The Master Teacher Blog

Frustration around the expectation to entertain while educating has grown in frequency and intensity as technology, social media, and other sources of entertainment increasingly compete for the attention of our students. Fortunately, we do not necessarily have to choose one or the other. We can provide students with experiences that feature both entertainment and education. It is possible to hold two ideas in our thinking at the same time. We can focus on standards and learning goals while seeking the best ways to achieve them.

The Cambridge dictionary defines edutainment as “The process of entertaining people at the same time that you are teaching them something, and the products such as television programs, software, and others that do this.” Edutainment might be thought of as a continuum featuring entertainment and education. There is a time and place for edutainment and time for an exclusive focus on learning. Of course, overreliance on edutainment can lead students to believe that learning should always be colorful, entertaining, and fun. They can reach the conclusion that they are the audience and educators are the entertainers.

Stories, analogies, humor, examples, videos, role play scenarios, games, and simulations can provide a context, stimulate interest, and present crucial information to support learning. However, we must be careful not to focus so heavily on the supporting activities that shortchange or abandon the intended learning. Edutainment might be thought of as a resource and strategy to support a learning effort or activity. It is not pedagogy.

Building motivation and activating engagement play important roles in learning, but they are not learning. They can prepare students for learning, but they are not ends in themselves. Our work is to help students to develop cognitive connections and structure. This work requires thinking, reflection, and application. It may feature multiple attempts before success is achieved. It can be enjoyable and rewarding, but it is not always fun.

So how might we think about the role of edutainment in our classrooms without assuming that we must be entertainers? Here are six elements to consider:

1. Think of edutainment as a strategy. We might use it as a hook to build interest, a means to renew or build background knowledge, or an experience to make a connection.
2. Start with learning goals and outcomes. If we choose to engage in or enlist some form of edutainment, we need to be certain that it aligns with and supports what we want students to learn. If we don’t and they fail to make a connection, it is just entertainment.
3. Include multiple learning modes. The more ways in which we expose and engage students to hints, previews, visuals, sounds, and actions related to learning, the wider the range of students we are likely to engage.
4.  Search for emotional hooks. Some of the best options for engaging students involve love, hate, outrage, compassion, irony, intrigue, and other emotional connections. Compelling stories, persuasive analogies, heart-tugging examples, and other invitations for students to care can generate surprisingly strong motivation and engagement.
5. Find ways to involve students in creating the experience. Students might design games, develop role play scenarios, create videos, or other engaging activities to introduce and support learning.
6. Follow up edutainment activities. The value of this type of activity is found in the connections and reflections that students make. Observations, analyses, discussions, and even debates can move students from passive listening to active thinking.

Meanwhile, we need to be mindful of several cautions:

• Avoid activities that are overly simplistic and superficial. Our goal is to prepare students for the learning that lies ahead. Activities that lack depth and connections can leave students confused and unable to grasp the intended purpose.
• Resist over-engineering edutainment activities. Time and other resources are precious. Too much time spent preparing and conducting introductory activities can distract and compromise the focus on the time available for learning.
• Use edutainment sparingly. Overuse of fun, entertaining activities can reduce students’ attention spans and leave them impatient and intolerant of extended and rigorous learning.
• Make sure that students have access to necessary resources. Some students may not have the technology and other material resources necessary to participate. Check to be certain all students can participate before presenting an edutainment experience.
• Don’t confuse entertainment and instruction. The real work of learning comes after an edutainment experience. Explicit instruction, reflection, practice, application, and formative assessment are the elements that make learning happen.

The bottom line is that educators do not have to be entertainers. However, finding ways to engage students in experiences that make learning more interesting, intriguing, and compelling can build intrinsic motivation and support deeper engagement.

The workshop model of lesson construction is designed to focus student attention and activities on building understanding, developing ownership, and fostering independence. It also offers the advantage of application across disciplines and subject areas and has been proven to be successful when put into practice.

While there are variations in the ways workshop activities are labeled and described, they share core elements that help to accelerate, solidify, and extend learning. The following are six learning and teaching components common to widely accepted workshop approaches, and a description of how each component accelerates the learning process.

