Regardless of what curriculum you are given, there are some effective teaching strategies that are tried and true. These strategies can be adapted for anything you teach and will give you the best learning outcomes for your students.

In Facebook teacher groups, I often see teachers ask if anyone else teaches a specific curriculum for math or reading. Most of the time, teachers are asking for tips on making that curriculum a success. There is nothing wrong with asking that, but it made me wonder if the curriculum really makes all that much of a difference.

I have been teaching for 28 years and I’ve seen lots of different “programs” in that time. Yes, some are better and more effective than others. But even if you’re stuck with a curriculum that is not the greatest, there are still certain teaching practices that will make any curriculum, in any subject, more effective.

Here are 12 effective teaching strategies that work.

1 – Establish specific procedures and routines for students to follow to begin class. Even if you start your class with a community-building activity such as restorative practices circles (see my post HERE) or with read aloud (see my post HERE), think about how you start the academic part of your lesson.

One of the most effective ways to begin your class is with some kind of spiral review. Some people call this a warmup or a “do now”. It’s based on the science of retrieval practice. Jennifer Gonzalez on Cult of Pedagogy gives an excellent description of the research on retrieval practice HERE.

An easy way to begin incorporating a “do now”: use three questions (or problems in math):
*a question from yesterday’s lesson
*a question from last week’s lesson
*a question from last month’s lesson

2 – Review what you did yesterday. If kids were absent, this at least gives them a taste of what they missed and preps them for today’s learning. For everyone else, it strengthens the connections in the brain and “primes” them for today’s learning. This review can take anywhere between 1-5 minutes, depending on the topic.

3 – Tell students the goal or objective of the lesson today. The learning target for the day should never be a mystery to kids. This learning target can take the form of “I can. . . “ statements, essential questions, or simple objectives such as “Today we’ll learn . . .” Preferably, you will post your objective somewhere in your classroom where you and your students can easily see it and refer to it. This also helps you to focus on how and when you will check for understanding (see tip #10 below).

4 – Present new information in bite-sized pieces. Teach only one concept or idea (or model only one math problem), then have students “practice” in some way. This can take the form of practicing another math problem, talking to another student about what the paragraph or section was about, writing down or reviewing their notes about the concept, drawing o diagram, completing part of a graphic organizer — whatever helps your students to process the information.

Try to keep a “5-minute limit” on teacher talk before allowing your students to process the information in one of these ways. Set a timer for yourself if you have to!

5 – Think aloud as you model anything for your students. Show them how you stop and think about what you’re reading, how you check your computation as you solve a math problem, how you proofread something you’ve written, how you slow down to decode a word or reread a complex part of the text. Remember that you are the most proficient reader, writer and problem solver in the classroom! Show your students how you do what you do.

6 – Provide guided practice, or “training wheels” before you release them to “ride the bike” on their own. You might work through some problems together, summarize a passage together, or answer questions together. As you do this practice, closely monitor and address misconceptions right away.

This is often called the “we do” portion of the lesson. After you do this part, it’s great to then have a “y’all do” portion of the lesson. (Yes, I’m from the southern United States!) When your students do this part, they might work with a partner or a small group to do some of the practice before being released to do the work independently. This gives you another opportunity to circulate and monitor and guide the practice as needed.

7 – Review the objective or essential question for the lesson. Point out to students what they just learned or practiced.

8 – Use graphic organizers as a way to help your students focus on the most important points or organize information in a visual way.

9 – Teach your students how to compare, contrast, and categorize information whenever possible. This helps them to make connections and it helps the learning to “stick.”

10 – Check for understanding, constantly! Don’t just wait until the end of the lesson to see if your students understood. Do this, in different forms, throughout the lesson and immediately re-teach if necessary.

There are multiple ways to do this. Here are some of my favorite ways:

*Use whiteboards and have students show their answer or their work.

*Ask them to show you with their thumbs whether their “windshield” (their understanding) is “clear” (they’re getting it), “buggy” (they kind of get it, but are a little unsure), or “muddy” (they are confused).

*Do a quick write on an index card or sticky note. In this way, students can tell you privately if they really do not understand. The drawback is that it takes a few minutes to read everyone’s responses.

*Listen to student conversations during partner talk or group work.

*Glance over students’ work, maybe by focusing on only one or two math problems or only one part of the graphic organizer or by looking at students’ notes during the note-taking process.

*Glance over “do now” or “bell ringer” work if you have students do any kind of warmup before class begins.

