Teaching Strategies Archives - Page 10 of 18

Teachers need a variety of effective teaching strategies. This collection of teaching strategies will help teachers with motivation and management, and engaging students in active learning.

Help Students Understand More of What They Read

January 24, 2019 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

Teachers are often frustrated because students either don’t do their reading assignments, or don’t seem to take away much from their reading. Students often complain that they read it, but they just don’t get it.

When students don’t understand what they read, their attitude often shifts and they skip the reading, thinking, “What’s the point?”. The result is often that teachers stop giving reading assignments because students don’t do the reading anyway.

We think this is a lost opportunity. When students feel competent and capable of understanding, and when they see the value in it, they are more motivated to do the reading. How the teacher frames a reading task can make a huge difference in what students take away from it.

Reading is thinking.

A common misconception is that reading is about pronouncing the words. That is only the first step. Reading is about making connections. It is about applying what you already know to something new. It is about seeing how new material fits in with familiar material and enlarging your overall understanding of a topic. Just having your eyeballs look at the words is not enough, you need to engage your brain in processing the information. You may understand this, but do your students understand it?

Here are our tips and strategies to help students understand more of what they read:

Prepare students before they read.

Help students connect the new to the known by asking questions. What have you learned about mammals? How did the first battle of Saratoga change the direction of the war?

Ask students to make predictions.

You know that some mammals hibernate. How do you think hibernation helps these animals? We’ve talked about how the battle at Saratoga changed the war. Today you are going to read about a second battle at Saratoga. What might happen in a second battle?

Make sure students know key vocabulary before they read.

This doesn’t mean assigning long lists of words to look up in the dictionary, define and use in a sentence. It does mean giving students the basic understanding they need to comprehend the material. For example, you might ask students “What does it mean to hibernate?”, or “What is a battle “front?”.

Help students to visualize.

Some of the best reading involves seeing pictures in your head. If you have ever watched a movie and despaired because the characters don’t look like you pictured them when you read the book, you understand the power of visualization. Visualization not only helps with novels, it can help us to comprehend other kinds of content. For example, ask students to close their eyes and imagine what the bear hibernating in a cave looks like. Ask students to describe what they see in their head as they read about the living conditions of the soldiers at Saratoga.

Ask students to do something with the information they have read.

The traditional way to have students do something with what they have read is to ask them to complete comprehension questions. However, many students are wise to this game, skip the reading and answer the questions by skimming for the answer. Does this sound familiar?

Comprehension questions are often used as a way to assess students to see if they did the assignment. Asking and assessing is not a method for teaching comprehension. Consider questions and activities that help students to understand, not just assess whether or not they understand.

Think about the higher levels of Blooms taxonomy when asking students to respond to their reading. How can students apply, analyze, synthesize or evaluate what they have read? Perhaps they could they draw pictures comparing and contrasting how hibernating animals and humans prepare for winter. High school students could complete a chart evaluating what Major Generals Burgoyne and Gates did right and wrong, and explain what might have happened if they had made a different choice.

Apply content reading strategies.

There are many named and tested reading comprehension strategies that help students to understand what they read. You are no doubt familiar with some of these, but be aware that there are many different strategies that you can add to your teaching repertoire. Consider strategies such as KWL, DRTA, Sketch-to-Stretch, Anticipation Guides, QAR, and Think Aloud. Graphic organizers can also help students to engage with the material they have read.

The bottom line is, when you assign reading, think about what you can do to help students understand what they read. You can not only help them understand what they read that day, but also how to read and comprehend what they read in the future.

All teachers have a role in improving students reading comprehension. This is especially true at the upper levels where students no longer have classes that focus on reading instruction. Students are expected to use their reading skills to learn content and teachers can help them to read with more and better understanding.

What strategies have you found successful in helping students to understand what they read?

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10 Reasons Why Students Don’t Do Homework

January 18, 2019 by Inspired Together Teachers 3 Comments

If you assign homework, you have probably had students that don’t complete the homework. It is frustrating. You want them to learn and you want them to get good grades. You feel like they are only hurting themselves by not doing the homework. Chances are, since you are now a teacher, you were a student who did complete your homework. It is often difficult for you to understand why your students don’t do their homework.

Though the issue of homework is complicated and often involves a debate of whether or not homework is actually beneficial, the fact remains that most teachers still assign homework and some students will not do their homework.

If we can understand why students don’t do their homework, we have a better chance of both assigning homework that students will do and in doing what we can to create the motivation for them to do it. At the very least, understanding that there are many reasons that students don’t do homework can help teachers to realize that it isn’t personal. Students often don’t do homework for reasons that aren’t even about you, your teaching, or your subject matter.

Here is a list of 10 reasons that students don’t do homework, aligned with suggestions that may help to alleviate the problem.

