.

Include the students in establishing a class schedule that works for everyone and give them responsibility for some routine tasks.

Don't leave out the notoriously disruptive students in your schedule-more often, a sense of responsibility can help reduce behavior issues.

When a student starts to slide out of your planned routine, use non-verbal cues like hand gestures to remind students of what they should be doing. Avoid verbal cues to keep the lesson flow uninterrupted.

2. Set Rules Together With Students

Just like a routine, rules help improve student behavior. However, if the classroom teachers set the rules themselves, the class may reject them.

That's why it's important to have an audience with your class to help set the rules.

When children take ownership of the rules, peer pressure works in your favor to enforce them and improve behavior management.

Also, have a guideline for how infractions will be dealt with. These guidelines help remove the feeling of being punished, so students will know what to expect when they're called out about their behavior.

Remember to enforce the guidelines impartially and consistently. If you slack on the enforcement even once, you create a loophole that everyone will want to take advantage of.

It's also important to remember not to discipline the whole class for one student's infractions. For example, disrupting class proceedings to deal with one student. This will likely alienate the whole class, who will feel wrongfully punished.

3. Create Stimulating Lessons

Imagine sitting through a meeting where the facilitator drones on for hours on end. You will probably start fiddling with your keys or just zone out right in the middle of it.

That's exactly how students feel when lessons aren't exciting. Monotonous classes are sure to bring out the worst in your students. To get rid of bad behavior, make your class activities as exciting and stimulating as possible.

Structure your activities to engage and involve your learners throughout the lesson. Strive to allow your students to uncover knowledge with practical activities.

Most importantly, vary your teaching methods, use plenty of aids, and make the work as interactive and fun as you can.

You can draw the attention of younger students by incorporating games and using plenty of actions in your learning time. With older students, try to stay relatable, for example, by referencing modern music or movies.

4. Use Positive Language

Negative language has a way of reinforcing the wrong behavior. Typically, kids like to do what they are told not to do. So, rather than create a vicious cycle of behavior challenges, use positive language.

For example, instead of saying, "Stop throwing those paper airplanes," you can say instead, "Can we all focus and pay attention, please."

Positive language makes the students feel respected, leading to better behavior.

Plus, positive language will encourage the kids to start speaking positively. For example, instead of saying, "This work is too hard for me," they will begin to say, "I can try my best."

It's also important to keep your body language positive. Smile more and frown less often. Model the behavior you want to see in your students. Studies have shown that students learn from the language and behavior that educators display.

Some of the outcomes of positive language approaches include:

A safe learning environment

A sense of responsibility

Self-discipline

Self-motivation

5. Develop a Relationship With Your Students

Get to know your students individually. Take time to find out their interests and dislikes. If your lessons are centered around what the learners like, you will find it easier to keep them engaged.

Also, knowing your students will help you identify some triggers for behavioral problems. For example, if a student suddenly starts lashing out and talking over you in a lesson, they may be going through some personal problems at home or facing issues like bullying at school.

If you know a bit about the child, you may be able to figure out the root of the problem. Instead of punishing the bad behavior, you can talk to the student or point them in the direction of help; for example, get them to see the school counselor.

One way of developing a good relationship with your class is by speaking positively about them to their parents and administrators.

Use notes and calls to update their parents on their positive behavioral changes. Or have the principal or a senior administrator drop in to commend their good behavior. Your students are more likely to feel like you are looking out for them and continue to improve.

6. Adjust Your Scoring Methods

Getting an "F" on an assignment is demoralizing. Typically, students who get poor marks are disruptive in class and deliberately fall short of behavior expectations to deflect from the real issue.

If you are dealing with a similar scenario in your class, use a less standard scoring method for grading classwork.

For example, instead of grading a paper with a specific score, simply put check marks where they got it right and point out areas of improvement. This unconventional grading can help reduce the overwhelming feeling of poor grades.

You may also turn it into a game. Use points to grade papers and give some rewards when a student reaches a specific number of points. Treating scores like a fun game helps motivate students to focus and improve their scores.

Developing a Positive Behavior Management System for Your School

Many years ago, the trusted classroom management approach was authoritarian. Teachers routinely meted out punishment or used stern warnings to keep the class in line. However, this method has been proven to have many shortcomings.

For one, it breeds an atmosphere of fear, hindering kids from making progress in their studies. Secondly, studies have shown negative long-term effects like behavioral problems, low self-esteem, or depression.

That's why turning to positive behavior management techniques is critical. Positive behavior focuses on understanding your students, becoming a role model, and promoting wholesome behavioral development.

Imagine this scenario: a child is hanging from a tree cursing at his grandma, refusing to get into school. The principal's office is bursting at the seams with pupils in trouble for one infraction or the other, and it's not even time for recess yet!
Sounds incredible?
That's what Dr. Michael Perry had to deal with in his first year as principal at Critzer Elementary in Virginia.

But then, Positive Action came to his aid with a curriculum designed to instill positive behavioral change, plus training for educators in using positive behavioral management in the classroom.

The result was a phenomenal decrease in behavioral problems, safe classrooms, and thriving learners.
"Four years later, Critzer is profoundly transformed. The school is fully accredited, meeting and exceeding federal, state, and local standards. It ranks among the highest academic performing schools in its district, and halfway through this year there have only been two suspensions."
If you're facing behavioral problems in your school, turn to Positive Action.

