Teacher Clarity: Understanding How Learners Learn
Teacher Clarity: Understanding How Learners Learn
Design effective lessons by aligning standards with clear goals, fostering better student outcomes through structured planning and engagement.
Introduction Molly Ness, an author and former teacher, struggles to engage her students in the classroom. Ness often had to compete for students’ attention with technology and distractions such as Pokémon cards and fidget spinners. Ness constantly stays on top…
When Tyler Rablin started teaching, he faced a challenge that many new teachers know all too well: how to help students at different levels meet grade-level standards. How do you personalize instruction when everyone’s needs are different? And how do…
Introduction Many classrooms appear active, but genuine thinking is absent. Students may complete tasks, yet their attention is elsewhere. This disconnect between activity and thought leads to missed learning opportunities. Student engagement is not about noise or compliant behavior. It…
Rigor Two Components on the Path to Rigor Rigor is built on two connected elements: complexity and autonomy. According to Moore, Toth, and Marzano in The Essentials for Standards-Driven Classrooms, rigor increases when both cognitive demand and student independence rise…
Educators frequently use terms such as standards, learning goals, and learning targets, but even experienced teachers may be unclear about their distinctions. Clear Learning Outcomes, Learning Targets, and Standards function together as a roadmap. Standards define the destination, learning goals…
Introduction Imagine students confidently presenting a well-reasoned argument, supporting it with evidence, and clearly explaining its significance. When you plan a lesson, one thing matters most. Students should know exactly what they are learning, why it matters, and how to…
What is Productive Struggle? Productive struggle involves developing habits of mind, such as perseverance and flexible thinking, rather than just seeking instant solutions. You should expect not to know how to solve a problem at first. The goal is to…
3 Ways Building Mistake Tolerance Carl Slater, author of Nurturing Mistake Tolerance in the Classroom article, suggests 3 ways to build mistake tolerance in the classroom by: Slater points out that “Teachers can help students get over the fear of…
Seeking Rigor In PBL What is Rigorous Project Based Learning? Robert Marzano presents a way to design projects that emphasizes the enhancement of students’ options. He uses structures that provide clear pathways to rigor from his book Understanding Rigor in…
3 Authentic Strategies To Take to Your Classroom to the Real World There are ways to take your classroom to the real world by making the classroom a real-world setting, where students make real-world decisions with real-world consequences. 3 strategies…
Design PBL with Clarity Rigorous Project Based Learning by Michael McDowell Video Michael McDowell, author of Rigorous PBL Design, suggests 5 steps to ensure students can answer where I am going in my learning: Step 1: Prioritize key learning intentions.…
Shape Project Design with Clarity Michael McDowell’s first design shift, Clarity, focuses on shaping project design (PBL) to enable students to address question 1, where am I going in my learning? McDowell ensures clarity by using two design challenges that…
Introduction To help facilitate Project-Based Learning of your own, a fourth-grade teacher and James Fester, author of Creating a PBL unit Based on Local History in Elementary School, give 5 important tips that are effective in creating a Project-Based Learning…
What is Hexagonal Thinking? Hexagonal thinking involves students recording ideas, questions or facts on hexagonal tiles and arranging them so that related tiles are next to each other, essentially building a web of connections. It can be used to provide…
Using Community Challenges to Collecting Real-World Problems Using Community Challenges to promote mind and skill sets is to collect real-world problems that are a challenge or driving question for students. This is PBL’s first step in the learning process, which…
This content has been updated and expanded in The Complete Guide to PBL Booklet. Click here to access the most current, comprehensive guide. SUMMARY OF 8 KEY ELEMENTS OF PROJECT-BASED LEARNING This post distills the foundations of high-quality project-based learning…