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Lev Vygotsky and Social Learning Theories

Social learning theories help us to understand how people learn in social contexts (learn from each other) and informs us on how we, as teachers, construct active learning communities. Lev Vygotsky (1962), a Russian teacher and psychologist, first stated that we learn through our interactions and communications with others. Vygotsky (1962) examined how our social environments influence the learning process. He suggested that learning takes place through the interactions students have with their peers, teachers, and other experts. Consequently, teachers can create a learning environment that maximizes the learner's ability to interact with each other through discussion, collaboration, and feedback. Moreover, Vygotsky (1962) argues that culture is the primary determining factor for knowledge construction. We learn through this cultural lens by interacting with others and following the rules, skills, and abilities shaped by our culture. Instruction that supports social learning:

1. Developing Learning Communities

2. Community of Learners Classroom

3. Collaborative Learning and Group Work

4. Discussion-based Learning (Socratic Questioning Methods)

1. Students work together on a task

2. Students develop across the curriculum

3. Instructors choose meaningful and challenging tasks for the students to work

4. Instructors manage socratic dialogue that promote deeper learning.

Vygotsky argued, "that language is the main tool that promotes thinking, develops reasoning, and supports cultural activities like reading and writing" (Vygotsky 1978). As a result, instructional strategies that promote literacy across the curriculum play a significant role in knowledge construction as well as the combination of whole class leadership, individual and group coaching, and independent learning. Moreover, teachers need to provide the opportunity to students for a managed discussion about their learning. Discussion that has a purpose with substantive comments that build off each other and there is a meaningful exchange between students that results in questions that promote deeper understanding. Discussion-based classroom using socratic dialogue where the instructor manages the discourse can lead each student to feel like their contributions are valued resulting in increased student motivation.
The teacher, or local topic expert, plays the important role of facilitator, creating the environment where directed and guided interactions can occur. Many other educational theorists adopted Vygotsky's social process ideas and proposed st
rategies that foster deeper knowledge construction, facilitate socratic student discussions, and build active learning communities through small group based instruction.

In essence, Vygotsky recognizes that learning always occurs and cannot be separated from a social context. Consequently, instructional strategies that promote the distribution of expert knowledge where students collaboratively work together to conduct research, share their results, and perform or produce a final project, help to create a collaborative community of learners. Knowledge construction occurs within Vygotsky's (1962) social context that involves student-student and expert-student collaboration on real world problems or tasks that build on each person's language, skills, and experience shaped by each individual's culture" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 102).

References

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978) Mind in Society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Vygotsky, L.S. (1962). Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. (Original work published in 1934).

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Lev Vygotsky and Social Learning Theories

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Social learning theories help us to understand how people learn in social contexts (learn from each other) and informs us on how we, as teachers, construct active learning communities. Lev Vygotsky (1962), a Russian teacher and psychologist, first stated that we learn through our interactions and communications with others.

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How to Open Class Participation to Everyone

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Having a wide range of participation tools-in addition to cold calling-helps teachers encourage students of all backgrounds and dispositions to contribute.

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The Graduate School of Education and Human Development

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Collaborative learning - the practice of breaking students into small groups to answer questions, work on projects and learn from one another - has become one of the strongest core philosophies operating in classrooms today.

The concept is not new; much of the early research on collaborative learning (also called cooperative learning) was done in the 1980s and 1990s when most classrooms favored the traditional teacher lectures and individual student work. But with the growth of technology and the increasing value society places on the ability to work in teams, collaborative learning has become more common. Here are 10 strategies for encouraging the success of collaborative learning:

1. Deliberately select which students will work together

Left to their own devices, students will sort themselves into groups of friends who share common bonds. However, when a teacher creates the groupings, he or she can match students by strengths and weaknesses, deliberately mixing ability, diversity and social capability.

2. Size the groups for maximum effectiveness

If a group is too small, ideas and discussion may not be diverse or energetic enough; if too large, some students won't get involved. Optimum group size tends to be four to five.

3. Teach your students how to listen to one another

Among young learners, active listening isn't a natural skill. Taking time to discuss and practice listening skills with your students - teaching them to make eye contact, avoid interruption and repeat important points - has both short and long term benefits.

4. Set the rules of language and collaboration

There will always be one or two students in each group who will be more likely to take the lead - or take over. Take the time to teach students how to clarify issues, how to paraphrase, how to disagree constructively and how to build on what others have contributed.

5. Make goals and expectations clear

Specific goals and expectations are important. If students are not clear on the goals they are expected to meet, group work has the potential to trail off into socialization or apathy.

6. Assign roles to the members of each group

With roles delineated, students are able to better understand what is expected of them. With roles like leader (directs the group's actions for the day), recorder (takes notes and does all writing), encourager (enables discussion and gives positive feedback) and checker (checks the work and hands it in), its clear how each student needs to fulfill his or her responsibilities.

7. Use real-world problems, not imaginary ones

With practical, real-world assignments, students find information through research and forming real opinions. If you find a scenario that they feel involved in - an environmental issue, a recent Supreme Court case, a complicated social issue - they will take more ownership of the project. Even better, select a problem from the students' own community and challenge them to solve it.

8. Consider giving each group a different task

Delegating tasks gives each group a sense of importance and emphasizes the fact that large problems are solved by people working together. By solving different pieces of an issue, your student groups will have a more personalized learning experience and will better refrain from ill-spirited competition or "borrowing" each other's work.

