The Most Powerful Practice for Academic Growth
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Help students develop a growth mindset with a few simple steps.
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Creating a Positive Secondary Classroom Culture
/As I went into my first year of teaching, I was far too overwhelmed to think about how I could consciously create a classroom culture. I did instinctively know that I wanted to establish an environment of trust, respect, and kindness, in line with my core values. But how to accomplish that?
As a more experienced teacher, I can now reflect a bit more on what a positive secondary classroom culture looks like and how we can build it. I also realize now that it’s not as hard as it may seem when you’re new to the classroom.
So what does a positive classroom culture look like? I define it as one that supports and enhances students’ learning, helps students take on challenges with a growth mindset, and promotes healthy social behaviors.
I think the first step in creating a positive classroom culture is getting to know our core values so we can be conscious about establishing classroom procedures, guidelines, and expectations that reflect them. What are some core values for the classroom that resonate with you? Here are a few of mine:
Respect
Trust
Attention/effort/responsibility
Support
Enjoyment in learning and growth
Kindness
Since I’m no longer in the classroom but still working with students as a tutor, I hear a lot about classroom cultures and management styles from students’ perspectives. Here are a few pieces of insight that I’ve gained from this experience:
Regardless of classroom management style, students can always sense (and always appreciate) when teachers truly care and are passionate about teaching.
Core classroom values such as trust, respect, and support start with teachers. Teachers who model these core values even in the face of behavioral issues lay the foundation for them to flourish in the classroom.
Consistently praising effort and improvement over perfection or traits like intelligence creates a supportive environment in which all students feel they can grow.
Clarity and consistency in the application of classroom rules and procedures helps to build a safe environment in which trust can develop.
Secondary teachers have the unique opportunity to “reset” students’ expectations about what a classroom experience can be. At the secondary level, kids are coming into the classroom with a wider variety of previous experiences in school, both good and bad. This means a greater variety of attitudes toward learning and ideas about appropriate classroom behavior.
With your core values and some student insights in mind, here are some thoughts for creating a positive secondary classroom culture, either from day one or to reset after a rocky period.
Communicate with clarity, warmth, and calmness what your expectations are. By communicating in this manner, you are modeling respectful, appropriate interactions and setting the standard for how you expect students to communicate in your classroom.
Put classroom rules, policies, and procedures in writing. You may even have students participate in the process of creating clear and fair policies.
Discuss the core values that you’ve identified and what they look like in action. Ask students to give examples of what each of the values looks like in action.
Provide clear, written academic expectations and policies, including late work, test retakes, extra help, and missed classes. Some of the most common issues I see with students I tutor involve these topics. You can avoid future confusion and disputes by clearly defining policies and students’ responsibilities from the beginning.
Have students sign all written policies and procedures to indicate they are in agreement with them.
If an issue arises that requires a change in classroom policies/procedures, discuss openly and clearly with students. As long as there is a clear rationale for the change, students will usually be on board.
Be authentic with students—if you make a mistake, acknowledge it. If a lesson or activity doesn’t go well, discuss it. Students don’t expect teachers to be perfect, and mistakes or bombed lessons can be a great opportunity for us to model accountability and authenticity.
Please let me know in the comments below if you have any tips or techniques for building a positive classroom culture at the secondary level!
5 Reasons to Incorporate SAT/ACT Practice into Your Curriculum
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Secondary curriculum in most schools and districts is meant to prepare students for university study, but it rarely prepares them for the exams that still play an important role in college admissions. Whether due to time constraints, the perceived difficulty of the material, or the idea that SAT/ACT material is incompatible with other curriculum priorities, SAT/ACT practice is often left to students to do on their own.
In this article, I’ll give you 5 reasons why incorporating SAT/ACT practice into your curriculum is a great idea, whether or not your school separately offers SAT/ACT prep courses or workshops. In a later post, I’ll give you some ideas for easy ways to do so.
1. SAT/ACT Material Goes Beyond Most State Standards, Meaning that You’ll Not Only Cover But Exceed Your Standards
When compared with the Common Core and other state standards, the SAT and ACT require a higher level of reading, language, and math skills. Not every topic or skill you teach will appear on the SAT/ACT, but where there’s an overlap, SAT/ACT questions generally go deeper and require more critical thinking and analytical skills. The reading passages are rich sources of academic and Tier 2 vocabulary. Math questions tend to require greater integration of diverse math skills and more complex problem solving.