*Instead of asking “what are you doing?”, ask your students, “what are you trying to learn?”. This simple change of question focuses your students on what they are doing to help themselves learn rather than on what they are doing to check something off the task list.

*Use “equity sticks” to check student responses. These are popsicle sticks with students’ names written on them. (You could use something besides popsicle sticks. Basically you are using anything that randomly generates student names.) This keeps you from always calling on the students who are raising their hands. Those students probably do “get it”.

But what about the quieter students or students who don’t seek attention? This method not only gives them a voice but also helps you quickly check for understanding. If one or two students cannot answer the question, then you know that many more students probably also do not quite understand.

11 – Provide plenty of time for independent practice. I know that this post makes it look like teachers need to spend most of their time on the “teaching” part of the lesson. But in the actual lesson, you want to be sure that your students spend most of their time actually practicing whatever it is you are teaching them.

While it’s important to be sure that your students are ready for that independent practice (utilizing guided practice and frequent checks for understanding), the bulk of lesson time needs to be devoted to students’ practice with the teacher providing feedback. I like to use a timer to be sure that the teaching part of the lesson does not go on for too long.

12 – Provide effective feedback. We’ve all given feedback like “great job” or “try again” and we know it’s not all that effective. Next time you are giving feedback to a student, try these tips:

*Be as specific as possible. Instead of saying “be careful when you’re regrouping”, you might say, “be careful to keep your ones and tens places lined up so that you put the regrouped number in the right place”. Give specific actions they can take to improve.

*Give feedback as quickly as possible. This can be difficult when you have a lot of students, but do the best you can to give feedback as quickly as possible.

*Be sure to validate the student’s effort and ability, along with the tricky parts of the task. Offer emotional encouragement and affirm your belief in the student. Even if the student appears to feel uncomfortable with this, they really do love hearing it.

*When a student asks for help, it’s a good idea to ask them what they’ve tried or where they’re stuck. We don’t want to reward “learned helplessness.” Depending on the student, you might send them back to try something first before you help them. Another idea is to ask them to read the directions or the problem or whatever they are working on. Very often, when they read it aloud to you, they notice whatever might have been confusing them.

Some great books about teaching in general:

*The Essential 55 by Ron Clark

*Teaching Essentials by Regie Routman

*Teach Like a Champion by Doug Lemov

*Make it Stick – The Science of Successful Learning by Peter C. Brown, Henry L. Roediger III, & Mark A. McDaniel

To recap, here are the 12 strategies:
*incorporate spiral review
*review where you left off yesterday
*tell students the learning goal for today
*present information in bite-sized pieces
*think aloud and model
*provide guided practice (“we do” and “y’all do”
*review the learning target at the end of the lesson
*use graphic organizers when possible
*help students make connections
*check for understanding frequently
*provide lots of time for independent practice
*provide effective practice

Use these strategies and let me know how they work for you!

One of my big tasks for January is to re-focus and set new goals for myself.

And one of those goals is to make a handy list of tips to refocus my students when our energy is lagging or when we are getting “squirrelly”. (Squirrelly = fidgeting all over the place, like a squirrel.)

Using any kind of brain research from the books How the Brain Learns by David Sousa, Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain by Zaretta Hammond, and Teaching with the Brain in Mind by Eric Jensen will help you understand some of the best strategies for engaging students’ attention and focus. Watch for an upcoming post with some more tips from these books!

The article “Chemical Reactions in the Classroom” from the ASCD website gives tips for how you can activate four brain neurotransmitters in the following ways:

1 – serotonin (“set the mood”) – make your classroom look as pleasant and as conducive to learning as possible. Use things like plants, color, student work displays, cozy places to read. Create emotional bonds with your students by being positive and enthusiastic.

2 – cortisol (“prime the pump”) – this is a neurotransmitter that you want to keep on the low side! To do that, use community-building activities like morning circle time (see my post about restorative practices circles HERE), icebreaker games, and compliment circles to help establish and build good peer relationships. Then use cooperative learning strategies throughout the day to help keep this neurotransmitter low!

3 – dopamine (“reward”) – release this neurotransmitter with anything that is novel or new to students. Make lessons as relevant to students’ lives as possible (or at least use their names or possible scenarios in their lives when describing concepts). Other ways to add novelty: do some unpredictable things within your lessons, like adding music or changing the lighting levels or have students walk and talk as they review a concept.

Reinforcing learning and giving feedback increase dopamine levels. You can do this individually or as a whole class. Make your feedback as timely and specific as possible, framing it as positively as possible and reminding students of their capability and your belief in them.