9. Play a game to get students warmed up

This is particularly helpful for younger students, who may not be sure of their roles in the group or the classroom. Cooperative games require children to use the same skills that they do in collaborative schoolwork, and they can see results quickly. For example, Teach Hub offers cooperative classroom games that are appropriate for grades 1-3, grades 4-6 and grades 7-8.

10. Evaluate each group on its own merit

If you judge groups in relation to each other, students will feel like their success or failure is not entirely in their own hands. Try a system where you can give grades per how well each group met its goals, and/or how each student performed the duties of their assigned role. You can also reward by category, as in best discussions, best research or most original solution.

The Changing Trends of Education

Collaborative learning is just one of the countless ways in which education is changing today. To learn more about how you can develop your leadership potential and enhance your career with a Master's in Educational Leadership and Administration, Education Specialist (EdS) and Post-Master's Certificate from the George Washington University, request information or call 202-994-9283.

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10 Strategies to Build on Student Collaboration in the Classroom | The Graduate School of Education and Human Development | The George Washington University

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Collaborative learning, breaking students into groups to work on projects and learn from one another, has become ! of the core philosophies in classrooms today.

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Faculty Focus | Higher Ed Teaching & Learning

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The idea for sharing this post came from a session I recently conducted at the annual teaching conference organized by my university. A pedagogical conundrum was raised by a colleague whose enthusiasm and question stayed with me and inspired me to write this post. The question posed by this colleague is relevant to all instructors who have ever used group work to assess their students: How should one deal with the issues that arise when members of a group are not picking up their share of the responsibilities during a group work project?

The benefits of group work are well recognized (e.g., http://goo.gl/N8kqhy), as are the reasons students don't like working in groups (Taylor, 2011). We have all had groups that operated magically, when group members brought out each other's strengths and helped each member shine; but we have also had groups that failed miserably when members did not get along or did not pull equal weight in completing a group project.

Although much has been written about group work and its benefits and challenges, as well as variables, features, or components that can contribute to positive learning outcomes (Tomcho, & Foels, 2012), issues of implementation seem to pop up every time instructors get together to talk about their teaching challenges. In this post I focus on the persistent challenge of imbalance when not all group members contribute equally. What follows are a few simple ideas you might wish to consider that have worked well for me during years of trial and error in my teaching, as well as insights from my research.

1. Design a group project in which the students work in phases.

For instance, starting with a project idea, then moving to project development, followed by preliminary project outcomes - and requiring students to "check-in" at each phase before delivering the final project. Not only does this help ensure that the groups won't wait until the final deadline is upon them to work on their project, but it also enables the instructor to touch base with every group and to offer guidance, support, or mediation, if needed, during the process.

2. Develop an element of the project that allows group members to make their own choices.

In my teaching, I usually give students the freedom to choose a topic area that interests them within the scope of the course or that is the most relevant or meaningful to the team members. This decision helps create a sense of ownership and enhances the students' level of engagement, both of which are crucial for working on large group projects, and especially for those requiring students to carry out the work in phases throughout the term (see, for example, Enghag & Niedder, 2007, on the theoretical basis for student ownership of learning).

3. Within a group project, include a component requiring individual students to submit non-onerous individual work.

For example, the project could include a personal reflection piece (e.g., e.g., Huang, 2011a), in which each member individually reflects on the process and product of his or her own portion of the group work. Apart from the pedagogical benefits of learners engaging in individual reflection (Pavlovich, Collins, & Jones, 2009), this task or component will inevitably provide insights about the division-of-labor issue commonly raised by instructors and students alike. Both learners and the instructor can glean a great many insights from those individual reflection pieces, which instructors can take into account when assigning either project or final grades, depending on their individual approach to assessment. This process also enables students to gain greater understanding about what worked well and what could be improved.

One important matter to keep in mind when implementing the reflection component is the need to ensure that we, as instructors, clarify what we mean by "reflection" in order to minimize a potential mismatch between our expectations about reflective learning and our students' understanding of what it entails. What we'd like our students to do is to engage in critical reflection - that is, thinking that involves different levels of reflection, rather than simply restating or describing what they did, or what I have called "non-transformative" reflection.

The goal is to encourage students to move beyond simply recalling what they did either individually or together within the group and instead to reflect on their personal discoveries about their own learning and the process of working collaboratively (i.e., understanding, analyzing, and evaluating the process and the product of their group efforts), and, importantly, to "verbalize" what they would do differently the next time around (i.e., pointing to the future).

This component is an example of what is called "writing/speaking to learn" (Manchón, 2011). For this task, it's important that students not be required to follow any formatting or style guidelines. The reflection should be an informal piece of writing, much like a diary entry, and can be in any modality (e.g., writing, audio recording, video clip) that suits the characteristics or preferences of individual students to allow for their individual expression. For some additional simple guidelines about implementing learner reflection, refer to Huang (2011b).

4. Devote a segment (30 minutes or so) during class before all group projects begin to implement two important steps.

Step 1: Get to know each other. The first 10 minutes can be a period for all students to find and meet with the group members they have either been assigned or have self-selected. They should then spend some time exploring each other's communication styles, which may arise from personal or culture-related differences (Lewis, 2006), to help them better anticipate different communication preferences and approaches to group work. This time can be spent sharing responses to guiding questions or statements, such as "I would describe my communication style/personality as ...," "I tend/prefer to deal with conflict by ...," and "I would appreciate my team members doing/not doing ...." (Huang, 2014). Guiding questions are especially helpful for groups that are culturally and linguistically diverse.

