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Five Ways to Make Research More Engaging

by Claire Reddig July 16, 2024

written by Claire Reddig

When most students (and many teachers) hear the word research, they often cringe — maybe they’ve been frustrated in the past while researching or they see research as an isolated academic task that does little to spark intrinsic motivation. As a school librarian, my goal is to transform research projects into opportunities to spark student creativity and tap into intrinsic interest while still effectively teaching foundational researching skills through collaborations with classroom teachers. Here are five ways to make research more engaging in your classroom!

1. Tackle Real-World Challenges

Research projects that reflect real world tasks encourage students to see research as a valuable life skill. For example, a 7th grade science teacher at my school wanted her students to learn more about radioactive elements. We worked together to create several real world research challenges to engage her students.

Our final prompts included one that asked them to pretend they worked at Chernobyl and to take steps to protect their families when they uncovered information about a potential accident. Another challenge asked students to go back in time and share what we know today about x-rays and their radiation with famed scientist Marie Curie. Both challenges required students to engage in more traditional research before applying critical thinking to complete the challenge.

Resources:

Marie Curie ChallengeDownload

Radioactive Survival ScenarioDownload

Nuclear Waste Makerspace ChallengeDownload

2. Get Persuasive

Another type of real-world research encourages students to view their surroundings critically and suggest improvements in a persuasive way. As a 5th grade Language Arts teacher, I ended the year with a persuasive writing unit and, one year, I had students research effective learning spaces. They explored different types of furniture, decorations, lighting, and even layouts. They even collected and compiled their own research data by creating surveys and conducting interviews. Then, they chose a learning space at our school to evaluate based on their research and suggest changes in the form of a persuasive letter to the person in charge of the space. This encouraged students not only to research thoroughly to back up their claims, but also provided a sense of agency.

Resources:

Learning Space Brainstorming WorksheetDownload

Learning Spaces Paragraph WorksheetDownload

Checklist for Rethinking Learning SpacesDownload

Proposal for Rethinking a Learning Space WorksheetDownload

3. Start a Debate

Another way to make research more engaging is to utilize it as preparation for a debate. For example, I partnered with an 8th grade humanities teacher to craft a list of debate questions that reflected her curriculum as her year end wrap up. We had students work in groups of four to research their assigned question and then split them into pairs, with one pair supporting each side of the debate.

Questions again included real-world applications, including, “Should the US government sponsor and promote pro-war propaganda during times of war?” and “Which invention was more significant, the telephone or the lightbulb?” Students chose topics that reflected their interests and were motivated to research by their competitive nature. These debates also put their research to the test and taught them to select their most effective findings to support their own arguments.

Resources:

Nuclear Accidents DebateDownload

Russias Nuclear Threat DebateDownload

Sample Debate Topics and GuidelinesDownload

4. Lean Into Trends

In my 5th grade Language Arts class, we ended the year by researching the pros and cons of using fidget toys in classes. We explored different types of fidget toys, then interviewed teachers and students about their experiences with them. The unit culminated in students creating their own fidget toy and then writing a persuasive letter to a teacher in the next grade encouraging them to let their students use the toy next year.

Resources:

Brainstorming for the Ideal Fidget Toy WorksheetDownload

Exploring Fidget Toys WorksheetDownload

Fidget Toy Interviews and Reflection WorksheetDownload

Fidget Toy Research WorksheetDownload

5. Embrace the Makerspace

Recently, I partnered with our school’s Latin teacher to create makerspace research projects for her 5th-8th grade students. Her 5th graders researched armor and animals found in Ancient Rome before creating armor for a stuffed animal based on their research. Her 6th graders each researched a different merchant from the Ancient Roman forum (marketplace) and then created items to sell in our forum simulation. Her 7th graders chose different structures from Ancient Rome to research and then created models to use in a presentation where they convinced a panel of Ancient Roman government officials to fund their idea. Her 8th graders researched chariots in Ancient Rome and built their own life-sized chariots out of cardboard and PVC pipes to race. These hands-on activities transformed traditional research projects into collaborative, competitive, and creative endeavors.

Makerspace Madness: Making Research More Engaging

What if you could leverage research to encourage creativity? You can! Research-based makerspace projects allow space for research magic to happen. Makerspace projects can take many forms, but the ones I’ve referred to throughout the article are those where students use readily available (and inexpensive) craft supplies and recycled materials to create items based on their imagination and research.

Are you excited about dipping your toe into the wonderful world of makerspace research projects but not sure where to begin? Start small by using building challenges as bell ringers or brain breaks. These challenges help students build their creativity, collaboration, and grit and prepare them to tackle larger projects. Then, take a trip to The Dollar Tree and begin building your stash of maker supplies. My shopping list even includes mock “prices” because I often give my students a budget for projects so they have to be more intentional in planning their creations.

Makerspace Supply List (with prices)Download

July 16, 2024 0 comment

Created by author, adapted from Mike Bell (2021) The Six Steps.

The LEARNS Cycle: Putting AI in Instruction, Part 1

by Miguel Guhlin June 13, 2024

written by Miguel Guhlin

“There are a bucket-full of AI tools, apps, and suggestions, but how does any of this fit within the learning cycle? How does it align to evidence-driven, research-based instructional strategies?” Those are two questions that have been going around in my mind recently. It doesn’t matter if AI is the latest thing since sliced bread. How does it fit into teaching and learning?

To answer the question, I turned to the work of Mike Bell, author of The Fundamentals of Teaching. This blog entry makes an explicit connection between each step with AI tools available now to educators. Come along and see how AI fits what you already know works in the classroom. This is the first of a multi-part blog series that digs into this.

Finding Reliable Research and Strategies

Mike Bell’s work is genius in that it aligns the research of several different sources of evidence. In analyzing reliable sources of evidence, he overcomes several problems:

Confirmation bias taints our perception of evidence since people pick out evidence which supports their preconceptions.
Research can be contradictory, so it is necessary to combine results from different sources.
It’s hard to figure out the level of quality for research since not all research is of the same quality.

Since reliable evidence is hard to come up with on our own, all of us are tempted to listen to popular assertions. Bell suggests you do the following when someone (e.g. AI or an ed tech consultant or vendor) says, “The research says it’s effective:”

Ask for the effect size.
Gauge how much work is required to implement the suggestion.
Pause if the effect size is low and a lot of work is required to implement the suggestion.