Component #1: Prepare students with engaging opening activities. We might start with a compelling narrative that reveals the relevance and importance of what students will be learning. The activity might reveal and reinforce connections to prior learning. It could be a challenge activity that invites students to solve a problem or find an answer that will be revealed in the upcoming lesson. This activity also might be a pre-assessment task that reveals what students need to review or may still need to learn.

Accelerator: Preparation activities activate thinking and help students get ready to learn.

Component #2: Present brief, focused, relevant mini lessons. Lessons that generate the greatest amount of learning are not long. In fact, maximum attention and information absorption typically extend only for about 10-20 minutes depending on the age and maturity of students, the complexity of the content, and the compelling nature of what students will learn. While we might be tempted to extend our explanation, provide greater detail, or delve into specifics, research shows that students’ attention will begin to wane when the information we share extends beyond this relatively short time span. The key is to discern what is most important for students to learn next, organize the content in the most understandable and manageable format, and present the information with energy, commitment, and authenticity. Mini lessons do not have to be provided through direct instruction. Flexible strategies and variations can be employed to expose students to new learning content.

Accelerator: Short, targeted instruction taps into students’ energy and attention while they are at their peak.

Component #3: Provide opportunities for reflection. When the lesson is finished, students need time to absorb and make sense of what they have heard, seen, and experienced. Often called “brain breaks,” these are important opportunities for students to place what they are learning in working memory where it is sorted and prioritized for storage in long-term memory. We might have students physically move, engage in a mindfulness activity, or another activity that does not require significant mental energy. As little as 3-5 minutes can be adequate to accomplish this goal.

Accelerator: Students’ brains immediately begin to organize and store new information in working memory.

Component #4: Design opportunities for students to interact with what they are learning. Activities such as peer teaching, think-pair-share, and drawing pictural representations and mind maps help students to process new information, strengthen their grasp of information, and articulate their understanding of what they are learning. Students may work alone, in pairs, small groups, or large groups, depending on the content and activity.

Accelerator: Students practice sorting new information, clearing up areas of confusion or misunderstanding, and readying new learning for long-term memory.

Component #5: Arrange for application of new information or skills. Using new skills and applying new understanding to relevant, purposeful, and challenging activities further solidifies learning and builds confidence in using new knowledge. Practice activities also provide additional opportunities to clear up remaining confusion and dispel any misconceptions.

Accelerator: The shift to application and practice completes the transition from learning dependence to independence.

Component #6: Debrief for clarity and understanding. As a concluding activity, debriefing provides an opportunity for students to reflect on their learning. Reviewing strategies, noting areas of struggle, and owning progress and new understanding helps to complete the learning process and move new information toward long-term memory. This can also be an opportunity to identify areas or elements of learning that still need support and review in the future.

Accelerator: Debriefing helps students to understand their learning journey, develop ownership of what they have learned, and provide us with feedback to use as we plan future instruction.

The workshop approach also offers the flexibility to be compressed or expanded depending on the content, amount of time available, and student readiness. Some components might be introduced one day and followed by remaining components the next day. Or, if time allows, the entire process can be accomplished in a single session.

Think about how you already employ elements of the workshop model. Are there areas or aspects you might strengthen or add? How might you adjust your approach depending on the content you teach, the age and maturity of your students, and schedule constraints you face?

Some of the most important tasks to accomplish during the first weeks of school are to learn what students know and can recall, where they may need to review and refresh their learning, and what will need to be retaught before moving forward with new content. Of course, it is best if we can engage students in activities that generate the information we need, while also reinforcing what students already know and building their confidence. A bonus is to have the process be interesting, engaging, and enjoyable. 

There are many potential approaches and strategies for gaining the information we seek. Here are five activities to consider.

Have students build “This I know” walls. For this activity, briefly refer to or describe a concept or skill that students have learned previously. Then ask students to write what they remember on sticky notes and place them on a wall poster you have labeled with the target concept or skill. You may have to offer some gentle probing and nudging to assist students to inventory their memories but resist reteaching at this point. Once students have finished placing their sticky notes, ask students to help you group the notes into subtopics or connected ideas. Follow with a discussion and debrief about what students know and where there are gaps that will require further attention. This activity can be a catalyst to ignite curiosity and motivation for students to fill in their understanding and be ready to move their learning forward.  