Step 2: Establish group norms. During the next 20 minutes, encourage each group to negotiate its own group norms (derived from Step 1) and ground rules. During this time, members of each team should elucidate, negotiate, and establish roles, responsibilities, and expectations. This process makes explicit the specific contributions and ownership of responsibilities that each team member negotiates and agrees to.

Below is a sample checklist that instructors can modify and use to facilitate this process and help prepare each group project to succeed (Huang, 2014). You can revise the items to suit a project or provide the list as an example for each group to use in creating its own list. The list can also be revisited during each check-point mentioned earlier and adjustments made as needed. Upon completion of the project, instructors can request the checklist(s) to be submitted (but not graded), along with other deliverables that are due.

5. Prepare students to expect the unexpected.

Rather than directing their every concern to you, students should be encouraged to become problem solvers not only by identifying problems, but also by developing solutions and choosing and evaluating the best ones so as to balance personal learning with the group's project goals. At the same time, you'll want to create and maintain a culture of openness that lets your students know you are readily available to provide guidance when groups reach an impasse.

In any group work situation, it is always possible that compatibility issues will arise between or among team members, as well as conflicts or problems with unequal distribution of work. The pre-group-project considerations described above, however, can easily be implemented to help minimize the likelihood that conflicts will develop that could negatively affect learning and outcomes. They may also help instructors and students in dealing with the specific common challenge of students who are not pulling their own weight in group collaborations, while maximizing the benefits of a group project not only in terms of content, but more, if not most, importantly, in learning how to work with others - a valuable life lesson that's best learned through experience.

References:
Enghag, M., & Niedderer, H. (2008). Two dimensions of student ownership of learning during small-group work in physics. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 6(4), 629-653.

Huang, L.-S. (2011a). Language learners as language researchers: The acquisition of English grammar through a corpus-aided discovery learning approach mediated by intra and interpersonal dialogues. In J. Newman, S. Rice, & H. Baayen (Eds.), Corpus-based studies in language documentation, use, and learning (pp. 91-122). Amsterdam: Rodopi Press.

Huang, L.-S. (2011b, Fall). Key concepts and theories in TESL: Learner reflection. TEAL News: The Association of B.C. Teachers of English as an Additional Language, pp. 9-13.

Huang, L.-S. (2014). Lessons learned from team-facilitation in ELT: Strategies for navigating the challenges and making it work. IATEFL ES(O)L Newsletter, pp. 13-17.

Lewis, R. D. (2006). When cultures collide: Leading across cultures (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

Manchón, R. M. (Ed.). (2011). Learning-to-write and writing-to-learn in an additional language. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.

Pavlovich, K., Collins, E., Jones, G. (2009). Developing students' skills in reflective practice: Design and assessment. Journal of Management Education, 33(1), 37-58.

Taylor, A. (2011). Top 10 reasons students dislike working in groups...and why I do it anyway. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education, 39(2), 219-220.

Tomcho, T. J., & Foels, R. (2012). Meta-analysis of group learning activities: Empirically based teaching recommendations. Teaching of Psychology, 39(3), 159-169.
Dr. Li-Shih Huang, Associate Professor of Applied Linguistics, Department of Linguistics, Learning and Teaching Scholar-in-Residence, Learning and Teaching Centre, University of Victoria, BC, Canada.

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Students Riding on Coattails during Group Work? Five Simple Ideas to Try

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How should faculty deal with the issues that arise when some students ride on the coattails of others during a group work project?

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Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice?

If not planned for appropriately, group work can create a lot more work than necessary for both students and professor. For students, the disadvantages of group work could mean having to coordinate schedules; arrange meetings; correspond via email, text or phone; make decisions collectively; integrate the contributions of group members; and more. These things can be especially challenging for a nontraditional student population like MSU Denver's-many of our students commute long distances, and have work and family commitments that can make it difficult for them to meet outside of class.

For professors, group work can present challenges such as allocating meeting time during class, and perhaps even having to teach students how to function effectively in teams (even at the college level, this is something that must be taught). Furthermore, figuring out how to assess the process, as well as the product, and determining whether to assign individual or group grades are steps that take time and effort. Last, but not least, and definitely not the most pleasant....everyone must deal with group dynamics.

Take a SIP of This: Effective Group Work: Ensuring Accountability

Here are some strategies to help reduce or mitigate the challenges of group work:

Keep groups small. To ensure active participation and accountability from students, it is better to make small-sized groups; most research suggests 3 to 5 students is optimal. Larger groups are more prone to "free-riders" and require a more active leader to coordinate tasks.

Designate class time for group meetings. This will not only help students who find it difficult to meet outside of class, but it will give you an opportunity to provide support and guidance, as well as to determine if students are on track or in need of substantive support.

Use skills inventories to help teams delegate subtasks. Some students have stronger skills writing, than with public speaking. Others may be more skilled at developing effective PowerPoints as opposed to research. Using a skills inventory list will assist groups in assigning tasks that match group members' strengths. (see https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/designteach/teach/instructionalstrategies/groupprojects/tools/index.html )

Assign roles (e.g., group leader, scheduler) or encourage students to do so.

