Forgetaboutit

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

I forgot!

The research is in. Our brains are hardwired to forget. Which may explain why the kitchen trash never seems to go out!

It's frightening to study the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve (below), but we can ALL identify! Fortunately, research also tells us what we can do in our classes to fight these odds. Scroll down for some quick tips.

Source: stuffforeducators

 Why Students Forget---and What You Can do About It by Youki Terada shares with us 5 researched strategies to make the learning "stick."

1. Student Conversations "not only increases retention but also encourages active learning (Sekeres et al., 2016)."

2. Practice and practice aligned activities to give "multiple opportunities to review learned material."

3. Frequent formative and fun assessments reduce anxiety as students become accustomed to showing what they know.

4. Mixing it up. Grouping similar problems together to have the students practice over and over in just one way decreases thinking. Mix up problems/strategies to increase thoughtful learning.

5. Images (or non-linguistic representations) help students recall information by attaching context to a visual cue.

Read the full article here.

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Tips for Using Exit Tickets

Exit tickets are a quick, easy, and great strategy to check for understanding and plan for next steps. The following are some things to keep in mind when using exit tickets:

Begin with the end in mind. Ensure your questions are precise enough for students to give you the information you need. Write questions that assess understanding, apply the concept, or demonstrate the concept.

Keep it brief. Exit tickets are intended to challenge your students while providing you feedback for planning. They should be able to be completed in under five minutes.

Examine the tickets carefully. Sort tickets into groups based on what you need to know. For example: students that understand the content, students that don’t understand the content, and students that you are unsure about. However you organize the data, make sure that it gives you an overall picture of your classroom.

Sample Exit Tickets (Fisher & Frey, 2004):

• Write one thing you learned today.

• Discuss how today's lesson could be used in the real world.

• I didn't understand…

• Write one question you have about today's lesson.

• Did you enjoy working in small groups today?

• I would like to learn more about…

• Please explain more about…

• The thing that surprised me the most today was…

• I wish…

For more on Exit Tickets, watch this video.

No such thing as a "flop"

We have all been there.  You have spent hours pouring over your standards, sifting through ideas and resources, to get 15 minutes into a lesson and realize your students aren’t, shall we say, impressed. Crickets are chirping.  Or, utter confusion ensues. What do you do?

Even the most seasoned veterans experience a “flop” every now and then.  Today, we provide three tips to turn the flop into an opportunity.

Acknowledge it.  Tell students you see they are confused or not engaged, and you are going to change gears a bit.

Determine what’s up.  Using the think-pair-share strategy or quick write, ask students to articulate what they are finding confusing or difficult.

Some quick open-ended questions are:

Tell me in your own words what you understand about the topic.

What are you finding confusing?

What do you think you need to help you understand?

3. Switch it up.   Instead of whole group, teacher-centered instruction that relies heavily on language, have students act out directions or allow them to perform a non-verbal representation of the concept, such as a drawing or play-dough sculpture.

Finally, and most importantly, use the feedback gained from students to reflect on what was the cause of the “flop,” how you put on your Super Teacher cape to save the day, and what you can do to prevent future flops.  Then take a deep breath, and know you’re not alone.