Provide student teams with blank or partially completed graphic organizers, timelines, or outlines to complete. Identify a previously learned multi-component concept, multi-part skill, sequence of events, multi-step process, or other content that is comprised of multiple parts, steps, or components. Have teams fill in the blanks with what they know about the components or relationships. The activity might involve a scientific process, a series of historical events, or a mathematical concept, or other content important to future learning. Depending on the age and maturity of your students and the concepts and skills involved, you might fill in some key blanks and gaps in advance to give students hints and guidance. It also might be advantageous to allow students to access resources that can assist them with the task but not immediately provide the answers.   

Design an information scavenger hunt. Create a list of questions that tap into learning from the past year that can help to set the stage for learning that lies ahead. Short answer and fill in the blank questions may work best for the purpose of this activity. Divide students into teams of two or three. In the first phase of the activity, students will respond to the questions they already know the answers to, without accessing resources other than their team members. When they are finished have them designate the answers they generated and with which all team members agreed. Responses to which there is not agreement should be deferred to the second phase. When students are ready, designate resources they can utilize to answer the remaining questions. You might limit the options to the textbook, tangible resources in the classroom, other teams, or you may open the options for students to search online. When the teams are finished, spend some time debriefing the activity, including what they already knew, what they learned, and where they remain uncertain. This activity can be a good stimulator for recall of past learning while also providing you with information about what may need to be reviewed and retaught before moving forward.

Give low stakes quizzes with a twist. Rather than only collecting question responses related to past learning, provide space next to each question for students to indicate whether they are certain their answer is correct, sort of sure, not sure at all. By collecting this next level of information, you can discern where students are solid and confident with past learning, where they have some recollection but may need review, and areas where more extensive review or reteaching will be necessary. Armed with this information, you can plan what needs to be reviewed and retaught, form flexible groups for instruction, and decide when students are ready to move forward with new learning.

Create retrospective anchor charts. Identify key concepts and skills that students typically struggle to recall or likely will need refreshing before they are ready to move forward. Capturing this information in a few anchor charts and posting them as you introduce new content will make it convenient to provide students with real time reminders and support you to offer quick reviews for students. They can also provide subtle reminders for students to access if they need reminders to fill in some gaps but do not need reteaching.

Armed with the information we have collected, we can plan the next steps in instruction and decide how best to group students in the initial weeks of school. Of course, any of these activities might be employed or repeated later in the year when we are ready to introduce new content or skills and need to know what students already know and can do. 

Hopefully, the summer has offered opportunities to disconnect from the press and stress of the past year and provided time to engage in other activities and endeavors. Mental and physical breaks are important to our health and feeling of well-being. They can also help us to refresh and re-energize.

However, the beginning of another school year will soon be upon us. These final weeks of summer can be a good time to begin to mentally re-engage. It can also be a time to revisit and maybe shift some important mindsets that can help us to have a successful start and sustain us throughout the year. Here are five perspectives that can help us to balance our thinking and inform our work as we prepare for what lies ahead.  

Less expectations for control and more prioritizing connection.

Classroom management is a key element in maintaining order and a focus on learning. We need to establish routines and clear behavior expectations. However, effective and sustainable classroom management requires more than setting rules and controlling behavior. The best classroom management grows out of mutual respect and strong, positive relationships with our students. Our success in the opening weeks of school and beyond will rest as much on the connections we make with students as they will on the rules we ask them to follow.

Less focus on covering content and more attention to nurturing learning.

For most of us, preparation to become a teacher focused heavily on how to organize and present content. Priority was often placed on coverage of what was contained in the formal curriculum. While these elements remain important, more crucial is what students understand, the purpose learning can serve, the ways in which they can use it, and the value they assign to it. A perfectly presented lesson carries little value if students fail to absorb, integrate, and retain what is presented to them. Now is a good time to remind ourselves that our work is nurturing learning, not just presenting content. We might think of our work as designing learning experiences, not planning lessons. Only when students are active participants in the teaching and learning process can we expect deep and lasting learning to result.