Point students to digital tools that facilitate remote and/or asynchronous meetings, including Blackboard to which they all have access (also see https://elearningindustry.com/6-online-collaboration-tools-and-strategies-boosting-learning ).

Alert students about time-consuming stages and tasks.

Actively build communication and conflict resolution skills. Take advantage of teachable moments when students are meeting in groups during class. Sit in on group discussions, model effective communications skills, provide guidance for groups that may be experiencing conflict.

Designate time in the project schedule for the group to integrate parts.

Require group self-review. Have group members review their work as a team. You might want to ask how each member contributed, if each person did their fair share, how they think they worked together, what they did well, where they could improve, etc. Give this information at the beginning of the activity so each student is aware that they will be evaluated by their peers. You can create a rubric that addresses the values you wish to see in group work.

Encourage groups to go together to the Writing Center for help with drafting and revising written aspects of their group project.

What is true for individual assignments holds true for group assignments: as a professor, it is important to clearly articulate your objectives, explicitly define the task, clarify your expectations, model high-quality work, and communicate performance criteria so that your students can achieve desired outcomes.

Building individual accountability

Another disadvantage to group work is that students can fully participate in the group assignment, yet still not get the main idea of the project. Therefore, in addition to evaluating the work of the group as a whole, ask individual group members to demonstrate their learning via quizzes, individual writing assignments, weekly journal entries, etc. Not only does this help you monitor student learning, it helps to prevent the "free-rider" phenomenon. Students are considerably less likely to leave all the work to more responsible classmates if they know their individual performance will affect their grade.

Still Thirsty? Take Another SIP of Effective Group Work: Ensuring Accountability

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SIP 4.9 Making Group Work, Work: Ensuring Accountability

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Thirsty for a Strong Instructional Practice? Why do we assign group work? How does it benefit students? How does it benefit professors? If not planned for appropriately, group work can create a lot more work than necessary for both students and professor. For students, the disadvantages of group work could mean having to coordinate schedules; ...

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Collaborative Learning Theory – E-Learning Essentials 2020

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When student engagement is going downhill, we often find ourselves reaching for the prop box.

We pull out random videos, time-sucking resources, overly complex activities... anything to get and keep attention. But even these can't compete with our students' pen tricks, doodling, and discussions of what happened at recess. And there's a simple reason why:

Our students aren't engaged by things. They're engaged by us. That's why the best (and easiest) ways to increase student engagement come from you.

We compiled 20 essential strategies that generate lasting engagement, without the flashy props and hours of post-school prep.

Let the countdown begin!

20. Connect learning to the real world

We've all heard it before: "When am I ever going to use this?" Answer this question and you'll engage students with content that they know is relevant to life beyond school. Use anecdotes, case studies, and real-life examples from outside the classroom to root your teaching in "the real world".

19. Engage with your students' interests

Find out what already engages your students and build it into the learning process.

Using mathematics as an example, you could have students chart their performance in a video game over the week. You might even get your budding social media influencers to calculate a projected number of Instagram followers.

Learning what excites your students does more than just engage them. You'll build strong relationships and rapport, too.

18. Fill "dead time"

"Dead time" is any point in a lesson where students are left without something to do. You might be handing out a worksheet, getting a presentation set up, or waiting interminably for a YouTube video to load. These are brief windows that leave just enough time for students to tune out, after which time it can be very difficult to get them back.

Fill these blank spaces with low-order activities to hold students' attention. These should be quick, easy, and require minimal follow-up. For example:

Think Pair Share: students reflect on something, discuss with a partner, and then share with the rest of the class once everyone is ready

Quickwrite: write down three questions or points that have been raised by the lesson so far

What I know already: if you're just about to dive into new content, ask students to identify three things they already know about the subject and jot them down as bullet points.

17. Use group work and collaboration

Collaborating with small groups gives students a welcome break from solo bookwork. They'll benefit from each other's perspectives and the ability to express their ideas.

Use your judgment and knowledge of who works well together when organizing group work. Engineering the groups might avoid troublesome partnerships, while allowing students to work with friends might generate the buzz you need for more productive activity.

16. Encourage students to present and share work regularly

Giving students a regular opportunity to share their thoughts and demonstrate learning in front of their peers drives engagement in two ways:

it makes students accountable

it lets them hear from someone other than their teacher.

If your students quiver in fear at the thought of speaking in front of the class, combine presentations with group work. A few ideas:

Have students present in groups after a group task.

Let students share each other's work within smaller groups before asking them to choose one piece to share with the rest of the class.

Let students read or present their work while sitting down. It avoids the pressure of having to "stand and deliver".

Ask for one contribution from each group after discussion, with each group nominating a "spokesperson".

Above all else, make presenting and sharing a regular part of class activity. Your class will become an equitable and engaging space that echoes with the voice of every student, not just your own!

15. Give your students a say

If you don't know how to engage your students, let them tell you! Give your students a say in classroom activity by:

providing a choice of different activities (e.g. group work or solo)

seeking student input for assessment design (e.g. students can choose a final product, provided it meets the criteria)

periodic check-ins to monitor the pace of delivery (e.g. "do we need to go over this a bit more slowly or are we feeling pretty confident?").

Giving students a choice also fosters their sense of ownership over their learning. They'll move from passive consumers to active learners with a stake in classroom activity.