4 – norepinephrine (“move & learn”) – this neurotransmitter is released in the brain when we move! When norepinephrine is released, there will be less distraction and more focus. Every ten minutes, encourage your students to move around. Using any of the strategies in this post will help!

The article’s author, Stephanie Knight, reminds us to think brain engagement, not just student engagement. With that in mind, here are 30 fast, proven tips. Pick one to try in your class!

If it’s one or two students who need refocusing . . .

1 – Use their name! Not in a gotcha way, but in a natural part of the discussion.

Here’s an example: While reviewing how to divide fractions, I noticed one of my students was totally checking out. So I used his name in the word problem we were reviewing. (“Henry is baking croissants for his bakery. He has 18 pounds of dough. Each croissant is made from ⅛ pound of dough. How many croissants can he make?”)
Henry got right back on track, smiling because everyone likes hearing their name, especially when it’s used in a positive situation.

2 – Give the “teacher look”. Sometimes a quick but meaningful stare in a student’s direction can get them back on track! Once they are back to doing what they need to be doing, I give them a smile and a thumbs-up or some other signal to show that I see that they are refocused.

3 – Proximity — move closer to the student or the table that is off task. Similar to giving the teacher look, this is not meant to be punitive, just a gentle reminder that “you’re not doing what you are supposed to be doing. Please get back on track.”

4 – Ask students if they’re okay or if they need anything. Again, you are not doing this as a “gotcha”, but as a genuine attempt to find out what they might need from you. Your tone of voice matters when asking these questions.

5 – Allow students to work in different areas. Sometimes just allowing a student to change locations or change positions makes a big difference in their ability to focus.

If it’s your whole class that needs refocusing . . .

1 – Make learning physical whenever possible. When teaching decimals, for instance, have students form decimal place value and stand (to show the tenths place), squat down (to show the hundredths place) or sit down (to show the thousandth’s place).

2 – Solve math problems or work in stations by playing Scoot. Here’s how: write math problems or put task cards for stations at different desks or tables. Give students a recording sheet with numbers on it. Each number corresponds to the math problems or task cards. (They could also write the numbers on lined paper and write their answers on their own paper).

Show your students the order you want them to “scoot” in (usually clockwise, but do whatever works for you). Students start at their own desks. They solve the task card at their desk and write the answer in the correct place on their paper.

When you say “SCOOT,” students scoot to the next desk. They take their paper and pencil with them. The task cards stay on the desks/tables.

Another fun option is to have some task cards interspersed throughout that include exercise movements like hopping in place, jumping jacks, toe touches, etc.

3 – Ask my favorite question: “What are you doing and what are you supposed to be doing?” I tell them that this question works for me every time I ask it of myself. It gets me to reset and get back to what I need to be doing.

When telling them about asking myself the question, I relate it to some recent teaching task. For example, “Yesterday I was working on report cards and I found myself switching over to check my email. This happened about 50 times. {Hyperbole is one of my specialties.} So I asked myself, ‘what am I doing? Checking email over and over. What am I supposed to be doing? Working on report cards.’ Then I closed my email tab and got back to work.”

Telling little stories about yourself and how you use the strategies you are teaching your students is an example of the trust generator “selective vulnerability” that Zaretta Hammond talks about in her book Culturally Responsive Teaching & the Brain.

4 – If you have some PTA money to spend or if you write a Donors Choose grant, consider using money for some flexible seating options. Here are some options:

5 – Take a movement brain break. If possible, get outside and have your class take a brisk walk or jog around a safe area. If it’s not possible to get outside, put on some music and let them dance or just walk around and chat. You would be surprised at how a brief movement break gets your kids settled and refocused. Do this as often as you need!

6 – Another type of movement break is to have students do various stretches or yoga poses.

7 – Yet another movement break is to do activities where students are crossing the midline of their bodies. (Crossing the midline means to draw an invisible line down the center of the body and to reach arms or legs across that line to the other side).

These activities encourage the two hemispheres of the brain to communicate and encourage bilateral coordination. Some activities include touching your feet with the opposite hand, twisting your waist and stretching your arms across to the opposite side, etc.

8 – Try some Kagan cooperative learning strategies. These are very effective. HERE is a handy PDF I keep near my teaching area to remind me of different structures to incorporate. I tend to use Mix-Pair-Share and Stand Up-Hand Up-Pair Up, but this list reminds me of other structures to incorporate.

9 – Calisthenic movement breaks are effective as well. Try doing jumping jacks, waist twists, crunches, pushups, planks, squats, and toe touches.