Less preoccupation with deficits and more valuing of assets.

It can be tempting to fall into the habit of focusing on what students do not know, what they cannot do, and the many things they do wrong. Students are not perfect, but every student has unique experiences, multiple strengths, and their own perceptions, perspectives, and strategies for managing life. The more we can identify, focus on, and leverage the valuable assets students possess the more we can build their confidence, gain their trust, and nurture their engagement. Of course, some students may not be convinced of their assets, and we may need patience and persistence to help them shift their thinking and begin to appreciate their assets.

Less pouring information in and more drawing insights out.

Many traditional teaching practices are based on the John Locke theory that students come as empty vessels and need to be filled with the information and knowledge that teachers present. Yet, we know that students come with many experiences, preferences, prior knowledge, and a desire to drive, or at least influence, what they learn. We also know that students learn better when they see connections to things they already know or have learned. The more we can draw out the ideas students have, help them make connections with what they already know, develop insights about what they are learning, and provide them with opportunities and options to influence and use what they learn, the more engagement, commitment, and learning retention we will see. 

Equal priority on products and process.  

During the school year, it is important to not only prioritize student success with grades, test scores, and other outcome measures, but also to equally value the learning process to obtain success along the way. While final products are important, they carry little value if the considerations, decisions, and processes necessary to generate them are ignored or lost. Increasingly, artificial intelligence can generate a product without students understanding context, being aware of sequences, or gaining crucial knowledge. Grasping key principles, managing essential information, developing core knowledge, and other process elements can be equally as important as generating a grade, obtaining a test score, or completing a project. The more we can help students to meaningfully engage in and value the processes that contribute to or generate important outcomes, the better prepared they will be for the world after graduation.

Undoubtedly, the coming year will be filled with its share of challenges and opportunities, delights and disappointments, successes and setbacks. Consider the balance of these five mindsets as you navigate what lies ahead. Also, feel free to add other mindsets that you have found helpful to guide your thinking and inform your actions. 

Every profession has established practices, procedures, techniques, and aspects of vocabulary that are unique to their field. These elements serve as shortcuts to deciding the best course of action and performing key tasks and processes, and they help to define a profession and ensure high levels of performance.

Every profession also requires tailored actions or techniques for specific situations, and education is no different. Although in the education profession, guidance regarding when to employ which techniques is not always clear, and the language used to describe techniques is not always consistent.

Consider, for example, the most common and heavily relied-upon approach to teaching: direct instruction. Direct instruction provides a structure to expose students to new content, provide direction for learning, and intervene when students struggle or get stuck. While direct instruction is not always the best choice for nurturing learning, it can play a crucial role in imparting new content and introducing new skills. Despite direct instruction featuring multiple techniques and applications, we typically do not break the practice down into its crucial subcomponents, nor do we name and describe them consistently.

If we hope to gain and maintain the respect our profession deserves and explain our practice in ways that provide guidance and support improvement in practice, we need to become more precise. Consider how the following four components of direct instruction might be helpful to your practice and useful in your communication with colleagues and others. Note that each instructional situation calls for its own unique instructional response, and not all the following pieces of lesson delivery can be planned for ahead of time!

Nano Instruction

What it is: Bite-sized; responsive; ultra-focused on a single element; connected to current context; addresses an immediate need

When to apply it: When students are struggling or stuck and need specific information or guidance to move forward

Duration: Typically lasting a few seconds to a minute or two

Examples:

• Reminding a student of a spelling rule or grammar convention
• Suggesting a useful resource
• Explaining the next step in a problem-solving activity
• Clarifying an instruction or reinforcing an expectation

Micro Instruction

What it is: Narrowly focused content; addresses a few elements; includes limited content

When to apply it: When students are ready for the next step in a cycle of learning, intended for immediate reflection and application

Duration: Typically extends for no more than 5-15 minutes

Examples:

• Reteaching past content
• Introducing a specific process or protocol
• Explaining and demonstrating a concept or skill
• Correcting or clarifying in response to confusion or a misconception