14. Use mixed media

Present learning content in a variety of mediums, including video, audio, and digital resources. Using such tech-rich resources is engaging for two reasons. It's a welcome change from the stacks of paper our students are usually saddled with, and it establishes a direct and relevant connection with the digital world they inhabit.

13. Get your students moving

If your students struggle to sit still for an entire lesson, get them moving. All that pent-up energy can be channelled into a learning activity that puts them on their feet. Try the following.

Have students come to the front and brainstorm together on the whiteboard.

Have students rotate through different stations around the room over the course of an activity.

Have students split into groups or arrange themselves in different areas of the room.

Take a stand: have students move to a particular area of the room to indicate their thoughts on an issue (e.g. "everyone who thinks x, move to the right side of the room; if you think y, stand on the left").

Movement works equally well to engage sluggish or weary students. A quick bit of physical activity will leave them more alert for the next phase of learning.

12. Read the room

If you're steadily losing students to doodling, off-topic chatter, and the pervasive "need to tear and ball up little pieces of paper", it's time to shake things up.

Cut the activity short if it's dragging, clarify instructions if there's confusion, or switch to a more student-centered activity for greater engagement.

Remember: it's impossible to have every student engaged 100% of the time. The next best thing we can do is to notice disengagement and respond to it quickly.

11. Scaffold tasks with checkpoints

If you dump all your instructions on students at the start of a lesson before turning them loose with an activity, confusion and disengagement will likely follow.

That's why it's important to scaffold larger tasks by breaking them into achievable steps. Each of these can be separated by brief "checkpoints" of instruction reorienting students and reminding them of what needs to be done next. They also serve as a periodic call to attention when students are liable to go off track.

10. Focus on discovery and inquiry

Sometimes the best thing you can do for engagement is to get out of your students' way.

Let them discover learning for themselves without being spoon-fed. They'll exercise critical and creative thinking, and pursue the lines of inquiry that interest them.

This doesn't mean you should retreat behind the teacher's desk. Observe your students, listen to them, and talk to them about what they're thinking. Be their guide as opposed to their instructor.

9. Ask good questions

Ask good questions of your students and you'll drive rich, engaging discussions that are open to everyone.

Good questions should be:

open-ended: to avoid "yes/no" answers

equitable: open to answers of varying depth and complexity

legitimate: asked because you want to hear students' thoughts and opinions, not because you're fishing for a correct answer.

When students answer a question, engage with their response. Even if it's incorrect or misinformed, recognize their effort and use it to refine the question further (e.g. "you're on the right track, but could we also think about...").

8. Allow for think time

It's gratifying to see hands shoot up as soon as you ask a question, but letting your students think it over has two benefits. It leads to more considered responses that drive engaging discussions, and it also makes the conversation accessible to those who don't have an instant answer.

After you ask a question, insist on a twenty-second pause and give students an opportunity to extend their standard responses further. For example, you might ask "See if you can explain how you came to your answer, too". You'll receive better answers and start to notice some new hands going up.

7. Shake things up

Predictability is safe, but it can get boring. Mix up your staple teaching strategies with new and novel activities from time to time. Talk to other teachers for ideas. In addition to engagement, you'll also be giving your students an example of what it means to take a risk and try something new.

Experimenting with some new parts of the teacher toolkit also makes it easier to differentiate your instruction. A new activity or delivery method might be the trick to engaging that student who has been a tough nut to crack all year.

6. Give brain breaks

Periodically give students a breather with brain breaks. These are short activities that allow students to stretch their legs before returning to work feeling focused. You can find a list of 20 brain breaks at Mind Bloom.

Meritopia in Mathletics is gamified learning at its best and keeps students engaged! When students earn enough points in Mathletics, they get the perfect brain break in Meritopia by discovering new lands and unlocking characters.

5. Be personable

Relationships and rapport are pillars of lasting engagement, and you can't have either without being personable. This means getting to know your students and letting them get to know you.

While enthusiasm for the learning content might ebb and flow, your smile, laughter, and conversation will engage students every time they walk through your classroom door.

4. Encourage friendly competition

Use in-class games, quizzes, or gamified learning programs to engage students with friendly competition. For example, Live Mathletics (a feature in Mathletics) allows students to test their mathematical skills by competing in 60-second quizzes against peers in their class or around the globe in real time.

"Friendly" is the keyword here. Make sure competitive activities are low stakes and put the emphasis on learning instead of winning.

3. Start lessons with introductory hooks

Engage students from the outset of your lesson with an introductory hook. This could be anything that piques interest, establishes relevance, or inspires curiosity in the subject of the lesson, for example:

a personal anecdote connected to the subject

a brain teaser or challenge question

a historical example

a multimedia source.

Keep your hooks short and segue them directly into an overview of the learning goal. It's an effective opening that engages while setting students up for the main instructional component.

2. Laugh together

Weaving humour throughout your lesson lightens the mood and makes for a more fun experience. Laugh with your students, and don't be afraid to let them laugh at you from time to time!

1. Gamify learning

Games are the most powerful source of engagement for students outside of class, and they're equally effective at driving engagement in learning. Transform activities into games by including levels of difficulty, rewards, and competitive elements. You can read more about gamifying learning here.

You don't have to invest hours in creating rules and drawing up game boards, either. Gamified learning programs can do the work for you. The learning programs in the 3P suite, for example, provide a host of student-friendly games for mathematics, literacy, and science. All you have to do is select the appropriate curriculum and grant your students access.

