Strategies to Engage Students

Posted on January 5, 2021 Written by

We’ve talked extensively in this blog about the importance of engaging students in learning. And as you know, it’s also a major focus of Schmoker’s Effective Teaching model.

This article offers yet another look at this vital instructional component. It reviews the findings of GoGuardian’s “2020: State of Engagement Report“ and offers a concise list of areas you should examine to support and facilitate engaging your students in learning.

BTW, according to the director of the research project, “These elements are immensely transferable both in the online and in-person classroom and can facilitate a positive learning environment, whether in a synchronous or asynchronous setting.”

And that’s an added bonus in these challenging times!

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The Importance of Brain Breaks

Posted on December 8, 2020 Written by

Want your students (or teachers) to learn more effectively? Research by John Sweller and others suggests that taking more “brain breaks” is the key.

This article discusses “cognitive load theory,” and reminds us that the human brain has a fairly limited ability to hold thoughts or new ideas in working memory. This has huge implications not only for how we teach, but how we conduct our workshops and seminars.

A related concept is Schmoker’s “chunking” strategy. He suggests instructional presentations always need to be divided into “chunks” of no more than five to seven minutes, with opportunities to process the information in between. (For details, see slide #7 from the presentation slides in the Effective Teaching section).

Bottom line? In a society that increasingly demands “more, more,” wise educators know that sometimes “more is less.”

References:

Schmoker, M. (2018). Focus: Elevating the Essentials to Radically Improve Student Learning (2nd ed., p. 92). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Sweller, J. (2010). Cognitive load theory: Recent theoretical advances. In J. L. Plass, R. Moreno, & R. Brünken (Eds.), Cognitive load theory (p. 29–47). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511844744.004

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Social-Emotional Learning

Posted on November 10, 2020 Written by

Students need to develop strong social-emotional skills to thrive in school, career, and life. Test scores matter, but do your students have the SEL training they need to succeed?

The current U.S. Department of Education budget sets aside dedicated funds for education initiatives that support social-emotional learning programs. For information on their programs and grants, visit their Center to Improve Social and Emotional Learning and School Safety.

In addition, ASCD is now offering free resources to Support Social-Emotional Learning. These are designed to help students:

  • regulate their emotions,
  • manage stress,
  • cooperate with others,
  • set and achieve goals,
  • teach self-awareness, and
  • build self-confidence.

According to research by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, social-emotional learning helps students to be “twice as likely to attain a college degree in early adulthood; 54% more likely to earn a high school diploma; and 46% more likely to have a full-time job at the age of 25.”*

The resources above should give you a great start on providing this important training for your staff and helping your students develop these vital skills.

* Research from “Early Social-Emotional Functioning and Public Health: The Relationship Between Kindergarten Social Competence and Future Wellness,” published on October 09, 2015, in American Journal of Public Health.

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PBL increase?

Posted on October 27, 2020 Written by

During the COVID 19 shutdown in the spring of 2020, many school districts shifted their focus to Project-Based Learning (PBL) activities assessed through feedback. Some experts now say this could remain a major focus as the pandemic finally begins to wane. This article discusses the trend and what it might mean.

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