Meso Instruction

What it is: Instruction focused on a set of competencies or skills; may be comprised of a series of micro-teaching modules or organized into a unit of study

When to apply it: When you need to connect past learning to current and future learning; provide broader, deeper exposure to new content; and complete a cycle of learning and teaching

Duration: May be delivered in 10–30-minute segments spread over multiple days, a week, or longer

Examples:

• Reviewing past learning
• Delivering daily lessons
• Preparing for independent practice
• Reviewing in advance of an assessment on a unit of study

Macro Instruction

What it is: Big-picture approach to what students are learning; provides context and showing connections between content and purpose; offers a wide view of a subject or discipline; may encompass an extensive array of elements; connected to larger context

When to apply it: When introducing a new course of study; helping students to see the role, value, and usefulness of what they are learning; previewing competencies and skills to be developed; and closing out major learning efforts to solidify and reinforce retention of what has been learned

Duration: Less likely to be quantified, as content may address a major unit of study, cover the content to be examined and learned throughout the course, or so on

Examples:

• Introducing an extended learning effort such as a major unit, course, or complex learning challenge
• Activating prior knowledge
• Building connections during a learning sequence to help students link what they are learning to a larger context, significant purpose, or application
• Preparing for a major assessment
• Reviewing content at the end of a course

Where else in educational practices do you see opportunities to become more specific and consistent in the application of techniques and processes as well as in the language we use to describe them?

One of the most persistent challenges we face is convincing students to focus less on grades and more on learning. Unfortunately, unless we are careful, grades can get in the way of learning rather than support it. Multiple research studies have shown that when students are presented with a grade followed by feedback, they give their attention to the grade and often ignore the feedback. Yet, learning growth is far more likely to result from heeding and using feedback than from information communicated by a grade.

It is not that grades are not important or do not have a role to play. Well-constructed and anchored grades can give parents and caregivers a general view of how their child is doing. They can serve as a broad indicator of how well a student has performed in a subject area or discipline. They can even be reasonable reflections of how well students manage self-discipline, persist with challenges, and maintain effort toward important goals over time.

We also need to recognize that grades do not produce the results that many educators assume. Grades are not particularly strong or sustaining motivators of learning. In fact, grades are the leading source of school-related stress, especially for older students. Grades often tempt students to prioritize tasks and challenges according to what “will count,” not what will best support their learning. Additionally, grades can promote a focus on assessment performance over learning. They can leave students vulnerable to a “learn, test, forget” mindset. Finally, grades typically communicate how well a student performed, not how much they learned.

Meanwhile, excessive feedback may not be the answer either. Despite the effort we might give to developing and sharing detailed feedback on every aspect of every piece of work students complete, too much feedback can quickly overwhelm students and leave them ignoring the valuable insights and guidance we offer. Feedback that students are most likely to use is targeted to the intended learning, specific, timely, and actionable. It is digestible and useful for the next steps in learning.

So, where might we turn if we want students to rely less on grades to tell them how they are doing and provide them with the guidance and support they need to keep learning? We might consider options such as:

• Frequent low-stake quizzes and other non-graded practice activities. Removing the pressure of a grade can encourage students to focus on what they are learning.
• Rubrics that support student self-assessment. Providing students with
  anchors to assess areas of strength and opportunities for growth and improvement can promote ownership for learning
• Student goal setting and progress monitoring. When students set goals and monitor their progress, learning often accelerates, motivation grows, and confidence develops.
• Reflection and journaling. Students can reflect on their struggles and triumphs and gain more awareness of their progress
• Peer-to-peer feedback. When students provide feedback to their peers, their peers can be more open to heeding and using it. Additionally, students tend to improve their own work when they offer constructive feedback to others.
• Timely, targeted teacher feedback. Our feedback, when not attached to a grade, can feel less threatening and critical. In fact, our feedback can feel more like coaching than judging.