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20 Student Engagement Strategies for a Captivating Classroom

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Here's our list of the best student engagement strategies to help you create an engaging classroom and better connect with students.

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3 Group Work Strategies That Help Hold All Students Accountable

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From delegating roles to involving students in rubric design, here are group work strategies to help hold all students accountable.

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Walk into any classroom today and you'll find great variation in student growth and kids with a variety of strengths, academic experiences, and needs. Superintendents now report an average of half of all their students are behind grade level, and other research suggests as many as 10% of students may be two or more grade levels behind.

The sheer variety of what students bring to school can be a major challenge for educators. Because these students' needs are different, they'll likely need different supports to be successful. At the same time, teachers are also tasked with ensuring every student has equal access to grade-level standards.

With only so many hours in the day, how can educators both differentiate to meet student needs and give all students access to the grade-level content they need to keep up and continue to succeed?

What the research tells us about helping kids succeed

It's been my privilege to conduct research focused on meeting this intense challenge. And what my colleagues and I have found is heartening: there are many strategies teachers already use that have proven to be especially effective in helping children make the academic gains we know they can make. We're calling these the Transformative Ten.

1. Provide supplemental learning time for targeted retrieval practice

2. Mix whole-group, small-group, and individual activities

3. Adjust student groups in real time

4. Share students and strategies within a grade level

5. Differentiate tasks within a unit

6. Provide targeted practice for foundational skills

7. Teach from multiple standards at once

8. Create opportunities for self-directed learning

9. Use student discourse as formative assessment

10. Explicitly teach academic vocabulary

Each of these strategies optimizes learning time, maximizes the amount of content students receive, and promotes student autonomy and empowerment. In our guide titled "The Transformative Ten," you can read a detailed description of each approach along with relevant research and specific examples. Think of the paper as your toolkit for getting started addressing the tricky balancing act of differentiation vs. providing access to grade-level content.

About our studies

My research began with a commitment to understanding how schools generate high levels of student growth and to continuing the work of my late colleague, Andrew Hegedus. In 2019, Andy released provocative work demonstrating that schools that produce above-average student growth come from all corners of the country; in fact, 60% of the lowest-income schools showed growth above average.

My colleagues and I picked up where Andy left off and identified 789 schools that produced above-average growth for students in all achievement levels for multiple years. We then partnered with two of those schools, located in Schiller Park, Illinois. The Illinois schools are similar to others across the country: 62% of their students receive free or reduced-price lunch, 55% of students are non-white, and per-pupil spending in the district is below the state average. Yet these schools produced higher-than-typical growth across all student achievement levels six years running.

Getting to the heart of what effective instruction looks like requires close partnership. I visited the schools-Kennedy Elementary School and Lincoln Middle School-four times over the last 15 months. Each time, we conducted observations of classroom instruction and interviews with our four focus teachers, adding up to around 87 total hours of data. None of that could have happened without the willingness of teachers, principals, and a district willing to open up their practice for the benefit of other educators, and Schiller Park's teachers and administrators deserve the bulk of the credit for making this work possible.

The purpose and intent of an effort like this departs in some important ways from other kinds of educational research. Unlike qualitative research, our intent was not to show conclusively that the strategies documented here can or will lead to high growth; other scholarship, particularly the pioneering work of John Hattie, meets that need. Instead, our intent was to pair existing research with concrete, in-the-moment details of professional practice that allow teachers and administrators to extract the best practices from high-growth schools and apply them in their own contexts and to their own students. Taking this approach allowed us to get much more specific about what high-quality instruction looks like while still drawing on past effectiveness research and the previously certified successes experienced in Schiller Park.

For the kids

Schiller Park teachers describe their commitment to student growth in five words: "All kids are our kids."

While the challenges associated with meeting the needs of diverse learners grew during the pandemic, they were present long before the pandemic and aren't likely to disappear anytime soon. By focusing on student growth and learning from the schools that achieve that growth, we stand to gain the specific research-based strategies teachers need to help all students succeed, not just those on the margins of grade-level proficiency.

We believe learning can be both individualized and equitable, and the Transformative Ten are first steps for getting there.

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10 ways to meet the learning needs of all students - Teach. Learn. Grow.

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Recent research from NWEA highlights 10 classroom strategies educators can use to support student growth for all kids.

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Almost 7 million children in the United States have a disability. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) became law in 1975, and has provided regulations for individuals with disabilities to have access to an equitable education with resources that address their individual needs. Unfortunately, the reauthorization of IDEA has been long overdue since 2010. Now, more than ever, students with an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) deserve an updated policy. Updating this policy can provide a blueprint for school districts and educators on utilizing the best resources to create an inclusive environment for students. For years, I have witnessed educators develop learned helplessness and blame antiquated policies as the reason for schools struggling to teach students with diverse learning needs. However, even without an updated policy, there are various ways districts can empower schools to develop a blue print for teaching all students, not just students with an IEP.

