Posts by Don Marlett
7 Assessment Strategies That Put Aside Paper and Pencil
Traditional Assessment When you think of assessments, the traditional method is of course paper and pencil. And when you think of paper and pencil “testing,” you may think of the required countless hours of grading that inevitably follows. As a teacher, this is often one of the most challenging barriers to overcome when planning lessons…
Read More3 Quick and Easy Review Strategies
Don’t forget that all students need time for strategic review. This might mean for semester or final exams, or it might mean after a series of related lessons. When it’s time for review, don’t revert back to the “old way” of doing things — worksheet packets or a silent study hall. What students have accomplished…
Read More6 Guided Reading Mistakes You Might be Making
An important time to support struggling readers is during guided reading. However, just because you are doing guided reading does not necessarily mean that you are supporting your struggling readers. Here are six common guided reading mistakes you might be making. You are using books that are too difficult. If the books that are being used…
Read MoreEngage Students With Exemplary Essential Questions
Why Is A Lesson Essential Question More Effective Than An Objective? Chances are that if you have been in education long enough, you have been asked at least one time or another, to display the standard(s) you are currently teaching on the board for students to see. The rationale behind posting the standard on the…
Read MoreScaffolding Supports Student Success
How can the use of scaffolding support student achievement? “Start with where you want them to be (the grade level standard) and make it learnable.” (C. Boyles). As educators, we have the very complicated task of ensuring that all students are successful learners, but how exactly do we do that? How do we make sure…
Read MoreWhy Writing Matters
Why is writing such an important part of instruction? The Common Core Standards set the expectation that students will be adequately prepared for a 21st century economy and the demands of college and careers. In regards to writing, standards require students to “produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are…
Read MoreWriting to Learn
How can students write to learn? As students learn new knowledge and skills, and then complete tasks to show mastery, they do two types of writing: writing to learn (during the lesson) and writing to inform (after the lesson, in the assignment). Robert Marzano wrote an interesting article in the February issue of Educational Leadership…
Read MoreWhat is Symphonic Planning?
Using a single research-based strategy or a single exemplary practice effectively in a lesson will yield positive results for learning for most students. And depending on the strategy or practice, it produces much, much more learning than not using it! Usually, teachers have a few strategies that they like to use with students. Choosing whether…
Read More3 Simple Questions for Monitoring Student Learning
How is student learning monitored for flexibility and connections to real life? Monitoring student learning is an ongoing challenge. Students can complete an assignment, but still not be flexible with their learning. They have trouble making connections or explaining a task in a different way other than the examples you have used. For example, when asked…
Read MoreClassroom Walkthrough Tips for Focused Support
How do you narrow the focus of walkthroughs? Typically when principals plan for and schedule walkthroughs, they are looking at teachers and for best practices. Moss and Brookhart (2013), however, suggest that a better plan is that they begin to observe what’s happening in the classroom from the students’ perspective rather than just checking off…
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