A Quick Reminder about Effect Size

To that end, Bell offers an overview of effect size on learning, which readers of TCEA TechNotes will be familiar with:

0: No effect
0.2: Small effect
0.4: Average effect (what John Hattie calls the “hinge point”)
0.6: Good effect
0.8 And above, high effect

Now that these key concepts are out of the way, let’s take a look at Bell’s Five Steps plus a post-assessment stage. These steps identify key strategies that are supported from several research sources. Those five major research studies include: EEF, Dean, Hattie, IAE, and IES. Explore these and other evidence-based research sources via this blog entry, Brain-Based Strategies That Work.

The Stages of the LEARNS Cycle

The five steps are detailed on Mike Bell’s website and include five big steps plus a post-assessment. The diagram below adapts the first five steps as The LEARNS Cycle. My goal was to place AI tool usage in the context of evidence-based teaching and see what might happen. Could AI tools be relied upon to assist with supporting classroom teaching and learning on a foundation of research-driven steps?

Here’s an overview of the LEARNS cycle:

LEARNS: Locate, Explore, Apply, Review, Nurture, Shine

Locate (Know what you know): Identify your current knowledge and skills related to the topic or learning objective.
Explore (Learn New Stuff): Discover and engage with new information, concepts, and resources to expand your knowledge and skills.
Apply (Challenge Yourself): Put your newly acquired knowledge and skills into practice by tackling challenging activities or real-world problems.
Review (Get feedback): Seek feedback from peers, mentors, or self-assessment to review your progress, identify strengths and weaknesses, and gather insights for improvement.
Nurture (Practice, Repeat, and Reflect): Continuously refine your knowledge and skills through repeated practice, reflection, and incorporation of feedback.
Shine (Re-assess, Progress Check, and Master): Re-assess your performance to track progress, ensure a high level of understanding, and achieve mastery of the subject matter.

What might putting Bell’s steps in our own words, and then connecting them to existing AI tools, look like? Let’s take a closer look at each of the stages in the recursive, iterative cycle. Remember, this is the first of a multi-part blog series.

1-Locate

In stage, you are activating prior knowledge. This involves knowing what you know, or what students know.

Locate (Know What You Know) Prior Knowledge

Instructional Strategy	AI Tool	Description
Graphic Organizers	Creately	Creately offers templates and drag-and-drop tools for Venn diagrams, concept maps, and flow charts, helping students organize information visually.
Structured Note-Taking	Notion AI	Notion AI helps organize notes using methods like the Cornell method or mind mapping, making students’ notes clear and structured.
K-W-L Charts	Padlet	Padlet is a collaborative tool where students create and share K-W-L charts, activating prior knowledge and tracking learning progress.
Anticipation Guides	Google Forms	Google Forms creates anticipation guides where students record initial thoughts and revisit them post-lesson to reflect on learning.
Case Studies	Nearpod	Nearpod presents case studies and engages students in decision-making activities based on prior knowledge with the ability to revisit and adjust responses.

Here’s the infographic version:

A copy of the infographic will be available in the final blog entry in the series, so be sure to check back for the next part.

LEARNS Cycle: Sample Prompts

Another way to approach this is to generate prompts that supplement each strategy. These prompts would be usable in any AI chatbot, free or paid. This can be helpful if you do NOT have access to a paid solution, like MagicSolution.ai or the others I will mention in future blog entries.

Here are some sample prompts for the Locate stage. Note that the AI Tool Suggestions are tools you could use, but you could also just drop these prompts into a free chatbot.

Instructional Strategy	AI Tool Suggestions	Sample Prompt
Graphic Organizers	Creately, MindMeister, Lucidchart	“Create a concept map to visually represent the key ideas and relationships in [topic].”
Structured Note-Taking	Notion AI, Roam Research, Obsidian	“Develop a structured note-taking system using the Cornell method to organize your understanding of [topic].”
K-W-L Charts	Padlet, Jamboard, Miro	“Collaborate with your classmates to create a K-W-L chart for [topic], documenting what you already know, want to know, and have learned.”
Anticipation Guides	Google Forms, Microsoft Forms, SurveyMonkey	“Complete this anticipation guide by indicating your initial thoughts on statements related to [topic] before we begin the lesson.”
Case Studies	Nearpod, Pear Deck, Explain Everything	“Analyze this case study on [real-world scenario] and make decisions based on your prior knowledge of [topic].”

This is what the K-W-L Chart prompt from above generates in assorted chatbots:

Author generated animated GIF composed of KWL charts generated by ChatGPT, Perplexity, MagicSchool, and Claude — *Author generated animated GIF composed of KWL charts generated by ChatGPT, Perplexity, MagicSchool’s Raina, and Claude*

Wait, There’s More AI Magic Available!

If you use school-focused AI tools, you may notice that there are none mentioned specifically in the chart for Locate stage in the cycle. You can find many of the activities for instructional strategies in these multi-purpose school AI tools.

AI Solution Providers: At the risk of incurring the ire of solution providers, here are what these look like in only one of the tools, MagicSchool.ai. In future blog entries in this series, I will introduce others.

Using MagicSchool.ai’s Raina, you can easily generate many of the items in this step. Let’s take a look at some sample prompts.

Screenshot of MagicSchool's Raina by author — *Screenshot of MagicSchool’s Raina by author*

Sample Prompts

Here are some example prompts (see 60+ prompt suggestions) that you can feed into any chatbot. These are meant to reflect actual tasks for the LOCATE stage of the LEARNS Cycle.

Graphic Organizers (Science): “Create a graphic organizer for the seventh grade science unit on ecosystems. Use a concept map to show the relationships between producers, consumers, and decomposers, and how energy flows through a food web.”
Structured Note-Taking (Social Studies): “For eighth grade social studies, organize notes on the American Revolution. Use the Cornell method to outline the causes, key figures, and major battles. Create a mind map to connect the outcomes of the war to the formation of the U.S. government.”
K-W-L Charts (Science): “In sixth grade science, create a K-W-L chart for the unit on the water cycle. Begin by listing what students already know about evaporation, condensation, and precipitation. Include what they want to learn, and update the chart with new information as the unit progresses.”
Anticipation Guides (Social Studies): “Design an anticipation guide for a fifth grade social studies lesson on the Civil War. Have students record their initial thoughts on the causes and key events of the war. After the lesson, revisit these thoughts and reflect on what they have learned and how their understanding has changed.”
Case Studies (Science): “Present a case study for eighth grade science on the impact of human activities on climate change. Engage students in analyzing data on carbon emissions and their effects on global temperatures. Allow students to revisit their initial conclusions and adjust their responses as they learn more about the science behind climate change.”