I have become intrigued with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) because it provides a systematic approach that supports educators in holding high expectations while giving them the flexibility to meet the needs of all students, and not single out students identified as having a disability. UDL addresses the disabilities of schools and not students while focusing on Multiple Means of Representation, Multiple Means of Action and Expression, and Multiple Means of Engagement (CAST, 2014). Neuroscience shows us that everyone's learning needs, skills, and interest are unique, just like our fingerprints and DNA (Salend, 2016). Universal Design for Learning originated from Universal Design, where the architectural design of buildings and products provide access to all individuals. For example, the most common Universal Design is a ramp. Ramps are not only used for people utilizing wheelchairs, but also used by people with bikes, strollers, or anyone who find the stairs compromising to their current ability.

The guiding principles of UDL is a scientifically valid framework for guiding educational practice that (A) provides flexibility in the curriculum, the way information is presented, the way students respond or demonstrate knowledge and skills, and, in the way students are engaged; and (B) reduces barriers in instruction, provides appropriate accommodations, supports, and challenges, while maintaining high achievement expectations for all students. These areas support educators to create materials, assessments, and curricular goals that are designed from the onset to address the various learning styles students come in with, rather than retrofitting accommodations afterward (CAST, 2014). The myth about UDL is that it is only for students receiving special education services, when in fact, using a repertoire of strategies suited to each brain network and reducing barriers in instruction are best practices for all students. In fact, approaching instruction through the lens of UDL is right in alignment with the No-Nonsense Nurturer® four step model. For example, teachers may choose to chunk directions, write them on the board, or provide directions to common routines and procedures on an index card for individual students to keep at their desk. Teachers can also vary the way that students demonstrate knowledge of a subject by having students represent their cultural background or current hobbies, for instance. So, while educators are waiting for IDEA to be updated, we don't have to wait on serving the needs of students because UDL is within an educator's locust of control and can be done with low and high technological resources.

I remember one teacher I coached in a Jamaica, Queens middle school in New York City who felt that it was impossible for her to teach all students based on their learning needs. As her coach, I would support her on utilizing flexible media and diverse tools to support individualized learning. One strategy I used was having her analyze potential barriers in the curriculum and the materials that would prevent some students from having full access to the curriculum and the ability to complete tasks independently. Once she had a full understanding of what the barriers were, together, we worked on finding additional technological tools and programs that provided text-to-speech and text-to-image to support differentiated teaching methods.

The three main principles of UDL, listed below, have checkpoints with examples for educators to use when implementing it in their classroom. Principle I will support activating prior knowledge to identify, organize, and assimilate new information. Principle II supports educators to devise strategies that optimize learning, and Principle III supports educators to regulate emotional reactions that impede a student's learning (CAST, 2014).

Multiple Means of Representation (Recognition Network)
This is the "what" of learning - how people gather facts, data, and recognize what they see, hear, and read. Identifying letters, words, or an author's style are recognition tasks (CAST, 2014). The Parietal Lobe in the brain is used to process information, so how information is presented to people is very important in how they will process it. For example, when I was a teacher, I would enable the captions on every video I played in class because it supported my students to hear and see the words simultaneously. Teachers who are No-Nonsense Nurturers have students go beyond simply finding the definition of a word-they engage them in a way that is meaningful to that individual student. They also have students find examples in a text, act out the meaning, draw pictures, and find synonyms for vocabulary words prior to engaging with those words in a text (note that these are all examples that require low technology). Engaging the audio, kinesthetic, and visual learner to understand the origin, prefixes, and suffixes to unfamiliar words makes information accessible and fun for all types of learners. Both of these examples can increase reading comprehension and fluency because it allows students to access the content at their pace and preferred learning style, without compromising high expectations.

When designing curriculum or planning lessons, No-Nonsense Nurturers ask themselves questions like:
How will I present the information in a new or different way that ensures that key information is equally perceptible by all students to successfully complete the task? Multiple Means of Engagement (Affective Network)
This is the "why" of learning; feelings and emotions are connected to this principle. This is how learners get engaged, stay motivated, challenged, excited, or interested. It is the most important principle of the three because this is the hook to engage your students or any audience you are presenting to. Consider the popularity of video games - most people are enthralled with video games because they enjoy the challenge. They're designed to keep you engaged; therefore, it starts you off with easy levels, so that you are successful, before gradually increasing the challenge. People are then determined to keep playing to beat the next level. Similarly, lesson plans should be designed for students with tasks or activities that are both engaging and challenging.

For example, in an English, co-taught class in Boston, both teachers were challenged with Making the Declaration of Independence Come Alive for their students. To hook their students into the lesson, one of the teachers read a fake break-up letter in the beginning of class, pretending it was written from one student to another. As students revved up with excitement, laughter, and curiosity about who the letter was from, the teacher ended the letter by signing it "Love, The Declaration of Independence" and then transitioned into their independent task, getting 100% of their scholars to participate. Research shows that people mostly remember the beginning (primacy) and the end of something (recency) (Nee & Jonides, 2011). This process may be captured best by the show "Law and Order", which often starts off in the middle of a crime in order to hook the viewers. These teachers used the primacy effect by relating potentially "boring" content to something the students found interesting. Chunking the information for students with engaging activities, relevant to their lives, to open and close a lesson is important for students to grasp pertinent information.