Of course, the reality of grades and grading remains for most of us. What are some practices that prioritize learning in a world that still expects grades? Here are five places to start:

• Delay assigning grades as long as practical. The more we can delay assigning grades, the more learning growth we are likely to capture. When students are given a grade, they typically assume that the learning involved is complete and reduce their attention and effort.
• Create space between providing feedback and giving grades. Giving students time to reflect on feedback before receiving a grade helps to prevent grades from hindering learning.
• Confine grade-associated feedback to learning targets. Additional and extraneous feedback can add to the distraction and leave students even more likely to ignore everything but the grade.
• Consider sharing “temporary” or “practice” grades that can be improved by heeding the feedback we provide. For students who are focused on grades, the opportunity and guidance for how to improve can focus their attention and learning efforts.
• Utilize a variety of data sources to develop grades. Portfolios, one-on-one conferences, demonstrations, presentations, and other performance opportunities can provide a wider range of opportunities for feedback and more ways for students to learn.

Shifting students’ focus away from the primacy of grades and toward learning can, obviously, lead to more learning. It can also reduce the amount of time we spend collecting data, calculating scores, and creating grades.

Reference:

Kuepper-Tetzel, C., & Gardner, P. (2021). Effects of temporary mark withholding on academic performance. Psychology Learning & Teaching, (20)3, 405-419. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475725721999958

The most important and urgent challenge educators face today is to prepare today’s students for the future. To help them succeed in life and in their future careers, we teach our students basic and universal academic skills, nurture social skills, coach resilience, promote mental and physical health, and encourage other habits and competencies we know will be important to their future. However, we may not be spending enough time considering some higher-order skills that we can predict will become increasingly important in the world where today’s students will live and work.

A recent report from the World Economic Forum provides a strong reminder of the importance of thinking skills as our students prepare to enter life beyond formal education. The Future of Jobs Report 2025 is based on data from more than 1000 employers worldwide, across 20 industries and 55 global cultures.

While much of the report presents predictions for job growth, changes, and losses in the remainder of this decade, it also identifies three types of thinking skills that employers globally believe will be crucial for career success and that they will seek in the workers they hire: critical thinking, creative thinking, and analytical thinking. Let’s explore these crucial skills, the role they are likely to play in a world infused with artificial intelligence, and how we can teach and nurture these skills in our students.

Critical thinking: Critical thinking describes the ability to recognize and question assumptions, interpret information, discern biases, synthesize information, evaluate options, reflect, and make good decisions. The value of critical thinking has long been recognized, but it takes on new importance in the context of AI. More information will be available in the coming years than in all recorded history. Our students will be challenged to understand the implications, assess the value, and harness available information to accomplish worthy purposes and goals. In a world of AI, workers need to be able to assess what is important, what fits, what makes sense, and what will be useful in a specific context.

We can teach and nurture critical thinking by:

• Asking important, open-ended questions that encourage deeper thinking and by having students wrestle with “why,” “how,” and “what if” questions.
• Engaging students in analysis of case studies, scenarios, and simulations to sharpen their thinking, predict outcomes, and defend their reasoning.
• Giving students opportunities to experience problem-based learning in which they collect and evaluate information, collaborate with others, and discover and assess potential solutions.
• Encouraging students to reflect on and make sense of their learning and life experiences through activities such as discussions, journaling, and reflection prompts.
• Participating in debate around important, complex, and even controversial subjects, including consideration of other’s points of view and defending their positions with logic, reason, and facts.

Creative thinking: Creative thinking is generally defined as the capacity to think flexibly, generate new ideas, identify new approaches to solving problems, imagine new possibilities, take responsible risks, and develop novel insights. While AI possesses growing capabilities, there will remain a role and need for human prompts, technology collaboration, insight and foresight to frame challenges, and the ability to bring fresh ideas and rich imagination to bear on the challenges and opportunities the world will present.

We can teach and nurture creative thinking by:

• Encouraging students to engage in the arts and employ drawing, drama, storytelling, movement, and music to express ideas and demonstrate learning.
• Challenging students to develop multiple approaches and develop multiple answers to tasks and problems.
• Providing students with open-ended challenges that allow them to generate ideas, structure approaches, and create solutions.
• Celebrating mistakes and missteps as valuable opportunities to learn.
• Exposing students to wide-ranging perspectives, cultures, histories, styles, and ways of thinking.

