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60+ episodes on the science of learning by The Learning Scientists
Episode 79, Episode 123, and a series on learning and memory by The Cult of Pedagogy
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Use a structured “ask me anything” (AMA) activity to encourage retrieval practice and community building. Here's how to do it in your classes, for any grade level or class size, including no-tech and ed tech options.
Welcome back to school! The whirlwind of lesson prep, meetings, professional development—and of course, teaching—is here. Here are my favorite back-to-school activities to engage students with retrieval practice during the first week of class.
White boards for retrieval practice are engaging and effective for learning, providing flexibility for question prompts and student responses. Read tips by cognitive scientist Dr. Janell Blunt and make this a no-prep strategy for your classroom.
What do we do when we’re behind on prep and burned out? We revisit a past lesson or play a movie (sad, but true). If you need a lesson fast, use a brain dump. It takes little to no prep, it can be stretched into a 30-minute activity, and students actually learn — no filler movie needed.
I want to share two of my favorite back-to-school activities, which are a huge hit in my classroom: using a trivia fact and using word pair mnemonics. Whether you have new students in your classes or returning students from the fall, K–12 students or graduate students, try these activities to build community and engage students in retrieval practice.
It’s easy to reflect on what went well and what didn’t go well in a course you taught recently. Engage in deeper reflection about how to re-design your course to transform it into a rewarding learning experience for you and your students.
Retrieval practice doesn’t require more class prep for us or ChatGPT for our students. Here are 8 no-prep prompts for retrieval practice I’ve developed over my 10+ years of teaching. I’ve also included a variety of new resources I highly recommend.
Here is a Google Form template you can use to request mid-semester feedback from students. By using the “start, stop, keep” approach as a reflection tool, combined with some simple retrieval practice, you can shift the vibe away from complaints and dislikes, and instead, toward celebrating students’ learning and accomplishments.
Do your students’ minds go blank during an in-class retrieval practice activity? You’ve probably had at least one student who was frustrated and said, “But I can’t retrieve anything!” Here are 4 steps you can take to help your students retrieve something.
GenAI tools in education have been gaining momentum for years, but I’ve written about AI only once so far. Why? Because frankly, I’m tired of thinking about it. Here’s my current approach to genAI in my classroom, and my two recommendations for what to do if you’re tired, too.