ChatGPT Plus generated those sample prompts. Of course, you can write your own and then feed them into MagicSchool.ai’s Raina.

Getting Raina’s Help with LEARNS Cycle

In the screenshot above, you can see that Raina has taken the fifth grade social studies lesson prompt for an anticipation guide. The result is as follows:

Anticipation Guide for 5th Grade Social Studies Lesson on the Civil War

Before the Lesson:

Causes of the Civil War

I believe the Civil War was primarily about __.
I think the issue of states' rights played a significant role in starting the war. (True/False)
Slavery was a major cause of the Civil War. (True/False)
Key Events of the Civil War

The first battle of the Civil War was fought at __.
Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in the year __.
The Civil War ended at the Appomattox Court House in the year __.

After the Lesson:

Causes of the Civil War

My initial thoughts on the causes of the Civil War were __.
After learning more, I now understand that __ was a significant cause of the war.
My thoughts on the importance of states' rights in the Civil War have changed because __.

Key Events of the Civil War

Reflect on how your understanding of the first battle of the Civil War has evolved.
How did learning about the Emancipation Proclamation change your view of the Civil War?
Discuss how your perception of the end of the Civil War at the Appomattox Court House has shifted.
This anticipation guide will help students engage with the lesson content, reflect on their initial thoughts, and track their learning progression throughout the study of the Civil War.

Tying AI tools to proven effective instructional strategies is a non-brainer and will ensure that student learning is the focus.

June 13, 2024 0 comment

ELAR English Language Arts ESL/ELL Good Teaching Reading Science Science Social Studies Social Studies

TCEA Responds: Engaging ELLs with Guided Notes

by Miguel Guhlin September 5, 2023

written by Miguel Guhlin

Dear TCEA Responds:

I don’t understand guided notes. It’s like fill in the blank notes with the answers given. Are there some digital tools that can help me make guided notes? I teach emergent language learners.
-Mario

What are guided notes?

Thanks so much for your question. As you mention, guided notes appear as “fill in the blank” to students. They offer students certain information on the content and require them to fill in information during learning. And, you can pair research-based instructional strategies like these with them:

The Teacher Toolkit describes them in this way (adapted for readability):

Guided Notes are teacher-prepared handouts. They outline lectures, audiovisual presentations, or readings. The teacher leaves blank space for students to fill in key concepts, facts, etc.

Guided Notes promote active engagement during lecture or independent reading. They provide full and accurate notes for use as a study guide. Guided Notes also help students to identify the most important information covered

Let’s explore guided notes a bit more. From my perspective as an ESL teacher, they are a type of cloze activity. For fun, keep this printable document handy. You can take notes on it as you read this article!

What instructional strategy is behind guided notes?

Wondering which key instructional strategy is behind guided notes? The answer is Outlining and Summarizing, which enjoys an effect size of 0.62. The Visible Learning Meta X database describes this strategy as one that:

Involves identifying the main ideas and rendering them in one’s own words. The core skill is being able to distinguish between the main ideas and the supporting ideas.

ELLs and Guided Notes

Emerging language learners face many challenges when note-taking, among them:

Grammar and spelling mistakes
Use of abbreviations
Disorganization
Inability to connect or interpret new information to existing knowledge (source)

Teachers rely on guided notes when language learners need to:

Focus on vocabulary and concept comprehension, rather than grammar and structure
Process new information
Write well in the target language under the pressure of time
Identify main ideas and supporting details

Let’s take a closer look at this strategy you can use with your students.

Digging Into the Research

A 2020 review of guided notes instructional strategy research reveals the following salient points about guided notes and student learning.

Point #1: There are a variety of formats.

Formats include:

Google Docs with partially-completed outlines
fill-in-the-blank outlines on printed PowerPoint slides
Paper versions of partially completed outlines
Partially completed PowerPoint slides
Notes with metacognitive guidance

Point #2: Improve Engagement

Researchers have found that students with guided notes participated more in class and supported student achievement. Student brains are engaged when actively constructing knowledge. Guided notes promote generative learning because they enable students to “focus more of their cognitive energy on higher-order thinking and learning.” Guided notes also address potential issues with students’ imperfect note-taking strategies.

Point #3: Positively Impact Quiz Scores

Several studies show that guided notes incorporating diagrams, pictures, blanks, spaces, and tables had more impact than plain note-taking. Positive effects were shown and resulted in quizzes with 10% higher scores. What’s more, 36% more accurate notes were taken with guided notes.

Students reported that they preferred guided notes to the alternative (no notes or taking notes themselves). Students “outperformed” those without guided notes. Students with “graphic organizers outperformed students with guided notes or no notes.”

An overview of the benefits:

Reduces cognitive load on students
Increases participation since students are more likely to ask questions and participate in class discussions
Provides transparency as to what is important and to be assessed
Facilitates note-taking and study skills for students (source)

How to Create Guided Notes

A daunting aspect of creating guided notes? You have to know what you are going to be covering in a presentation. Some suggestions:

Create your set of complete notes.
Review your notes and underline/highlight key vocabulary and concepts.
Leave space for diagrams, concept maps, tables, and charts.
Replace the vocabulary and concepts with blanks for students to fill in.

Before you expect students to use guided notes in the classroom, make sure to model their use first. You can find several video tutorials and template sites for creating guided notes with Google tools. Here’s one way to do it with tables in Google Docs.

John Sowash shares his approach to creating guided notes with Google Docs:

Here’s another walkthrough from Jan Parker for Google Slides:

Engaging Learners with Guided Notes

While guided notes represent a time investment up front for you as the teacher, they also ensure you and your students know what’s valued – that is, what important information will be shared, and what will be assessed. Since writing by hand engages students’ brains, then it is a worthwhile activity. Give it a try!

Bonus: Using AI

Another fun approach you can take is to rely on Claude.ai or ChatGPT 3.5 (both free) to create your guided notes. Keep your selections for guided notes short and to the point. Claude.ai allows you to attach a file in text or PDF so you don’t have to paste the content directly into the chat box. Type up your prompt, then attach the file with your outline or content.

Sample Prompt: Create guided notes for the following text:

Double Bonus: Digital Tools

Digital Tool #1: Hot Potatoes

Check out the free, download, Hot Potatoes. It makes it easy to create a variety of activities on MS Windows computers.

Digital Tool #2: Cloze Test Online

Create a cloze passage with this free, web-based tool. You copy and paste your content in, and it allows you to create a cloze passage.

