A final wrap up of the First Level series, three ideas from the archives that fit perfectly with setting up a long term goal in the first weeks of school.
All AboutBetter Teaching
Helping you to hone your craft, improving the art and science of teaching.
First Level: Non-Academic Goals
Do you know what your kids’ goals are beyond grades? Take a few minutes to delve into their lives outside of the classroom.
First Levels: Sentence Starters
As silly as it may sound, providing sentence stems or “fill in the blanks” can give your kids the scaffold they need to achieve a higher level of success.
First Levels: Classroom Layout
One “first level” teachers must carefully prepare is the physical classroom layout.
Advice On Planning From Super Mario’s Creator
“When we’re doing an action game… we begin making level one once everything else is completed.” – Shigeru Miyamoto
An Easy Way To Ask For Student Feedback
I’m sure, as a teacher, you wonder about your students’ honest feedback. You’d like to know what they really think, but formal, anonymous evaluations from students are probably pretty darn scary. Here’s a much simpler way to get started…
Expectations Influence Performance
One comment I hear that really breaks my heart is: “My students couldn’t do that.”
Kids Aren’t Naturally Good At Technology
Sure, students use a lot of technology, but that doesn’t mean they use it correctly, completely, or competently. Kids have an improvised tech-literacy in the same way a bright child might have an improvised ability to read before starting school.