Last week I shared a very important teaching strategy I use at the beginning of class: advance organizers. Today I’d like to share a teachings strategy that I use very often at the end of class: exit cards. One of the quickest and easiest ways to check a student’s progress toward a learning objective is…
Teaching Strategies
Why Advance Organizers Are A Crucial Learning Strategy (and 5 Examples)
Many teachers use advance organizers without realizing the power of what they are doing. Many just call them agendas. In The Religion Teacher’s Guide to Lesson Planning, I defined advance organizers as “agendas that give students an idea of what they will be learning that day or during a lecture.” It sounds simple enough, but…
4 Lessons All Catechists Can Learn from Catechesis of the Good Shepherd
Last week on of the founders of Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, Dr. Sofia Cavalletti, died peacefully in her home. She and her colleague Gianna Gobbi developed their unique approach to catechesis in the 1950s. In honor of their achievements, I would like to share a few thoughts on this model of catechesis and how…
6 Classroom Management Strategies for the First Weeks of School
The first weeks of school is the most critical time for establishing effective classroom management for the rest of the year. I’m a big believer in holding off on all significant teaching of course content until some effective classroom management procedures and classroom rules are established and practiced thoroughly. Consider using the following classroom management…
3 Passive Learning Objectives That I Never Use
I’ve written often on this site and in my eBook about the importance of writing out learning objectives for your students. These learning objectives, or lesson objectives, set a goal for your students to reach during the course of the lesson. It allows you as a teacher to focus only on the teaching strategies and…
A Class Divided: An Attention Grabbing Lesson on Prejudice and Racism
Teaching about prejudice and racism calls for more than just direct instruction and lecture. Using inductive teaching strategies is crucial to grabbing students’ attention. Some of the most memorable lessons that I have taught incorporated some authentic role-playing on my part. The best example of authentic role-playing by a teachers is featured in the PBS…
Using Inductive Teaching Strategies to Get Students’ Attention
Getting students’ attention and keeping it can be a real challenge for any teacher or catechist. Children are easily distracted and have a hard time sitting in desks and remaining focused. Throughout the school day, most teachers use the same teaching strategies (mostly lecture) again and again. Catechists are faced with the challenge of trying…
SWBAT Verb Examples
SWBAT stands for “Students Will Be Able To…” and it should begin all of the lesson objectives that you write as a teacher. Using SWBAT properly places the focus of a lesson plan on what the students learn and do rather that what the teacher teaches and does. As I have previously written, too many…
Are you making these lesson planning mistakes?
Are you making the following mistakes? I have and sometimes I still do. They are bad habits that all of us need to avoid at all costs.
My Catechetical Goals for 2011
The new year is always a great time to establish your catechetical goals for the rest of the year. Even though we are half way through the year in educational terms, we are in a much better position to know our weaknesses and our strengths and recognize where we need to improve. So, how can…