They don’t know how to do the assignment.

In order to do their work, students need to understand the directions and have the basic skills need in order to complete the task. This usually means that students have been introduced to a topic, have had some instruction and are not trying to learn something new and difficult on their own. The material also needs to be at the students’ instructional or independent level. Be sure your directions are clear and specific and that the level of the work is appropriate for the students.

They don’t understand the purpose for the assignment.

When students understand the importance of something they are learning, they are more likely to feel compelled to do it. We want to know and do things that are going to help us in our lives. When students perceive an assignment as busywork, they often rebel. If a student can do ten math problems correctly, doing one hundred math problems is overkill and perceived as busywork. So is spending hours using a dictionary to define words. Make sure that students know how the homework will help them. Help them to connect the content to real world tasks.

Students are overwhelmed by the enormity of the task.

We’ve all had experiences where we have felt overloaded with too much to do. As adults, we have also figured out ways to break down tasks. Students are still learning to manage large tasks. Help them to break down large assignments into smaller parts. Instead of assigning a large project due in three weeks, help students to break down the project into smaller chunks and then assign smaller chunks for homework in the days leading up to the due date for a big project.

Assignments are based on low level tasks.

Basic recall gets boring quickly. An assignment such as giving students fifty sentences and having them underline the noun once and the verb twice is drudgery and doesn’t engage them. How much more fun would it be to have a contest to see who could correctly incorporate the most verbs in a sentence? Consider homework that require higher thinking levels such as application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation.

Students have too many assignments.

This is a particular danger in middle and high school when students have many different teachers. At this level, teachers often don’t know what other teachers are assigning. You may think that homework will only take them thirty minutes. But if they have seven subjects and every teacher gives them thirty minutes of homework, the student is facing three to four hours of homework. Good teaching teams often discuss homework assignments and try to balance the load so that students don’t have many big assignments due at the same time.

Students don’t have time.

Many students are involved in many extracurricular activities. This is positive and those activities often help students to be engaged with school. When you add practices or games into the mix, it often becomes impossible to do hours of homework on any given night. Older students may have jobs or other responsibilities. Consider giving students assignments ahead of time so they can work on them throughout the week rather than assigning everything to be due the next day.

Students don’t get feedback on their work.

When a student turns in an assignment, they expect feedback. They may get a grade, but they also want comments, especially on written work. Homework should be an opportunity for learning. Students need feedback in order to learn. Teachers can read student work and provide feedback, or use homework in classroom discussions and activities in ways that allow students to get feedback or use their work for a purposeful activity.

Sometimes, the reason that students don’t do work is not related to you or your content. These are more difficult to control, but there are usually positive things you can do to help with the situation.

Students don’t have an appropriate environment to do work at home.

Let’s face it, some students live in chaotic environments. They may not have a quiet place to work or the tools they need in order to do homework. Having a one-on-one conversation with students can help. Talk about what they need in order to do their work and how they might get it. Could they stay at school and extra hour and work in a quiet room? Could they go to the public library? Could they carve a quiet corner of their home?

The student’s family is not supportive of education.

As much as we wish it weren’t true, some students come from families that do not value education. The student is not then likely to get the support or encouragement to do homework. Other families value education, but parents are absent or unable to help their children with homework. Your first instinct might be to “fix” the family. An easier route is to work with the student. Be their encourager. Let them know that you think they can succeed. Let them know how valuable a good education might be to them. We know of a first grader whose parent would not read with him. The teacher made a deal that the student could read to his baby brother, his dog, or even a stuffed animal. If he did that, he could sign his own name on the form that parents usually signed stating that they read together.

The student is rebelling against a parent.

If a parent cares about a student’s grades and a student is trying to rebel, often a quick way to do so is to stop doing homework. This usually gets the parent’s attention quickly. This is particularly true in cases where parents are very demanding and very controlling. Sometimes, the only way an adolescent knows how to rebel is to refuse to do something. This causes grief for both parties. Guiding the parent and student to compromise can be successful. Essentially, help them to negotiate trade. For example, if the student agrees to do homework each night when he chooses to do it, the parent gives up the demand that it be done immediately when the student gets home from school. Both parties can even sign a contract.

If you suspect a student is rebelling, see if you can find out why. That will also help you see possible solutions. Don’t hesitate to get help and support from a guidance counselor, instructional coach or administrator.

These are some of the most common reasons students don’t complete homework. There are undoubtedly many more possible reasons. Though you can’t control all things, you can try to identify why students aren’t doing the homework and then see if there are ways to fix the problem. If we keep our eye on the goal, which is learning, it is less likely that we will fall into the “blame and punish” game that many teachers engage in. Blaming and punishing don’t usually result in more learning!

What are some of the effective strategies you have used to increase homework completion? We would love to hear your ideas in the comments below.