Digital Tool #3: Guided-Notes Maker

With this digital tool, the creation of blank spaces is easy. Highlight one or more words and each selection appears in a red box. Learn more about this online.

Digital Tool #4: Knowt.io

You can use Knowt to create guided notes (as well as a lot of other items). Give it a spin. Read how you can use Knowt in other ways.

Want to learn more?

Sign up now for TCEA Lunch and Learn: Outlining and Summarizing event on September 6. Outlining and Summarizing involves identifying the main ideas and rendering them in one’s own words. Come along and learn a few ways you can use these two powerful instructional strategies with students. Did you miss it? No worries, find a recording in the TCEA Community.

September 5, 2023 0 comment

high school students sitting around a table

Classroom Management Good Teaching

From Chaos to Calm: Effective Classroom Management Strategies

by Dr. Bruce Ellis August 30, 2023

written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

Dealing with difficult students can be extremely frustrating when you have to alter class lessons or activities. And, if we aren’t careful, bad behavior can spread by empowering other students to misbehave and add to the off-task or inappropriate behavior. While there are many research-based classroom management strategies to consider using, let me highlight a few to incorporate, if you are not already doing so.

1. Build Relationships

One of the best classroom management strategies you can employ to minimize student disruptions is to build relationships with students. Get to know students’ hobbies, preferences, and interests. Include these in your content when possible. When you see students between classes, engage in small talk. Don’t try to be “one of the students,” but also, don’t ignore them when you are with peers. Building relationships with students can help create a positive classroom environment where students feel comfortable and respected. This can lead to fewer disruptions and a more productive learning experience for everyone. Additionally, by getting to know your students, you can tailor your teaching methods and content to better meet their needs and interests, which can increase engagement and motivation.

2. Set Clear Expectations and Consequences

It is easy to assume that the students understand the rules and consequences as well as you do. But, that may not be the case. Even if it isn’t an issue of “cheating,” students may have a vague idea of what a particular rule looks like or the nuances of the rule. A student may have another or previous teacher who did not enforce the rule/consequence, so the student believes that the rule/consequence isn’t really valuable or expected. Regardless of the grade level you teach, reviewing the rules and consequences is a good thing. Ask students to participate in setting the rules and consequences. In doing this, I found that the students could be harder on the group than I would have been in which case I had to temper the expectations to be less punitive and more realistic.

3. Use Restorative Justice

Restorative justice in the context of a classroom is an approach to discipline that focuses on mediation and agreement rather than punishment. It aims to get students to take responsibility for their actions, understand the harm they have caused, and make restitution to those affected. This approach can help create a positive classroom environment where students feel comfortable and respected, leading to fewer disruptions and a more productive learning experience for everyone. Restorative justice is not just a tool to use in a crisis, but can be used proactively to build and nurture meaningful relationships and a strong sense of community within the classroom. This setting doesn’t create a teacher versus student environment but instead uses positive peer pressure to help maintain order and promote a classroom environment that all students enjoy.

4. Establish Earned Empowerment

Some students respond well when they are allowed to make choices. Initially, you may be making assignments such as the seating arrangement, groupings, etc. As students demonstrate on-task behavior and respect for you and others, consider moving to an earned empowerment environment. This is one in which students have earned the ability to make choices because they have previously demonstrated good choices (doing homework, supporting peers, following classroom rules, etc.). When you move to this philosophy, be sure that you are fair and equitable as to how various levels of empowerment are earned.

5. Document, Document, Document

As educators, documenting student behavior and progress can be extremely time-consuming. However, a lack of documentation can actually undermine your success and your students’ ability to receive help based on trends or habits that they may be exhibiting in your classroom. Consider creating a Google Form that you can fill out as you walk around the room to document when needed. Include fields for student name, period, student behavior, and any notes. If you want the students to complete the form (highly advisable), then also include sections for them to identify what the expectation was and how they plan to correct the behavior or behave next time. Once students show you the completed form, you then approve them to click the Submit button for it to be added to the documentation spreadsheet. This helps you know that it was filled out correctly and holds them accountable to truthfully telling what happened.

6. Get Feedback from Others

Sometimes we have students who are difficult, and we have no clue how to help them. Our personalities might be completely different or we lack the experience to pull up the strategies that are needed to help those students. In these times, consider talking with the parent(s), a peer teacher, and/or the school counselor for input. Sometimes solutions can be very simple, yet we fail to see them for some reason. For example, a student may be struggling with a subject because they are not getting enough sleep at night or they are dealing with personal issues at home. By communicating with the parents and other professionals, we can gain insight into the student’s life and find ways to support them. Additionally, seeking advice from experienced teachers can provide us with new strategies and techniques to try in the classroom.

Photo of a classroom with six classroom managements from the article listed on top of it.

The challenge of handling difficult students in the classroom isn’t isolated to any one educator; it’s a universal experience that teachers confront at various stages of their careers. The classroom management strategies highlighted in this article, from building genuine relationships to consistently documenting student behaviors, offer a comprehensive approach to fostering a positive classroom environment. As educators, it’s our duty not just to impart knowledge but to shape the environment in which learning occurs. Each challenging moment is an opportunity for growth—for both the student and for you. Always stay curious, remain empathetic, and be proactive in fostering a classroom where every student feels valued and understood.

August 30, 2023 0 comment

Assessment Educational Research Good Teaching Planning and Preparation

EduProtocols: Workflowing Amazing Lesson Design

by Miguel Guhlin May 24, 2023

written by Miguel Guhlin

The Amazing Lesson Design Outline (ALDO) serves as an easy-to-use reminder of what you can include in lessons. Not only does it provide handy links to SEL and assessment, but it also does something more – it provides easy, one-stop access to evidence-based instructional strategies. Then, it combines those strategies with digital tools suggestions.

But no one outline can do everything, right? One big omission from ALDO? EduProtocols. Let’s explore how to enhance ALDO with classroom workflows. But first, let’s review ALDO.

What is ALDO?

ALDO is a lesson design outline containing five components:

Relationships First: Trust and Social-Emotionl Learning. Select an activity you can use to connect with students.
Assessment. Select a pre-assessment activity you may find useful.
Teaching and Learning. Select a high-effect size strategy that matches your learning intention.
Assessment. Select a post-assessment activity you may find useful.
Reflect and Share. Select a Reflection Activity.

