Start these 3 classroom habits ASAP!

/

By Pooja K. Agarwal, Ph.D.

Arguably, the best habits are the ones we don’t think about. Start early and practice them often.

Here are 3 learning habits to establish in your classroom ASAP and more retrieval practice activities you should incorporate right now. Don’t wait until later in the semester — students already have a lot to remember and retrieve.

One thing I’m excited about: My college is finally switching to Canvas. Email me with your favorite Canvas tips and tricks, and good luck on the start of the school year!

 

Photo credit: Keira Burton via Pexels

 

Three classroom habits to start ASAP

Habit #1 (this isn’t related to retrieval practice; it’s just a personal favorite): Enable live captions or subtitles on Google Slides and Powerpoint! This is really easy, it supports universal design principles, and it improves accessibility for all students. There is some emerging research that captions and subtitles improve learning and motivation, too.

During presentation mode in Google Slides, the Mac keyboard shortcut is ⌘ + Shift + c (click for more info for Google Slides). During presentation mode in PowerPoint, simply press the letter J (click for more info for PowerPoint). I recommend positioning the subtitles at the top of the projection screen. Keep in mind that the captions are more accurate the closer you stand to your computer (I also use a bluetooth microphone in all my classes). The live captions might be distracting at first, but my students have given me very positive feedback!

Habit #2: Engage students in a brain dump or two things as an entry ticket or exit ticket. Spend one minute or less having students write down everything (or just two things) they remember from class. The key: Don’t grade it! Keep retrieval practice no-stakes to emphasize it’s a learning strategy, not an assessment strategy.

Habit #3: Always make time for the “think” step in think-pair-share. We often skip the think step, but that’s when the magic of retrieval practice takes place, before the pair and share.

Featured
Think-Pair-Share? Think again!
Think-Pair-Share? Think again!

Whether you teach at an elementary school or a medical school, you've probably heard of the instructional strategy, think-pair-share. Don’t skip the “think” step! Read on for research-based tips on incorporating retrieval, spacing, and interleaving to make think-pair-share an even more powerful strategy in your classroom.

Read more →
Boost learning quickly with Two Things!
Boost learning quickly with Two Things!

How can we use retrieval practice to break up our lessons, quickly and easily, without pausing to facilitate class discussion or collect papers? Use a retrieval strategy we simply call "Two Things," a no-quiz activity for your classroom.

Read more →
Brain Dump: A small strategy with a big impact
Brain Dump: A small strategy with a big impact

With the end of the semester within sight, we feature a small strategy that makes a big impact on student learning – based on decades of cognitive science research. In scientific lingo, we call it "free recall."

Read more →

Retrieval practice activities for the first day of class

Featured
Here are my favorite back-to-school activities to strengthen learning
Here are my favorite back-to-school activities to strengthen learning

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.

Read more →
My two favorite back-to-school activities
My two favorite back-to-school activities

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.

Read more →
Re-designing a course? Get creative with these reflection questions
Re-designing a course? Get creative with these reflection questions

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.

Read more →
How to create mnemonics and finally remember students’ names
How to create mnemonics and finally remember students’ names

With these 4 steps to create mnemonics, 7 classroom activities to get students involved, and frequent retrieval practice, your classroom can be a community where everybody knows your name.

Read more →
Use a trivia question to introduce students to retrieval practice
Use a trivia question to introduce students to retrieval practice

How can you get students and teachers on board with retrieval practice? Start and end your class or professional development with a trivia question. It’s a quick, fun, and memorable.

Read more →
Don't ask students what they did over the break. Ask this instead!
Don't ask students what they did over the break. Ask this instead!

How often do you start the semester or school year by asking students what they did over the break? Instead, ask a different question: What's one thing you learned during the break?

Read more →

More resources and recent press

Learn more about learning:
AI? *sigh* I’m tired of thinking about it and here’s why
AI? *sigh* I’m tired of thinking about it and here’s why

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.

Read more →
Do your students use concept maps? They might be missing this key link
Do your students use concept maps? They might be missing this key link

If your students use concept mapping strategies, there might be something missing. Based on research by educator and scientist Dr. Kripa Sundar, the key to an effective concept map isn’t the node, but the links.

Read more →
Use a trivia question to introduce students to retrieval practice
Use a trivia question to introduce students to retrieval practice

How can you get students and teachers on board with retrieval practice? Start and end your class or professional development with a trivia question. It’s a quick, fun, and memorable.

Read more →
These are the best resources to help students study smarter, not harder
These are the best resources to help students study smarter, not harder

Students cram, and then they forget. It's because easy learning is easy forgetting. Here are the best research-based resources to help students study smarter, not harder.

Read more →
Make flashcards more powerful with these 3 tips
Make flashcards more powerful with these 3 tips

Lots of students use flashcards. But using flashcards doesn't guarantee they're using retrieval practice. In fact, students could be wasting their time. This week, we share three research-based tips to make flashcards more powerful. Help students study smarter, not harder.

Read more →
Forget about study guides. Use Retrieval Guides instead.
Forget about study guides. Use Retrieval Guides instead.

Do you use study guides in your classroom, where key information is in outline form and students fill in the blanks during a lesson? Turn your study guides into Retrieval Guides without additional prep, grading, or class time! Download our Retrieval Guide Template for successful long-term learning.

Read more →
Help students study smarter, not harder
Help students study smarter, not harder

Here are the best research-based books, blogs, articles, and videos to improve students' study habits. Unleash the science of learning and help your students become powerful students!

Read more →
This is how students really feel about retrieval practice
This is how students really feel about retrieval practice

What do students think about retrieval practice? Just ask them. Yes, it's that simple.  Here's how my college students reacted yesterday when I asked them about retrieval practice. (Spoiler alert: They love them – and literally ask for more.)

Read more →
Recommended tech tools to make retrieval practice quick and easy
Recommended tech tools to make retrieval practice quick and easy

There are lots of tech tools that make retrieval practice, spacing, interleaving, and feedback quick and easy. How can you sort through all of them? We've done the work for you. Check out our recommendations! Also, join the Powerful Teaching book tour in a city near you!

Read more →
Just because you're practicing an instrument doesn't mean you're learning
Just because you're practicing an instrument doesn't mean you're learning

Are you learning to play an instrument? "Practice makes perfect," right? There's a catch: Just because you're practicing an instrument, a language, or even CPR resuscitation, it doesn't mean you're learning. What can you do? Use interleaving! Download our interleaving guide and read tips from an orchestra director. Boost learning and mix it up!

Read more →
Want to know what interleaving feels like? Try these quick math problems!
Want to know what interleaving feels like? Try these quick math problems!

It's been awhile since we've talked about interleaving! Years of cognitive science research have established that interleaving – simply rearranging the order of retrieval opportunities – can increase (and even double) student learning. But what does interleaving actually look like? This week, try it for yourself!

Read more →
Want to improve students' study strategies? Do this first.
Want to improve students' study strategies? Do this first.

How often do students come to you and exclaim, "But I studied for hours!" How can we help students improve their study habits? Before you give them strategies, there's one thing you have to do first: have a conversation. Here are our three must-ask questions to get started.

Read more →