Positive Action offers a full curriculum package, counselor kits, and school climate kits designed to help teachers, students, and school leaders to implement positive behavior management systems.

For a comprehensive turnaround of your school, contact Positive Action today.

Positive Action's programs are tried and tested.

Most importantly, all packages are engaging, easy to use, and set to transform the classroom and school environment to help shape your learners into well-behaved positive thinkers, and well-adjusted individuals.

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6 Behavior Management Strategies for Your Classroom in 2023

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Get ahead of the game with these upcoming trends and strategies for classroom behavior management. Learn to tackle the challenge of social awareness head-on and make your students thrive!

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Best Practices in Special Ed: Evidence-Based Strategies

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Discover effective, evidence-based practices enhancing learning outcomes in special education settings.

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This video explains how high-leverage practice (HLP) 13, adaptations to curriculum tasks and materials for specific learning goals, can be leveraged to support students with disabilities by providing video exemplars from real classrooms.

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These guides are intended to support educator preparation faculty in effectively training teacher candidates on implementing the High Leverage Practices in classroom settings.

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These guides are intended to support educator preparation faculty in effectively training teacher candidates on implementing the High Leverage Practices in classroom settings.

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Why do Facilitated IEP meetings generate better student results?

ARD/IEP meetings benefit from skilled and capable facilitators who can assist the team in crafting agreements that lead to better educational programs for students with disabilities. Facilitation makes the meeting process easier and helps team members communicate and solve problems more effectively. Every team member, parent, and school personnel can use facilitation to improve the process and outcome.

Watch this video of an IEP meeting demonstrating the use of facilitation skills and techniques to learn how you too can implement these valuable and effective skills/techniques. Free tools and resources have been developed to help ensure your next IEP meeting is the best one yet.

Guiding Questions

We have created a set of guiding questions to help guide your thinking while watching the video. Each chapter has its own list of guiding questions and is unique to the situation and phase of the IEP meeting. Use a downloadable copy for personal or training/workshop use.

1. IEP Satisfaction
Use the IEP Satisfaction model as a frame of reference for your work with teams before, during, and after the meeting. Facilitators have been shown to improve team processes and outcomes by promoting procedural, psychological, and substantive satisfaction among team members.

2. Facilitation Continuum
Use the Facilitation Continuum as a reminder that all team members have a responsibility to use facilitation skills proactively so that conflicts can be prevented or reduced at the lowest level without formal, legal intervention when possible.

3. IEP Checklist
Use the IEP Checklist to get school-wide systems in place that support the IEP process as a whole and also assist in preparing for individual meetings.

4. Jargon Poster
Use the Jargon Poster to provide a guide to special education terms to assist communication during the IEP meeting process.

5. Discussion Guidelines
Use the list of Discussion Guidelines to clarify expectations for how the team will communicate and interact with each other.

6. Procedural Ground Rules
Use the Ground Rules document to help establish procedures and logistics for the meeting. These include breaks, following the agenda, start time, and other important components.

7. Questioning
Knowing what type of question might be most effective for your desired outcome can save a lot of time and help open the lines of communication. All types of questions are useful: some encourage discussion; others seek facts and short answers, and some could inhibit communication. This document will help you develop your questioning techniques.

8. Summarizing
Knowing which form of summarizing to use to meet your purpose of acknowledging another's perspective or confirming understanding, or reframing comments, or moving to the next stage of the process, will make it a little easier for the other person to hear the message and engage in discussion.

9. Interests Based Problem Solving
This strategy will help to broaden the discussion and provide several possible solutions for the team to consider when seeking underlying interests when using a problem-solving process.

10. Consensus Gradients
Use the Gradients Poster and range of numbers as a method for team members to show their varying levels of enthusiasm or support for a recommendation.

11. Consensus Language
Use the Consensus Language tool to assist in using specific language when testing for group consensus which allows for varying levels of enthusiasm and does not force a yes-no response.

12. Commitments
Use this fill-in-the-blank template to gather promises or commitments in one place for better follow-through and monitoring.

13. Meeting Evaluation
Use the Meeting Evaluation survey to solicit feedback about how effective your meetings are from all team members to foster communication and build trust in the process.

14. Facilitation Tips Booklet
The Facilitation Tips: Discussions, Decisions, and Challenges is intended as a resource for facilitators who assist teams, especially special education teams, in their work.

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Watch this video of an IEP meeting demonstrating the use of facilitation skills and techniques to learn how you too can implement these valuable and effective skills/techniques.

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Essential Components of MTSS | Center on Multi-Tiered Systems of Support

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A multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) is a proactive and preventative framework that integrates data and instruction to maximize student achievement and support students social, emotional, and behavior needs from a strengths-based perspective. MTSS offers a framework for educators to engage in data-based decision making related to program improvement, high-quality instruction and intervention, social and emotional learning, and positive behavioral supports necessary to ensure positive outcomes for districts, schools, teachers, and students. The MTSS framework is comprised of four essential components: screening, progress monitoring, multi-level prevention system, and data-based decision making. Depending on state law, MTSS data may also support identification of students with learning or other disabilities.

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9 examples of assistive technology and adaptive tools in school

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9 examples of assistive technology and adaptive tools in school

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Here are 50 strategies for differentiated instruction to better meet the needs of your diverse, evolving learners.