You may be familiar with Where’s Waldo series of books. You’re trying to find Waldo in a variety of fun settings. That’s one way of looking at the Amazing Lesson Design Outline (ALDO). Within the five-part outline, the lesson design blends in and offers resources for the following:

Positive teacher-student relationships. This part of the outline takes brain-based learning and social-emotional learning into account.
Evidence-based strategies. For example, high-effect size strategies detailed in the VisibleLearning MetaX database)
Digital tools. There is a vast array of digital tools available today. How can you pick the right one and use it to augment the effect of a paired instructional strategy?
Assessment. How can you assess students and then provide quality feedback about where students are?

ALDO integrates research from several key authors. As a result, educators have shared it a zillion times on social media. What ALDO is missing, though, is a connection to EduProtocols.

What Are EduProtocols?

Having read the first two books by Marlena Hebern and Jon Corippo, I found myself marveling at their work. EduProtocols makes blending research-based strategies and digital tools fun and exciting.

“EduProtocols are instructional lesson frames. They are designed to engage students in learning through critical thinking, collaboration, communication, and creativity. EduProtocols can be used with any subject, any grade level.”

What’s amazing is that EduProtocols have been out there since 2018. But there are still folks who may be unfamiliar with them. This means that there are tons of great EduProtocols resources out there for you to explore.

I love the use of the word “workflow” in the EduProtocols Field Guide #1. In it, the authors describe protocols as:

“workflows which can be repeated with changing content…[they] stabilize workflow for the teacher. The protocol shifts the main workflow from teacher-to-student to student-to-student.”

Resources for Exploring EduProtocols

Trust me, you can go down a rabbit hole exploring EduProtocols. Keep the idea of EduProtocols as “workflows” in mind.

For now, here are a few links that will start you on your journey:

EduProtocols Master Slides and Examples and EduProtocol Book 1 Templates
Collections of EduProtocols:
Eduprotocols – Wakelet (and more)
Find amazing examples in a hashtag search
SaddleBack Valley Schools
HillBrook Technology
EduProtocols main website and EduDuctTape Interview with Jon Corippo
Math Reps – This website has a lot of useful templates for use at all grade levels in support of math. Also, see Mathematical Practices and EduProtocols

Where Do EduProtocols and ALDO Connect?

My big question has been, “How would EduProtocols fit into the Amazing Lesson Design Outline (ALDO)?” I suspect that question popped into my head for a simple reason. My brain is trying to make sense of where EduProtocols fit into my schema, or my theory of how things work together.

Since EduProtocols are workflows, it seemed pretty obvious to include them in ALDO. ALDO is awesome because it combines three elements: 1.) instructional strategies, 2.) digital tools, and 3.) FUN.

Here, you can see section one, “Relationships First,” within the WALDO outline. It contains a plethora of linked activities and resources to choose from.

In ALDO, you can match phases of learning, instructional strategies, and digital tools and now includes EduProtocols for each phase and strategy, Here is the chart providing suggestions and resources under DIGITAL TOOLS: SUGGESTIONS in the ALDO.

There’s a lot to plug in, discover, and explore with ALDO! But designing lessons with strategies, workflows, and digital tools in mind helps me to see how EduProtocols fit into existing evidence-based instructional approaches. I hope that it does the same for you.

May 24, 2023 0 comment

Content Creation Good Teaching

A Collection of Choice Board Examples and Templates

by Emily Horn January 30, 2023

written by Emily Horn

Dr. Robert J. Marzano states that self-agency is an essential outcome for students. The two elements making up student self-agency are voice and choice. He defines agency as students having “the belief that they can positively affect their lives and possess the skills to do so.” While voice and choice are two different elements, they are often connected. Marzano describes choice boards as one way to build self-agency by offering choice in social, environmental, and learning domains.

Four Ways to Offer Choice

In his book, “The Highly Engaged Classroom,” Dr. Robert J. Marzano outlines four ways we can offer choice to students: (1) choice of tasks, (2) choice of reporting formats, (3) choice of learning goals, and (4) choice of behaviors (pp. 14, 101). Choice boards can be used for each of these! In his blog, he says,

“Choices of task, reporting format, or learning goal allow students to take control of their learning and make decisions that ensure personal interest in their assignments.”
Source

In other words, choices boost engagement and motivation, which lead to more learning! With this in mind, let’s look at a few articles with templates, examples, and steps for creating your own choice boards.

How to Create Choice Boards

How to Create a Choice Board: Using a choice board to allow students to select their own journey while still ensuring they reach their destination is a powerful research-based strategy. Explore John Hattie’s mindset on choice and get five steps for making a choice board.

Choice Board Templates and Examples for Your Students

Choice Boards for Elementary Learners: Take your elementary classroom to the next level with these choice board examples and templates. Your students will thank you! Snag ready-made choice boards or use the templates to create your own. Either way, you’ll be ready to get the choice board party started.

Wakelet Choice Boards: Wish you had an easy-to-access and accessibility-friendly choice board maker? You do! It’s called Wakelet. Learn how to make choice boards the easy way. Check out three example activities, an example Wakelet choice board, and discover the benefits of using Wakelet to offer choice and voice in your classroom.

Templates and Ideas for Differentiated Choice Boards: Check out four ideas for differentiation with choice boards. Then, explore a wide variety of editable templates and examples you can follow. This article definitely has some gems to help students work on their level while still offering them options to choose from.

Choice Boards for Active Learning in Math: Choice boards are a powerful tool to use in any subject, and that includes math! Uncover math-specific templates for all grade levels that include checks for understanding, vocabulary, assessment, infographic creation, multiplication, division, geometry, pre-algebra, and more.

Create Interactive Learning with a Choice Board: Innovative teachers empower students through the use of the choice board, either in paper or digital format. Find digital examples and templates for ELA, history, math, science, and differentiation. You’ll have everything you need to create digital, interactive choice boards for your students in no time.

Have you used choice boards already? Are you planning to start? Share your experience and any additional resources in the comments. We’d love to hear from you!

January 30, 2023 0 comment

Blended Learning Leadership Professional Learning

Becoming an Ed Tech Pro: Where Do I Start?

by Miguel Guhlin November 18, 2022

written by Miguel Guhlin

Recently, a children’s librarian asked me:

“I’m trying to learn about ed tech but don’t know where to start. Are there any great books, articles, or people I should check out?”

Success hinges on three areas when focusing on becoming an ed tech pro.

Three Key Areas for Ed Tech Exploration

You will need a solid grounding in several key areas:

Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies
Instructional Coaching
Digital Tools

Let’s take a look at each one of these areas one at a time.

1. Evidence-Based Instructional Strategies

First, as an ed tech newbie, you should check out joining TCEA. It’s not expensive to join, and you get access to weekly webinars that earn you credit. If you’re not ready to join, you’ll still find tons of great resources on the TCEA blog.