10 -You can even incorporate movement and stretching into your literacy block. Take a “seventh-inning stretch” during independent reading. Use Quizlet Live games to review vocabulary words. Allow students to stand at tables or desks when working on writing. Have students stand up and walk around while talking to a partner during “turn & talk.” All of these small bits of movement help refocus and re-engage.

11 – Remind/redirect/reinforce the whole class when needed.

Reminder example: “Think about what you can do to help yourself concentrate.”

Redirect example: “Freeze. Everyone return to your seat. Now let’s try it again.”

Reinforce example: “Great work, everyone! I appreciate your focus and effort.”

12 – Change up locations. If students are zoning out on the carpet, have them return to their seats. If they’re zoning out at their seats, have them come to the carpet or to another area of the classroom where you can all sit and see each other. Take your lesson outside if the weather is nice and safety allows for that.

In all of these scenarios, try not to “fuss” at your kids for zoning out. It happens to all of us. Simply say something like, “I think we need to wake up our brains so let’s switch to . . .”.

13 – Could you join classes with another teacher? Somehow the novelty of combining classes and having two teachers in the classroom helps to re-engage kids.

14 – Use a fun call and response with your class. Three favorites are:
You: class, class! Students: yes, yes?
You: Hakuna! Students: Matata!
You: Shark bait! Students! Ooh, ha, ha!

Source

If you can use a current song lyric as a call and response, your kids will really love that too. 🙂

15 – Use music during quiet work time. Two of my favorite stations on Spotify are “Focus Now” and “Instrumental Study.”

16 – Have a one-song dance party! Play a current popular song (using clean lyrics if necessary) and just let kids move! This is always entertaining. 🙂

17 – Use music for learning. Flocabulary is a great site for teaching lots of different concepts with fun hip-hop music and lyrics. You can also find lots of creative teachers’ musical talents on youTube! It’s always worth a look as you’re planning a lesson or unit.

18 – Is there a way you can incorporate some kind of craft into your lesson? Even something simple, like making a foldable for notes, helps to change up the routine.

19 – Is there a way you can incorporate some kind of food into your lesson? THIS POST from We Are Teachers gives some great ideas.

20 – Pretend you’ve lost your voice. Instead of constantly repeating the same things (that your kids tune out anyway), put up a slide on the whiteboard and type your directions. Or write them on a piece of paper under the document camera. Or write them on the board. After you write the directions, just stay silent and smile. And watch them do what you told them (in writing) to do.

21 – Put a big piece of construction paper or a half piece of chart paper on every table or cluster of desks. Every student needs a pencil or marker. Then give them a question to think about or a math procedure to explain. You’ll probably also want to have this question posted on the board.

Set a timer for three minutes. Everyone has to read the question, think about it and write whatever they’re thinking. When the timer goes off, they can talk as they move to another poster. Then the process starts all over again, except that this time they need to read what the last group wrote on their paper and then respond to those thoughts. They should write their response close to the comment to which they are responding.

Continue this as long as you want or until everyone has been to every table. Then re-convene as a large group and allow for discussion of what they noticed, agreed with, wondered about.

22 – You could also do this same activity verbally by allowing students to walk around while you play music, then get into a group of three or four when the music stops. They have to be with different people every time (so they can hear a variety of thoughts and opinions).

23 – And, using this same activity, discuss a text using the Book-Head-Heart framework from the book Disrupting Thinking: Why How We Read Matters by Kylene Beers and Robert Probst. You could do this during literacy or during content area reading.
Read more about the framework HERE.

24 – Write positive thoughts on sticky notes and give them to students during work times. Tell them something good you notice that they are doing, encourage them to keep up the good work, tell them you appreciate them. Whatever helps to pump your students up or encourage them.

25 – Incorporate partner response or quick written response whenever possible.

For partner response, you might want to assign partners and give them each a letter or number (partner A and partner B, partner 1 and partner 2, etc.) Then pause after every direction or point you’re making to say something like:
“Partner A, tell partner B one thing we learned about . . .”
“Turn to your partner and predict . . .”
“Turn to your partner and tell them . . .”
“Turn to your partner and explain . . .”

For quick written response, pause and ask students to jot their thinking about a topic, a question you pose, or to explain how to do something. This increases thinking, accountability, student focus, and it provides you with meaningful “check for understanding” feedback. Then you might have students share their written thinking with a partner.

It’s so easy to get into a rut with using the same strategies over and over. I hope this list gives you some ideas of new things to try or reminded you of some strategies you may not have used in some time.

I’d love to hear your ideas and feedback! Email me at stillteachingstilllearning@gmail.com.