2. Skills Tested on the SAT/ACT Are Critical to Success in Higher Education
Before I started tutoring and offering small group SAT/ACT test prep, I mistakenly believed that the SAT and ACT measured mastery of topics and content knowledge. As I began to understand the tests better, I realized that they are actually designed to measure academic skill.
While content knowledge is certainly a big part of doing well on the math portion of these exams, and vocabulary is important for the language portions, content knowledge only gets students so far. The rest comes down to skill: how well do students parse a text for meaning, argument, evidence, and structure? How well can they problem solve? How well do they think and write about a topic? These are skills that are crucial for students’ future academic outcomes.
3. Not All Students Have Access to SAT/ACT Prep or Know How to Prepare
All students are subjected to the same test, but unfortunately study after study confirms that socioeconomic factors play a major role in SAT/ACT scores. Building in some SAT/ACT-type practice to your curriculum is a great way to make sure all students gain familiarity with the test material and format.
4. SAT/ACT Practice Can Make Topics or Skills Covered in Your Curriculum More Relevant and Memorable to Students
I can personally attest to the truth of this one: when I mention to students that a particular math topic is tested frequently on the SAT/ACT, their ears perk up. What may have quickly been forgotten after a lesson or unit ends is now given a place of greater importance and is more likely to be remembered. Not every student will be motivated to pay extra attention to material they know might appear on the SAT/ACT, but many will.
5. SAT/ACT Practice Provides a Great Challenge and Enrichment Opportunity
For consistent early finishers and high achieving students, SAT/ACT practice provides a challenge and an opportunity to test and improve their skills. I love reinforcing crucial academic skills that are relevant to the topic at hand with “SAT/ACT challenge questions.”
I’m a big believer in the idea that all students (not just our self-motivated high achievers) benefit from challenging work that requires higher level thinking and problem solving, with the appropriate support and resources.
Please let me know your thoughts (and whether you include any SAT/ACT practice in your classroom) in the comments below!
Daily Reflection and Writing on “The Big Questions”
/One of the things that I love best about writing curriculum is that I get to think about what I would have loved to have when I was in the classroom. I’m also fortunate enough to see things through the eyes of the kids I tutor: which skills and areas often need reinforcement? What motivates and interests them? What academic skills will they need as they move through middle and high school into higher education?
An issue that consistently comes up for many of the kids I work with is writing. Being a sticky skill, it’s one that takes time to improve. It also generally takes a multiple-pronged approach, with improvements in vocabulary and word use, grammar, mechanics, transitions, and logical sequencing of ideas. While “more writing” may help with fluency, it doesn’t do much to address the other issues that contribute to weak writing skills.
My goal was to create a daily writing resource that is targeted at improving the component skills of writing. I also wanted to incorporate deep reflection and analytical thinking about “the big questions” to spark intellectual curiosity and broaden horizons.
How to Use Daily Quote Analysis: Short Writing Prompts
I think the best use of this resource is as a daily class starter, since the benefit of reflection and deep thinking will carry through class. Alternatively, it could be given as daily homework. The writing prompts and vocabulary/grammar tasks should take about 10 minutes to complete individually. I included ideas for optional collaborative work as well.
Each quote includes biographical and historical information to provide context, and vocabulary/grammar notes to call attention to specific vocabulary and grammar topics. One or two short vocabulary or grammar tasks are given as well. Next, the writing portion is divided into two sections. Under “Analysis,” students will analyze and explain the meaning of the quote. Under “My Thoughts,” students will state whether they agree, disagree, or partially agree/disagree with the quote and explain why using at least one concrete example that proves or disproves the validity of the quote.
While this resource is truly no prep, I would recommend (before students begin to work with it) taking some time to go over the example response provided. This will help students understand the difference between the two writing tasks: analyzing and explaining the meaning of the quote and then giving their opinion and backing it up with examples.
The resource includes different options for grading and a rubric for formal grading if teachers elect that option.
Check out a preview of the resource and purchase it here and as always I love to hear your feedback!
Why and How to Teach Learning Strategies and Self-Reflection about Learning
/As teachers, we have quite a bit of control over how we teach topics to our students, the activities we give them to enhance learning, and the preparation materials we give out before unit tests, midterms, etc. But we don’t have much control over what students do with what we give them as soon as they leave class for the day (and sometimes even in our rooms). Some students seem to know instinctively how to assimilate the new information and skills they learn in class, while others have parents who give them helpful study tips and fill in any blanks in their understanding. But unfortunately, others leave class confused about the topics covered and lack the tools (or the sense of agency) to improve their understanding.