Our best,

A Five Step Process to Help Students Set Personal Goals

December 27, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

Teachers are no strangers to goal setting. You likely set personal goals in your own life. As part of your teaching, you have academic goals for students. You regularly work with students’ IEP goals. You may even teach goal setting and encourage students to use goal setting procedures such as setting SMART goals.

The new year is a great time to focus on setting goals for the new year. We aren’t talking about New Year’s resolutions- which tend to be vague wishes without a plan for action and thus are likely left behind before the year has barely begun.

The kind of goals we are talking about are personal goals built around a vision of the way you want your life to be. When students create goals that they are deeply connected to, they have a vested interest in achieving them. Students see an end result that they want, and are motivated to take the steps they need to take to get there.

This creates intrinsic motivation, a far more powerful and lasting kind of motivation than extrinsic motivation. Extrinsic motivation seems like an easy fix. Teachers can dangle a carrot in front of students and students will perform to get the carrot. Students will work for a prize or a treat or a grade. Extrinsic motivation comes with problems. Extrinsic motivation works well in the short term. Teachers can dangle a carrot in front of students and students will perform to get the carrot. Students will work for a prize or a treat or a grade. However, when the going gets tough, or when the extrinsic reward is not motivating for a particular student, extrinsic rewards work less well. When the rewards stop, so does the work.

When students see the “why” behind something they do, they are likely motivated.

Having students create personal goals helps them to understand the bigger picture and to see how their actions will lead to the result they want.

Here is a 5 Step process to help students create personal goals:

Step 1: Create a vision of the way you want to be.

Students are often asked, “What do you want to do when you grow up?” or the secondary version, “What career do you hope to pursue?” Career education often starts at a young age, but is focused on future careers. Careers are only ONE part of a vision for the way you want your life to be. Ask these questions to stretch students’ vision of themselves.

What kind of person would you like to be when you grow up? What kinds of things would you like to do? How can you use your best skills to do work that you love? What kind of people do you want to have in your life? What will you need to learn or be able to do in the life you want to have?

Step 2 Break the vision down into smaller pieces.

What kinds of things can you do or experience in the next year that will set you on a path to being where you want to be? What things will you need to learn? What kinds of personal choices will help you be the person you want to be?

Step 3: Make the dream visual.

Vision boards have become a popular way to define what you hope to have or do in the future. Have students cut out pictures from magazines or draw things they envision in their future. You can also make electronic vision boards using Google slides. Encourage students to hang their vision boards in their homes or lockers or on a bulletin board as a visual reminder. Visualizing is a powerful tool and keeping our goals in front of us helps us to achieve them.

Step 4: Review your progress.

A simple way to encourage students to review their progress is to invite a quick reflection. You can do this in a written form, through discussion, or during a one-on-one conference. Try to revisit every few weeks. Here are some discussion starters:

What have you done in the last two weeks that will help you to get to your future goals?

What have you learned in the past few weeks that will help you achieve your goals?

What is something that you need to work on in order to achieve your goals?

The last question encourages students to develop a growth mindset. Even if we haven’t done or learned something in the past, we can still do it. We can learn from our mistakes and move forward.

Step 5: Celebrate wins.

Celebrations don’t have to be elaborate, but they can be frequent. A quick “high-five” or an acknowledgement of a positive step towards a goal can help you stay motivated. Teach students to give themselves a pat on the back. Have them keep a progress journal where they keep track of their small wins and next steps.

Envisioning the life you want to have and using that vision to make goals can be fun and life changing. Many of us have used this type of process to move forward in our own lives. We think that this process can also empower our students and give them another tool for success.

Have you used vision boards and/or goal setting in your classroom? We’d love to hear your examples!

Happy goal setting,

Get our free guide with ideas about what to say to students to increase motivation!

Help Students to Understand Their Strengths

December 4, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers 2 Comments

In addition to teaching curriculum content in subject areas such as math, science, reading and social studies, many schools and teachers also see the value in character education. Whether you use a specific curriculum that your district has selected or whether you choose to include lessons or moments of opportunity to help students become good citizens and kind people, teaching valuable social, emotional and life skills is part of most teachers’ agenda.

Character education helps students understand themselves and others. They learn to be civic minded people who engage in their communities. Character education also helps the classroom learning environment. Students who are kind, helpful and know how to work together often learn better and accomplish more. Teachers also enjoy teaching in a classroom environment that is positive and uplifting.

Students who understand their strengths have an increased sense of well- being, more confidence, decreased anxiety and less depression. When students understand their strengths, they can also call upon those strengths when they experience challenges or need to solve problems.

Here’s an easy and fun activity that helps students understand their strengths.

Write a list of character strengths on your marker board, whiteboard or on a handout.