One way to get a handle on evidence-based instructional strategies is to read a few books, such as:

Mike Bell’s “The Fundamentals of Teaching“
Hattie, Fisher, Frey’s “Visible Learning” series of books (e.g. Literacy, Math, Science)
Zaretta Hammond’s “Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain“

These should really ground you in evidence-based strategies. If you want to take it to the next level, consider taking the TCEA Evidence-Based Teaching course ($39).

2. Instructional Coaching

Without coaching, you are wasting your time. No one cares how cool a digital tool is if it can’t impact learner achievement and if they don’t know how and when to implement it. That’s where coaching comes in and sets up a structure for assisting others in supporting student learning. To coach effectively, you need to ensure you and your coachee have knowledge of:

Evidence-based strategies (and when to use them)
Digital tools (and how to use them)
Formative assessment (for gauging when and how to best use strategies and technology)

There are lots of coaching approaches. I’m partial to Diane Sweeney’s work. You can also find an overview of coaching approaches in the TCEA blog.

3. Digital Tools

When you think about digital tools, you may first ask, “Where do I start? There are so many!” The truth is, you need a place you can go that allows you to mix-n-match. You are matching digital tools with the instructional strategy that will best support them.

For example, K-3 teachers use strategies for teaching vocabulary, but what digital tools do you use with those? In this article, Vocabulary Acquisition: Three Tools for You, we offer a variety of ways digital tools and strategies go together.

Another option, though, is to look at something called EduProtocols. These templates and resources offer ways to connect tried-n-true strategies to digital tools.

A Parting Thought

You are well-positioned for the shift if you focus on these three key areas. A lot of ed tech folks are now called “digital innovation specialists” while others are taking on the role of an instructional coach. Having a grasp of these three areas can ensure your success with:

Instructional strategies
The ability to build rapport with teachers (for coaching)
A solid awareness of digital tools that amplify learning outcomes

Go for it. Achieve escape velocity.

Bonus Items

#1 – Find Free Books

Do you want to pay for books, or get them at no cost? If it’s the latter, you are going to love this website Doug Holton from the Ed TechDev Blog introduced me to. The organizers point out the following:

These free books were specifically designed with K-12 teachers in mind.

They address a variety of topics. They may be useful in many settings. Settings include teacher education, licensure, and professional development.

Some that are of special interest to ed tech professionals include:

The other texts are also of high-interest depending on your field. As a bilingual technologist, two that I want to read are Understanding Language Acquisition: Teaching English Language Learners and Foundation in Education for Emergent Bilinguals.

Wondering about copyright, aren’t you? Is this one of those websites where the books are “free” but sharing is in violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)? Nope. These are legal shares that are available for download. Isn’t that amazing?

“All of our content is freely available, and most of it is free to remix, reuse, and redistribute without seeking permission. (source)”

Additionally, you can read the books in your browser or have them read to you aloud.

#2 – Online Courses

While TCEA offers a wealth of exciting online courses at the most affordable price ($39 each), there are many sources of online content available online. One such source is ModernClassrooms.org, recommended by Charlie Gramatges (@cgramatges@mastodon.education). “ModernClassrooms.org is filled with micro courses that change the way you think about Ed Tech,” says Charlie. You might also like to review this list of online course providers.

November 18, 2022 0 comment

Leadership

Questions to Ask Teachers in an Interview

by Emily Horn June 27, 2022

written by Emily Horn

As an administrator, doing our best to hire staff members that are a good fit for the school and position is a big step in building and cultivating a phenomenal team and a positive school culture for everyone. If we hire someone who isn’t a good fit, no one benefits, and it can lead to some difficult conversations and create challenges that could have been avoided. That said, interviews are hugely important.

The team we build and cultivate affects every aspect of the life of a school. Of course, other factors, like how we manage, encourage, and support that team (or how we don’t manage, encourage, and support) also have a huge impact. Additionally, sometimes we have a small pool of candidates (or even just one!), an offer isn’t accepted, or someone has to bow out, and we make the best choice we can.

While hiring can be one of the most difficult parts of the job, it can also be one of the most rewarding. There’s nothing like hiring someone and watching them flourish in their element, love their work, and positively impact those around them. I’m no longer an administrator, but I can say– it’s an awesome thing to watch unfold. And what an honor it is to be a part of the hiring process. Right? Even thinking about some of the fantastic, beautiful people I’ve had the privilege of hiring gives me the warm fuzzies to this day.

The Importance of the Interview Question

Let’s face it. As administrators, we do everything we can in an interview to gauge a teacher’s skill level, culture fit, team fit, values, and more, and it all boils down to the questions we ask and the answers we receive– and of course, references.

Here are four tips I’ve found useful for interviewing:

Ask your current team what questions they’d like asked. They might offer up some fantastic questions you’d never have thought of and questions that give you insight into what they value in a colleague.
Look at the CV and cover letter in advance. Mark it up. Highlight it. Make notes on it. Get to know the candidates!
Choose questions ahead of time. Decide what you want to know based on the CV and cover letter. Hone in.
Don’t be afraid to throw out the plan. Let their answers guide your questions. If an answer concerns you or didn’t give you the information you wanted, dig deeper with questions that might not be on your list.

In the spirit of hiring, I’ve compiled a list of my favorite interview questions. Naturally, interviews are fluid, adaptive, and conversational, so you can’t always go through a list. And nobody has all day! But a mixture of the following questions has been good to me over the years. I hope you’ll find them beneficial, also.

Classroom and Behavior Management

What behavior management strategies have you used in your classroom previously?
How often and in what ways do you communicate with parents/guardians/caretakers about behavior?
What is your philosophy on behavior management?
Give an example of how you have managed a disruptive student in your classroom.
What does culturally responsive mean to you?
How are you a culturally responsive teacher?
What role does social-emotional learning (SEL) play in the classroom? How do you incorporate SEL?
Tell us about a time when you successfully managed disruptive behavior and a time when you felt unsuccessful.
How have your previous administrators supported you with behavior management?
What are some procedures and routines that you put in place to help your classroom run smoothly?

Interpersonal Skills

Have you ever had conflict or disagreed with a colleague? Tell us about that.
Has there been a time when you’ve disagreed with an administrative decision? How did you approach this?
How do you build relationships with students’ parents/guardians/caretakers?
What tools have you used to communicate with families?
How do you form a bridge between the classroom and home?
How do you build relationships with your students?
Tell us about a time when you’ve had to have a difficult conversation with a parent/guardian/caretaker? What about a colleague?
Have you ever had an experience with an angry parent/guardian/caretaker? How did you manage that situation?