While teaching learning strategies is often left to the realm of special education, in my experience most students benefit from gaining some insight into their own learning habits and practices. In fact, I think teaching kids how to learn is equally if not more important as teaching them what to learn. As a former classroom teacher turned tutor, I’ve realized that by giving kids insight into their own learning process we are setting them up to be able to approach future material confidently and to learn it successfully throughout their lives.
My goal in tutoring is to help students develop skills and habits that eventually make tutoring unnecessary, and I’ve found that one of the most powerful ways to do that is by getting them into the practice of being self reflective about their own learning. And it doesn’t take much in the way of formal teaching; with a series of questions and mostly student-driven discussions students become much more conscious of their approach to learning and about specific strategies that they can use to learn more effectively.
Clearly, one-on-one discussions with students are a great way to help them reflect on their learning, but unfortunately the classroom setting doesn’t give us much one-on-one time. I wanted to find a way to bring this beneficial practice into the classroom, so I’ve created this no-prep student self-evaluation that teachers can use and reuse throughout the year to get students thinking about the way they learn.
Research Backed Learning Strategies
There are also some general principles about learning that are supported by research that we can pass along to students (informally, no lesson required). One is “distributed learning” (aka the spacing effect), meaning that learning is much more effective when studying is broken into smaller chunks over time than when crammed. This is especially helpful for students who have attention difficulties and may feel frustrated or bad about their need to take breaks while studying—the research shows that this is actually a better way to learn!
While old adages about studying may have said “use a familiar and comfortable study spot,” studies have shown that learning is actually enhanced when the surrounding context is varied. This means that studying in different locations, listening to different music or a variety of background noise, and with any other environmental variations can actually be beneficial.
Another learning strategy shown to be extremely effective is testing or “retrieval practice.” After spending some time studying the material, it’s best to put it away and see if we can recall it. Retrieval practice can include a formal in class assessment, or a homework assignment, but quizzing ourselves or having someone else quiz us is a great learning strategy that is supported by many studies. In How We Learn, author Benedict Carrey summarizes what’s been learned from research on retrieval practice in a 1/3 to 2/3 rule: the fastest way to learn something is to spend 1/3 of your time memorizing it and 2/3 of your time reciting it from memory.
Testing is studying, of a different and powerful kind. —Benedict Carrey
I find it helpful to share these types of strategies with students whenever possible, since it can help them make their study time more efficient.
Questions for Learning Self Reflection
Here are some questions that I want my students to be asking themselves in order to become more conscious of their learning habits and strategies. I usually take them through these types of questions a couple of times initially, and then I just remind them to ask themselves periodically.
How did I learn about this topic initially (lecture/presentation, assigned reading, activity, research project, etc.)?
How actively did I participate in the initially learning? What grade would I give myself for my efforts? (paying close attention, taking notes, completing the task well, reading carefully, asking questions, etc. vs zoning out, doing the minimum, skimming/skipping the reading, letting others do the work, etc.)
How much did I learn (as a percentage of what I need to know or be able to do)? What grade would I give my current understanding of the topic?
Could I explain the topic thoroughly to someone who knows nothing about it? Could I show someone step by step how to solve this type of problem or complete this task successfully?
What methods usually work best for me to learn something new?
What tools, resources, and practices can I use to get my knowledge/skill set to 100% with this topic?
Steps for Learning Self-Evaluation
Here are some steps to take students through in order to help them evaluate their own understanding of a topic. These can be used in any subject area.
Identify the topic as specifically as possible.
State what we know, what we don’t know, and what we need to know, keeping in mind that as we proceed we may uncover more aspects of the topic that we don’t know about
Identify the learning method: lecture with slides? Assigned reading? Research project? Informational video? Etc.
identify other learning methods/tools/resources that might be helpful or have been helpful in the past: asking the teacher for help, asking a friend, watching a video online, reading more online, rewriting my notes, doing additional practice, etc
Evaluate how much we know now: 50%? 75%? 100%? Etc.
Repeat the steps until understanding is at or near 100%.
Incorporate Learning Self-Reflections in the Classroom
I think self-reflection is one of the most important practices that we can pass along to students. Becoming more reflective about our own learning habits and strategies, as well as taking ownership over our learning, is a lifelong skill with so many benefits. I’ve created a resource that can be used with students in grades 6+ in any subject area for this purpose. It has three different self-evaluations: pre-semester, pre-assessment (to be used at the end of a unit but prior to a unit test), and post-assessment (for students to reflect on their learning during the unit and their preparation for and performance on the unit test).
Click on the photo below to get this resource and please let me know what you think about teaching learning strategies and self-reflection about learning!