When designing curriculum and planning lessons, No-Nonsense Nurturers ask themselves questions like:
How does the task stimulate interest and motivation for learning?
Multiple Means of Action and Expression (Strategic Network) How did I provide alternative ways to recruit student interest, ways that reflect inter-and-intra-individual differences among students, so that they will be able to complete the task successfully?
This is the "how" of learning - the planning and performance of tasks, or how we organize and express our ideas. Writing an essay or solving a math problem are examples of strategic tasks (CAST, 2014). The Frontal Lobe, located in front of both hemispheres of the brain, houses our conscious thought processes and is considered the "how" of learning. It's centered on the various ways students can show you what they know and learned; where they problem solve and interpret the world around us. This part of the brain is not developed until 25, which is why teenagers often struggle with making good judgment before this age (Jensen, 2014). I remember walking into a classroom in Buffalo, NY where a teacher allowed students to step out of the traditional end-of-unit assessment of writing an essay, and provided them space to either write a poem, essay, or create a television or radio advertisement that summarized and captured their best learning. She recalled that this was the first time in her classroom that student participation increased to 100% because she stepped out of her comfort zone and created a learning space for creativity that was best for students, not what was best for her.

When designing curricula and planning lessons, No-Nonsense Nurturers ask themselves questions like:

How will I differentiate the task to get students to successfully demonstrate what they know?
How did I provide alternative modalities for expression, to level the playing field and allow all students the opportunity to express knowledge, ideas and concepts in the learning environment?

Educators must remember that designing curricula and lesson plans that provide support for multiple learning modalities does not dilute the learning process for any student in the room. Rather, it sends the class a message that learning differences are embraced and equally valued. No-Nonsense Nurturers always consider how they would support students to access content if they did not receive special education services. We can often subconsciously treat people the way we view them, and educators who see the disability before the person may inadvertently teach to the disability, feeling the need to "fix" what is wrong, instead of teaching to the student's strengths.
References
By Karen Baptiste, CT3 Associate

Jensen, F.E. & Nutt, A.E. (2015). The Teenage Brain. A Neuroscientist's Survival Guide to Raising Adolescents and Young Adults. Toronto, Ontario: Collins.

National Center on Universal Design for Learning (2014). The three principles of UDL. Retrieved from www.udlcenter.org/aboutudl/whatisudl/3principles.

Nee D. E., Jonides J. (2011). Dissociable contributions of prefrontal cortex and the hippocampus to short-term memory: evidence for a 3-state model of memory. Neuroimage 54, 1540-1548

Salend, S.J. (2016). Creating inclusive classrooms: Effective, differentiated and reflective practices (8 th ed.). Columbus, OH: Pearson.

For further reading on working with students of all abilities, click here. Check out CT3 Education programs such as No-Nonsense Nurturer, Real Time Teacher Coaching, and Real Time Leadership Coaching to find out more about Professional Development for Teachers and Leaders, and building relationships with students and their families.
Category: Teaching

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Student Diversity and Equity: 3 Ways Teachers Support All Learning Needs

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Here are three simple ways teachers can help improve student diversity and equity within their classrooms to Support All Learning Needs.

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Students bring different experiences, talents and abilities into every learning environment, but not all classrooms are set up to welcome that diversity.

Here are six ways educators can embrace diverse learners in a single classroom, whether they are multilingual, differ in their mobility levels, are neurodivergent or are otherwise differently enabled:

In vest time in universal design for learning. Develop curriculum in multiple formats, like text, audio and video. Some students prefer learning with one modality over another, while others need a particular mode. Let students choose what works best for them - without having to ask permission to use them. For example, a student with vision loss may feel embarrassed to ask for audiobooks if they are not readily available. Many other students, say English language learners, may also prefer audiobooks instead of or in addition to text. If possible, provide materials in multiple languages

Don't label kids. Use "special ed student" and "special needs" carefully. "Special education" describes services designed to support student learning, not the students themselves. People with disabilities are not broken or less enabled than others. Nobody is fully enabled; we all have needs. When you label a kid "special needs," the label can stick far longer than they have the need for any special help.

Recognize that your goals may not be their goals. Your students and their families have opinions, ideas, and the right to determine their own goals, which may not conform to your views of success. For example, non-English speaking parents may want their child to speak in the language of their community or home country, but they might need help to articulate or advocate for that need. When decisions need to be made for a student, engage families as full partners in the decision-making process.

Ableism is a toxic addition to racism. Students who enter special education are often kept out of gifted and talented programs or mainstream classrooms. That's not fair to talented kids with disabilities. And it's especially unfair when you consider that many children in special education programs are students of color. To make sure that all students have a chance to reach their full potential, design your learning environment to accommodate all kinds of learners.

Be conscious of culture. Kids will be more likely to listen to you if you listen to them. If your students come from different cultures, especially if those cultures are different than yours, be sensitive to their understanding of what is expected.

Representation matters. Incorporate disabled experiences into everyday lessons. When children hear stories about disabled people in the normal course of instruction (say, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a man in a wheelchair who was President of the United States), they are more likely to understand that people with disabilities are part of everyone's culture.

María Cioè-Peña is an assistant professor in Penn GSE's Education Linguistics division and author of the award-winning book (M)othering Labeled Children: Bilingualism and Disability in the Lives of Latinx Mothers. Stemming from her experiences as a former bilingual special education teacher, Cioè-Peña's research examines the intersections of disability, language, school-parent partnerships and education policy. She has authored numerous papers on bilingual children with disabilities and their ability to access multilingual and inclusive learning spaces within public schools.

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Tips to make your classroom more welcoming for all learners

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María Cioè-Peña reimagines inclusive classrooms for kids of multiple abilities.