Analytical thinking: Engaging in analytical thinking involves the ability to uncover patterns, recognize relationships, evaluate data, draw conclusions, and employ structured approaches to solving problems and making decisions. While AI can be a powerful tool to provide and support analyses, humans still play a role in discerning appropriateness, deciding application, determining utility, and monitoring the accuracy of AI processes. Understanding information and data presented to AI will be crucial to making decisions that take advantage of what AI presents.

We can teach and nurture analytical thinking by:

• Nurturing logical reasoning strategies through puzzles, riddles, problem-solving, and mathematical proofs.
• Developing student competence in varied forms of structured problem solving such as the scientific method, SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, Venn diagrams, and decision trees.
• Teaching students to employ and interpret varied forms for organizing and presenting data such as graphs, charts, heat maps, and infographics.
• Coaching students to identify potential bias and faulty assumptions through analysis of news reporting, advertisements, opinion writing, and political propaganda.
• Engaging students in inquiry-based learning to investigate phenomena, solve problems, and uncover answers by framing questions, gathering evidence, making reasoned conclusions, and providing evidence and reason-based defenses.

We might think that such high-level thinking skill are only important for students who will engage in work roles that require extensive education and technical skills. However, the world for which we are preparing today’s students will demand of its workers the ability to think critically, creatively, and analytically in any role— and reward them for it.

Education is filled with informal knowledge, practices passed from generation to generation, and long-standing traditions. Some of what these sources have to offer is solid and worth heeding. Unfortunately, history and traditions also include much that does not stand up to serious study and practical experience.

We must be alert to what works and can be relied on and what does not measure up. We need to examine the advice we are given, and test traditions passed along to us. We do well to verify the worthiness of what we hear in the context of our work with students. Here are six common assumptions and frequent practices that are worth our reflection and are likely candidates for revision.

Perception #1: Compliant students are the best learners. Students who sit quietly, listen, and follow instructions can feel easy to teach. Yet, they may not be learning the most in our class. Learning that is deep and retained requires engagement, examination, and reflection. Often, the student who is asking questions, jumping ahead of our instructions, and even veering off-topic may be learning as much as—or more than—a student who seems to be diligently following along. They may test our patience and frustrate our plans, sure, but these students may also be making mental connections with what they already know, asking questions to explore implications, and discovering new insights that give them ownership for what they are learning and deepen their understanding.

Perception #2: Memorization is effective learning. Memorization can give students efficient access to static facts, sequences, and processes, but overreliance on memorization can distract from deep understanding. Memorization can sacrifice flexibility and reduce critical thinking when circumstances change and adjustments and innovation are required. Memorization can build “muscle memory,” but it can also narrow options considered and result in assumptions that do not match current reality. Certainly, there is a role for memorization to facilitate efficiency in stable, predictable circumstances, but we need to guard against having students rely on memorization when judgment is what is needed.

Perception #3: Fast learning is good learning. Students who seem to be able to learn quickly are typically viewed as good learners. We may even call them “fast learners” as a complimentary description. However, students for whom learning comes easily also frequently discover that they forget just as quickly. These students may have good short-term memories, but learning that lasts must be stored in long-term memory. The conversion from short- to long-term memory requires sifting and sorting information, and it is often accompanied by reflection, even struggle. The effort and emotion associated with sense making, connecting, and organizing information for storage in long-term memory enables learners to access learning for a longer time. In fact, students who struggle and may take longer to learn sometimes have advantages in learning retention over students for whom learning is easy and fast.

Perception #4: More time equals more learning. We may think that by expanding the length of our lessons, assigning more homework, and requiring more time spent completing assigned tasks and projects, we will increase the amount our students learn. Yet, learning is not driven primarily by how much time is spent on a task or topic; rather, learning is driven far more by quality engagement, clear purpose and utility, and confidence in ultimate success. Instead of asking how much time and effort a lesson requires, we do better to consider how to help students see purpose and utility in what we ask them to learn, find ways to tap natural interest and curiosity, and build key skills to make learning more efficient, meaningful, and satisfying.

