Strategies to Maximize Student Involvement & Learning Presented by Amy Kelly *some ideas adapted from Bruce Wilkinson’s The Seven Laws of the Learner

Great Teachers Are not born great teachers. Are not produced on assembly lines. Are developed over time. Little by little. Experience after experience. Growth upon growth. How presentation will benefit audience: Adult learners are more interested in a subject if they know how or why it is important to them. Presenter’s level of expertise in the subject: Briefly state your credentials in this area, or explain why participants should listen to you.

Keys to Student Learning & Involvement Establish routines and policies. Communicate clearly. Show students what you mean. Allocate extra time at the beginning of the year to review and reinforce. Beginning of class routines End of class routines Cell phone policies Bathroom pass policies/tardies Test/quiz day procedures

Feedback from you Share a policy or procedure that helps to maximize learning in your classroom. What is your cell phone policy?

Keys to Student Learning & Involvement Teach your subject in terms of students’ needs and interests. Teach from known to unknown: scaffold. Discover their learning styles. Knowing your own learning style can help. Teachers tend to teach most comfortably to that style. Vary your methods to meet all learners’ needs.

Feedback from you Which of the learning styles is easiest for you to reach? Explain.

Keys to Student Learning & Involvement Teach intentionally for retention. Prioritize your content: students won’t remember everything. Arrange the presentation of your content in memorable ways. Alliteration, charts, graphs, illustrations Example: “build a fence” Color-coding Review: incorporate it EVERY DAY. Build a Fence

Feedback from you How do you incorporate review into your content area daily without consuming an entire class period? Give an example of an analogy or alliteration that you’ve used from your content area that has successfully increased retention.

Keys to Student Learning & Involvement Teach with high expectations. Expect good behavior. Expect active participation. During note-taking. During formative assessment: use their names. During group activities/small-group instruction. During independent practice. Don’t lower the bar for your EOC classes. Teach from bell-to-bell. Consistently.

Feedback from you How do you maintain healthy perspectives about student success when reality falls short of expectation?

Keys to Student Learning & Involvement Teach fully prepared. Be disciplined. Example: Make copies the night before. Be organized. Anticipate. Example: Watch for changes in your roster. When you “wing it”, you aren’t fooling anyone. Students know if you are prepared (or not!)

“winged it” or “wung it” Feedback from you Share an organizing tip that helps you teach fully prepared. Share about a time when you “winged it”. “winged it” or “wung it” Hmm…

Keys to Student Learning & Involvement Give positive reinforcement. You create the culture in your classroom. Your goal should be to acknowledge each student every day. Be specific in your praise. Use their names. Set realistic but specific goals for how many positive reinforcements you give each class period. My method: a folder, stickers, and chocolate

Feedback from you What are the pros and cons of class- wide reward systems? Have you found a way to use them effectively?

Keys to Student Learning & Involvement Love consistently and unconditionally. Greet them daily at your door—by name. Learn their names quickly. Be fair. If you have a student who is difficult to love, find something about him/her that you like. Use the time between periods to chat with them; follow up later.

Feedback from you What are some tangible ways you build rapport and develop relationships with your students? What advice would you give to new teachers about students who are difficult to love?

Keys to Student Learning & Involvement You. You are the key. Bring your best self to school. Daily. Be yourself. Everyone has a unique teaching style; use yours and find ways to grow in it. Know your strengths. Use them to compensate for your weaknesses. Strengths Finder 2.0 by Tom Rath Use your personality as an asset in your classroom. Energy, variety, transparency, humor, emotion, creativity, motivation—leverage your uniqueness to call out the best in your students.

Keys to Student Learning & Involvement Establish routines and policies. Teach your subject in terms of students’ needs and interests. Teach intentionally for retention. Teach with high expectations. Teach fully prepared. Give positive reinforcement. Love consistently and unconditionally. You. You are the key.