Here are some examples: honesty, fairness, sense of humor, hard- working, perseverance, humility, kindness, appreciation of beauty, curiosity, teamwork, bravery, and helpful.

Keep the list positive, rather than focusing on undesirable character traits. Choose fewer or more traits and label the traits in a way that is age appropriate for the students you work with.

Ask students to look at the list and choose their top 3 strengths.

Then ask them to write or discuss which strength they are most proud of and why.

Finally, ask students to write or share examples of a time when they have used their strengths.

This activity offers a chance for a good discussion about how we all bring different strengths to the world and that we can all shine in some way. Discuss how your classroom can become a better learning community when you understand each other’s’ strengths.

If students know each other fairly well, you can extend this discussion by creating a secret strengths list. Have each student write their name on the top of a piece of paper. Collect the papers and pass them out randomly. The student who receives the paper writes what they see as one of that person’s strengths. Then have them fold the paper up so the next person can not see what they wrote. Continue until each student has several different comments. Then return the papers to the original owner and let them reveal what others see as their strengths.

This activity doesn’t work with students who do not know each other well as it will result in superficial lists. It is also best done after you have already done some of the previous discussion around individual strengths.

You can follow up this activity by having students create a bulletin board about their strengths, or by having students write a journal entry or essay describing their strengths.

As a follow up on another day, you can have students identify their weaknesses. Through discussion, students can learn that we all have challenges and that we all have areas that we can try to improve. Having honest discussion around areas for improvement requires a classroom environment that is emotionally safe. If your classroom is not one where students feel free to share and to express their ideas without criticism or fear of rejection, save this for an individual activity.

Discussion of opportunities for improvement fits in well with the growth mindset philosophy that many schools are currently adopting. When students understand their challenges and make goals to improve in those areas, they developing their own growth mindset. If your classroom environment is one of trust and kindness, students can also help each other to grow in ways that will be meaningful and long lasting.

Does your school use a character education program or do you choose to do character development activities? What results have you seen? We would love to hear your experiences in the comments.

Our best,

If you would like our quick guide to six simple phrases that you can use today to improve your classroom environment, fill out the form below!

Technology Tools for Teachers

November 27, 2018 by Inspired Together Teachers Leave a Comment

Are you looking to spice up your curriculum or engage your students in new ways? We’ve got some new technology tools for teachers.

We recently attended a conference and attended a session led by Jon Kitchen, who is a Google for Education Certified Trainer, a Microsoft Innovative Educator and a Seesaw Ambassador among other technology titles. He gave us insight into some new tools that we think are worth a look. All of these tools are FREE!

Here are some of our favorite new technology tools for teachers:

Mystery Doug

Mystery Doug offers five -minute weekly videos great for student breaks, morning meeting time or snack time. Doug, an elementary science teacher, shares a mystery based on a real student question and then and starts a discussion. We love the mission of Mystery Doug “Have fun and stay curious.” Explore topics like “Can a turtle live outside its shell?” or “Why is the sky blue?”

Bingo Baker

Bingo Baker allows you to create on-line or printable Bingo cards. BINGO is a fun way to review vocabulary, practice site words or discuss and review content from your curriculum. You can search for existing BINGO cards in a variety of categories such as Weather Bingo or create your own.

Empatico

Empatico is a tool that allows you to find and connect your classroom to another classroom in another part of the world. You can choose from on-line curricular activities and upload the times your class can meet. Empatico then searches to find you a compatible classroom. From there, you can collaborate in all kinds of ways. We live in a global society- why not allow your students to interact with others from around the world? This site is best for students ages 7-11.

Certify’em

Have you ever wanted to create personalized certificates for your students? With the Google add- on, you can create exams or quizzes and give students proof of proficiency. Certify’em will score students’ work and email certificates to those who meet the proficiency guidelines you set up. You can use standard templates or create your own certificates.

Classroom Screen

This easy to use tool loads a customizable screen onto your computer for easy projection to your smart board. Your screen can contain a timer, a volume regulator, a clock, a student name randomizer, text and even a drawing pad. You can change the background and colors to suit your mood- or your curriculum! The program uploads quickly and is easy to use.

Lucid Press

The free education version of this tool allows teachers or students to use templates to build magazines and newsletters in digital or printable versions. Students can work alone or in groups with real time sharing.

Write Reader

This award-winning program allows students to improve both reading and writing skills by creating their own books. The design is easy to use for even beginning students. Teachers can create classroom bookshelves so that students can read each other’s books.

Biteable

Biteable is a clever video making program. Students can use templates to create book trailers, animations and other types of movies. It is easy to add music from previously created selections. The products can be simple and basic or advanced depend on the age of the user.

We hope you will check out some of these technology tools for teachers. Please let us know if you have found any of them helpful, we’d love to know how you have used them.

Our best,

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