Perception #5: Testing is a good way to increase learning recall. It may seem logical that having students study for tests will reinforce their learning and increase their recall of past learning. However, when tests are designed primarily to evaluate student recall, once the test is over, their brains typically let go of what has been learned. The purpose of learning has been served, so retention is no longer a priority. On the other hand, when assessments are designed to have students organize and make sense of what they have learned and demonstrate their competence through presentations, demonstrations, and other performance activities, their learning continues to grow, and their recall is typically greater and lasts longer.

Perception #6: Grades drive learning. Grades should reflect learning, not be the reason for it. Gaining knowledge, building skills, acquiring insight, and creating competence are far more important reasons for learning. Overemphasis on grades can distract from authentic engagement and undermine the benefits of developing learning-related skills. Focusing on grades risks confusing ends with means. If students believe grades are what matters most, it is understandable that they might look for shortcuts that do not require effort and that they may be tempted to copy the work of peers.

Perceptions and assumptions, if valid, can increase efficiency and shorten the path to desired outcomes. However, when they are not based in good practice and effective instruction, they can become distractions and impediments to achieving the success we want for our students. This discussion is a place to start. Are there other assumptions and practices you need to examine?

This is a time of the year when we may want to share wisdom, provide guidance, and offer advice our students can take with them as they leave us. We have shared many experiences together over the course of the semester or school year, and we have watched our students learn and mature (most of them, anyway, even if just a little bit). We have invested heavily in their learning, provided guidance as they wrestled with challenges, offered encouragement as they overcame barriers, and watched with pride as they navigated their yearlong learning path.

Now, as we prepare our students to leave us, we might send them off with advice about finding their way in what lies ahead, whether in school, work, or life. We have built strong relationships, established our credibility, and repeatedly demonstrated our caring. Consequently, what we have to offer is likely to be heard, take root, and be remembered when students recall their time with us.

As you contemplate your end-of-year message, here are some ideas to consider communicating to your students:

• Aim high. A fact of life is that you rarely achieve more than you expect. Timid people may aspire to achieve little, wanting to avoid disappointment. Bold people set their sights on audacious achievements, understanding that even falling short can mean exceptional success. Don’t worry about whether something is possible. The question is not whether you can, but whether you are willing to work for what you want.
• Stay curious. Curiosity is an underappreciated—but exceptionally powerful—force. Curious people notice things that others miss. Curious people ask questions when others merely assume. Over the course of a lifetime, curious people are more likely to achieve success than people who fail to question, imagine, and explore.
• Always learn. Learning has more to do with what you give your attention to than with what you are taught. Learning is an internal process that is informed by experience, instruction, reflection, and application. The truth is that there is virtually nothing you cannot learn. The only question is whether you are willing to focus, practice, and persist enough to gain the knowledge or master the skill you seek.
• Practice courage. Being courageous does not mean you are not afraid. Fear is a natural emotion when facing uncertainty, the unknown, or the possibility of negative consequences. Courage is finding the strength to do when is right and necessary despite the presence of fear. Courageous people can make a difference even when they are not completely successful. An act of courage can be enough to make a statement, draw attention, and shift circumstances to achieve a lasting impact.
• Set goals. Goals are powerful things. Their presence provides direction, helps to maintain focus, and mark progress. Goals remind us of what is important and help us to allocate our resources and align our efforts. People rarely achieve important outcomes without first having set a goal to do so.
• Small things matter. In life, it is often the small things that are done consistently that determine the difference between getting by and finding success. Rarely does significant success come from a single act or luck alone. Habits, preparation, and discipline are far better bets for success.
• Do one more thing. Always choose to do one more thing than is required or requested. Each small task or additional contribution may not seem like much, but over time the difference accumulates. Before long, people who were performing like you will fall behind. You will be amazed at the difference just one more thing, done consistently, can make in your success, regardless of what you are doing.

Of course, our students may not recall or choose to apply all these pieces of advice. However, they may remember and apply one, two, or three of the things we said that make sense to them and feel worth applying. If so, we will have made a difference; a difference that could last a lifetime.