Instruction and Pedagogy

What research-based strategies and methods do you regularly use in the classroom?
In what area(s) do you feel you need professional development?
What are some of the best professional learning experiences you’ve had in the past?
How do you track student progress toward learning goals? What assessments do you use?
How do you use assessment (formative and summative) to inform instruction?
Can you give examples of how you’ve differentiated instruction for students in your classroom?
What is your experience with special needs students or students who need accommodation?
What types of accommodations have you employed in your classroom?
Tell us about a lesson or unit you’re really proud of.
What are some examples of curricular tools you’ve used in the past?
What could I expect to see if I were to visit your class during a _____ lesson?
Give an example of project-based learning you’ve implemented previously. Cooperative? Collaborative?
How do you plan for student groups for workshops, collaborative learning, cooperative learning, etc.?

Technology and Digital Skills

What devices and digital tools have you used previously in your classroom(s)?
What role do you believe technology plays in the classroom?
How comfortable are you with learning new technology tools?
Have you used technology for accessibility, differentiation, and accommodation?
Talk with us about digital citizenship. How do you incorporate this in student learning?

Collaboration and Teamwork

What does collaboration mean to you?
What do you expect from colleagues on your team?
Have you ever worked with someone who wasn’t collaborative? How did you handle this?
Give an example of how you’ve collaborated with colleagues in the past.
What do you feel you would offer your team in this role?

Reliability and Organization

Talk about your process for class preparation/planning.
What is the most challenging part of preparing/planning for you?
Do you have any preferred systems or tools you employ to help you stay organized?
How do you prepare for a substitute?
How do you approach deadlines?
How do you prepare for meetings or conferences with parents/guardians/caretakers?
How do you prepare for team and department meetings?

School Community and Involvement

How have you been involved in school life outside of the classroom?
Have you led/been involved in leading any schoolwide events, activities, or projects that you’re particularly proud of?
What school and school community events have you enjoyed in the past?
Have you been involved in any committees previously?
Talk about what is important to you in a school culture/environment.
In what ways do you feel you impact school culture?

Preferences and Values

What do you find frustrating in a work environment? How do you handle or manage this frustration?
What about this work has caused you the most stress in the past? What brings you the most joy/energy?
What is your dream role/favorite grade level(s) to teach?
What role/grade level(s) would you not want? Why?
What are you looking for in a supervisor? How can a supervisor best encourage/support you?
Give an example of how you handle constructive feedback.
What brought you to apply for this position?
What boundaries do you set for work/life balance?
Do you have any concerns about the position you’d like to bring up?

And last but not least: Do you have any questions for us? Did I miss any questions that you absolutely love? Please feel free to add your favorites in the comments!

PDF Download: 60+ Questions to Ask Teachers in an Interview

June 27, 2022 0 comment

Educational Research Leadership

Three Simple Steps to Innovative Learning

by Miguel Guhlin June 24, 2022

written by Miguel Guhlin

“The largest and easiest gains in knowledge work come from redefining the task. They involve eliminating what need not be done,” says Peter Drucker. Didn’t get the results you want? Prune the unnecessary. Stop doing anything and everything that fails to move you towards those results. Are you a principal focused on achieving innovative learning? How you get there varies.

Getting to Innovation

Some leaders hope to accomplish innovation with technology. They want to achieve it through various strategies. Expensive options can include:

Increased access
More professional development
Grabbing attention with media-catching projects

Today, leaders task themselves with a question to answer. That question is simple but tough to achieve. It is “How can you make meaningful growth happen with digital technology?” Here are a few ways to do that.

1. Close The Learning Gap

Close the learning gap, one implemented strategy at a time. You do it through the juxtaposition of technology and evidence-based, instructional strategies. Some focus on technical changes, but instead, they should focus on culture changes. Without culture change, instructional strategies and digital tools both fail.

Tina Peji (@TinaPeji_21) does a great job sharing instructional strategies that work in this video:

Given years of pandemic teaching and learning, we know this type of first-order change doesn’t work well. It leaves learners behind and decimates the ranks of educators. Both teachers and students get stuck. The mud at their feet? The jumble of best practices and digital tools dumped on them all at once.

A better approach to closing the learning gap? Transform the culture. Leverage social-emotional learning (SEL) activities. Embed those SEL practices in the context of a school culture that varies from campus to campus. Make changes consistent and incremental at the building level.

This requires relationship-savvy leaders. To begin, combine context-sensitive culture change with coaching. Include technology as an amplifier for teachers and learners. The preferred approach is the one that impacts attitudes and beliefs. This is a second-order change that can close the learning gap in the long run.

Using technology to measure student progress might be a first-order change. Second-order changes focus on attitudes and beliefs. Second-order goes to the heart of cultural norms and people’s shared values. It’s time to move beyond first-order issues to second-order. The smart leaders have done so. It’s the only way to close the learning gap and to build a bridge from where students and staff are now to where they need to be.

2. Enhance Cultural Competence.

To enhance cultural competence in schools, a way of valuing diversity among students and staff, take advantage of students’ cultures and abilities. Focus on amplifying positive experiences students have in school.

Juxtapose real-life events with technologies that amplify positive experiences. Use technology to create a rich platform for celebrating and sharing student success. Adopt the #TxEdTuesday approach of Tell It, Tag It, Share It. Not familiar with that approach or how to get started?

Explore specific strategies on how to showcase your school’s success online:

The National Education Agency (NEA) recommends valuing diversity. To achieve this, highlight the advantages of students’ culture and abilities. The resources above can assist you in celebrating diverse backgrounds that support instructional practices.

3. Embrace Scaffolded Inquiry-Based Learning with Evidence-Based Strategies.

Build up student stamina for learning with evidence-based instructional strategies. These strategies are research-based. They rely on how current science shows the brain works. Strategies like The Jigsaw Method, Vocabulary Programs, Note Taking, Outlining and Summarizing, Classroom Discussion, and Retrieval Practice support foundational learning experiences. Get students to build foundational knowledge, filling in missing knowledge. With that, students can then start applying knowledge to new situations. Juxtapose real-world problems with digital solution-making. Use design thinking approaches (source) to perceive the world in new ways.

Here are specific steps aligned to evidence-based strategies via Mike Bell’s Evidence-Based Teachers Network (EBTN):

Go digital with collaborative, inquiry-based projects. Real-world learning works for students. It empowers learners to be hands-on, social problem-solvers as media-makers. Digital media, team-building, real-world problem solving work well. Team-building in small groups can lead to scaffolds that support instruction. This explicit, focused instruction aligns to student needs (source). Another approach relies on digital tools. Use technology to drive teamwork. Rely on one-on-one connections via culturally responsive teaching to support a student’s learning.

“Stop Doing” List

As Drucker says, redefining tasks and eliminating the unnecessary can yield the greatest gains. What this means in the classroom is simple. It can be fraught with angst and anxiety. We must identify what we do in the classroom. Then, with kindness, examine and discard only what fails to align with research. A great compendium of research to look at is Mike Bells’ six steps. Get a primer here.

June 24, 2022 0 comment

Content Areas Educational Trends English Language Arts ESL/ELL Good Teaching Math Science Social Studies Special Needs

Templates and Ideas for Making Differentiated Choice Boards

by Dr. Bruce Ellis March 29, 2022

written by Dr. Bruce Ellis

There’s a country song by Barbara Mandrell that says, “I was country when country wasn’t cool.” In the same sense, you may have been using choice boards way before they became trendy. It seems that “choice board” has now joined the list of educational buzzwords. You may know them by another name such as playlists, menu boards, pathways, tic-tac-toe, or learning menus.

Why Use Choice Boards

Regardless of what you call them, choice boards offer many benefits based on sound pedagogy. In fact, Dr. Robert J. Marzano, author of “The Highly Engaged Classroom,” provides some research-based tips on student engagement, several of which directly relate to the positive impact of choice. Allowing students to choose how they want to demonstrate their learning can increase student buy-in and recall because students are more interested in their learning. Choice boards also provide the teacher with an organized way to differentiate, even beyond what you may realize is possible. Yes, the teacher may be thinking of specific students when they identify types of activities for a choice board. But teachers also may find that some students shine more than expected and choose activities differently than anticipated, showing interests and gifts the teacher wasn’t aware of previously.

How to Differentiate with Choice Boards

To increase retention, many teachers using choice boards will have students select multiple activities to complete instead of just choosing a single activity. A few ways to ramp up the learning process when students select multiple activities is to differentiate with choice boards in one of the following ways.

Color code by degree of difficulty.

In this scenario, the teacher has identified a variety of activities that give students the opportunity to demonstrate mastery of their learning. Along with this, they have identified which activities may be easier or harder than others. For example, out of ten activities, there may be three designated as easy, four designated medium difficulty, and three designated as hard. Students are then directed to choose one from each group to complete. Having students choose activities from each degree of difficulty ensures that they are engaged at various levels.

Assign points to activities.

In this scenario, each activity is assigned a points value, and students are tasked with choosing and completing enough activities to earn a certain number of points. The points can be based on difficulty level or how much time the activity may take. Students can complete activities that exceed the goal point total but should not subceed it. Some students will tackle the assignment by trying to accomplish the exact goal point total, while others will choose activities that they enjoy most, even if it means that they exceed the total points required.

Differentiate by learning goals with interventions.

In this scenario, you have some students who may have IEPs that afford them accommodations that the majority of students don’t have. Great! Identify some activities that take that into account by creating a separate choice board for them. It doesn’t have to be as extensive, but it can be more attuned to their needs while maintaining high expectations. Incorporating intervention strategies within the choices can help some students feel more confident tackling learning objectives.

Differentiate by learning goals with upperventions.

Likewise, you may have students who have been identified as gifted learners. For these students, consider offering upperventions– strategies that are incorporated and designed to meet the specific needs of talented and gifted students. Edutopia shares a variety of upperventions that you can consider when trying to meet the needs of gifted students.

Templates for Choice Boards

If you are looking for a Google Slide or PowerPoint template to create your choice board, consider checking out Slides Mania’s website. Here are a few specific templates to help you make your choice boards look great. These are ready-to-use, and you will just need to tweak the slide deck some in addition to adding activities. When you are done, you will have a digital choice board that your students can access online. They may need to Save a Copy to their Drive and edit their own copy if their work is in a digital format.

Choice Board Resources

Anyone can use a search engine to look for choice boards. The dilemma is that you may have to wade through pages of results to find ones that are meaningful. To help you cut to the chase, here are some resources that you can explore (or tweak) to find choice boards that you can use in your classroom.

Choice Boards for Elementary Learners – Lori Gracey shares specific choice boards for elementary learners and more resources and blog posts to help you move forward in creating and using choice boards.

Interactive Summer Resources for Students with Diverse Learning Needs – Dufferin-Peel Catholic School’s Special Education and Learning Services has put together this extensive 46-page PDF of choice boards to support students with special needs.

Algebra 1 Tic-Tac-Toe Boards – Algebra teachers in Judson ISD used these four choice boards during the spring of 2020 to engage their math students online.

Earth Day Choice Board – If you engage your students on Earth Day, you will be ready for this year with this simple choice board. Since it is a Google Slide, you can click on File, Make a Copy, and then add the copy to your Google Drive to edit as needed. Earth Day this year is on Friday, April 22.

Rethink Choice Boards- Free Templates for All Grades – Beth Davidson of Elkhart Community Schools in Elkhart, Indiana, has curated a variety of choice board templates and samples, including progressive choice boards, homework choice boards, tic-tac-toe choice boards, staggered choice boards, and early finisher choice boards.

Progressive Choice Boards: Provide Choice Without Overwhelming – Matt Miller provides clear information (along with samples) on making your choice boards more appealing to students who may struggle with the freedom that typically comes with using choice boards.

How to See Quick Examples

If you are just trying to find examples quickly and aren’t so worried about having the examples in an editable format, you can Google search for choice boards and click on the images results tab. This will give you a much quicker and cleaner view of what may be available. Many times, just seeing examples will be enough for you to recreate them with your own spin on the activities. Or it may give you new ideas on how to make a particular choice board look more appealing. If you are trying to remove search results from sites behind a paywall, just include “-site:” and the name of the site you want to exclude from your results. You’ll notice in the search query provided here that examples from teacherspayteachers.com have been excluded.

Share Your Favorite Choice Board Resources

What are your go-to choice board resources? Leave us a comment to share it with others. Or do you have a template that you’ve made that works well with your content and grade level? Share a link to it in the comments below so that others can recognize you for your work!

Interested in becoming a choice board pro? TCEA is offering a self-paced online course worth 12 CPEs for just $29! Interested? Register before April 1 to secure the $29 registration rate.

March 29, 2022 0 comment

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