The Master Teacher Blog

The world of education is filled with ideas, strategies, and approaches about how to learn. Unfortunately, many of the most popular learning strategies—while they may generate some learning benefit—do not represent the best approach to learning. Students often rely on mediocre strategies because they seem to work well enough for them, and they are not aware of better, more effective approaches. Consequently, they may be spending more time and exhausting more energy than necessary to learn well enough, rather than experiencing greater learning returns, often gained with less effort and time invested.

This is a good time to inventory the learning practices upon which our students rely to determine whether they are using some of these mediocre strategies and how they might gain the best learning advantages. Here are five common learning approaches that can be transformed into some of the best learning strategies by having students make a few adjustments and tweak their approach.

Common assumption #1: More practice leads to the best performance. Practice builds habits and muscle memory, absolutely, but not all practice is equal. Careless practice and unaddressed errors and confusion can undermine learning and motivation. Practice that leads to the most improvement is focused and purposeful. The highest levels of learning success result from setting challenging goals, seeking and using feedback to adjust, regularly measuring progress, and sustaining focused commitment.

Insight: The best performance results from the best practice.

Common assumption #2: Reading (and rereading) is the best way to build understanding. Repeated exposure to the same content can be marginally helpful. However, rereading, by itself, does not necessarily increase comprehension. The best way to check and build understanding is to follow reading by explaining the content to someone else or writing a summary. Having to clearly explain a new concept can surface areas of uncertainty or confusion. If returning to the text is necessary, students can do it with intentionality and in search of clarity rather than in service of repetition.

Insight: Explaining a concept is the surest and most efficient way to check and build understanding.

Common assumption #3: Longer study sessions lead to the best learning. Spending more time listening, reading, and studying is of limited value once students begin to lose the energy needed to pay attention and process information. The longer students attempt to study, the more they are likely to fight fatigue and loss of focus. Additional content studied during extended sessions becomes difficult to retain.

Insight: Short, focused study followed by reflection builds greater understanding and better memory storage.

Common assumption #4: It is best to study one subject per study session. Students may think that by focusing on a single class or topic, they will retain what they have learned longer. However, multiple research studies have shown that alternating among subjects during study sessions can increase understanding and retention of information. When students switch to a new topic or subject after a moderate study session (twenty to twenty-five minutes), their brains search for connections and seek to categorize the information studied. This approach is known as interleaving.

Insight: Breaking study sessions up and studying more than one subject in shorter sprints is the best approach.

Common assumption #5: Taking notes is the best way build learning recall. While taking notes can be better than nothing, the best learning comes from taking notes strategically and spending time reviewing them. Jotting random statements or trying to capture a transcript of a lesson typically yields limited learning and disjointed recall. On the other hand, capturing key points, organizing an outline that reflects the lesson, and summarizing key concepts can lift learning and support more efficient review and study.

Insight: Taking strategic notes and using them to refresh and self-evaluate understanding is the best way for notetaking to reinforce comprehension and increase recall.

Our students deserve to know and be able to use the most effective learning strategies and approaches we can offer. Taking some time now to inventory and assess with students the strategies they use to study can build confidence and increase the effectiveness of their learning efforts.

As teachers, we want our students to be successful. Obviously. We plan and prepare to help them follow the best, smoothest paths for learning. We worry when they struggle and find themselves tempted to give up. Our hearts ache when our students fail, experience setbacks, and are disappointed. That’s how we should feel.

However, we also need to remember that failure, setbacks, disappointments, and other negative life experiences are inevitable. They are simply a component of living. Experiencing challenging circumstances in relatively low-stakes environments, like school, can help students to develop healthy perspectives, build emotional strength, and gain coping skills necessary for success in life.

As much as we want students to experience joy, have fun while learning, and find immediate success, we also need to be ready to guide students through difficult times. We can remind ourselves and them that these experiences are also part of learning and preparation for what will come later in life. Of course, we also may need to share this perspective with our students’ parents and guardians. They, too, worry when learning and life are challenging for their children.

The truth is that setbacks, struggles, and disappointments can be valuable life and learning experiences for students. While we want to protect them, we also need to support the learning and growth that difficult experiences can generate. Here are eight important outcomes that can result from difficult challenges.

Adversity and struggle can lead students to:

• Build resilience. Facing difficulties, overcoming failure, and bouncing back are key to life success. School can be a place where struggles and failure are experienced in an environment with safety nets, mentors, and second chances. These supports may not always be as readily available later in life.
• Grow confidence. Overcoming difficulties and surviving disappointments can be rewarding and create a sense of accomplishment. When future challenges arise, students who have experienced past successes are more likely to have the confidence that success is again possible.
• Create motivation. When students reflect on past triumphs achieved despite struggles and disappointments, they can find motivation to persist until success arrives. Recollection of past accomplishments during times of struggle can offer strong motivation and the confidence to prevail.
• Develop perspective. When struggle and disappointment are unfamiliar experiences, students can doubt their abilities and question their chances for success. Their doubts and questions readily emerge because the experience is new. However, when struggle is a familiar experience and disappointment has been survived in the past, panic and giving up are not the first options students are likely to consider.
• Grow problem-solving skills. Having experienced adversity in the past can lead students to be more likely to practice critical thinking rather than become paralyzed. They are more likely to search for and explore options and alternatives rather than immediately giving up.
• Build coping skills. When students experience and survive failure, feeling disappointed, or having to find answers when they are not apparent, they can build emotional strength and coping strategies. Discovering self-reliance and practicing independence in times of emotional challenge can instill confidence that the issue or circumstance of the moment will not be permanent. Life will get better and there are actions and attitudes that can carry them through.
• Tolerate risk. When students learn to cope with failure and overcome difficult challenges, they are more likely to take future risks and embrace opportunities that may not promise guaranteed success. Understanding and taking responsible risks can be key to life success and satisfaction.
• Appreciate success. Having experienced failure, lived through setbacks, and struggled to prevail in the face of adversity can make success more meaningful and instill greater pride in accomplishments. When success always comes easy, it may lose its thrill and be taken for granted.

Of course, we want to protect our students from excessive stress and struggle. Yet, we need to be attentive to the learning that can accompany difficult circumstances and challenges. What is most important is that we are here to comfort, coach, and support them and their learning.

“By three methods we learn: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third by experience, which is bitterest.” —Confucius

The practice of reflection is unique in that it is applicable to any learning context and with any content or skill. It opens the door to greater insight and deeper understanding. It is equally valuable for the novice learner and most experienced leader.

Reflective thinking helps students to analyze and make sense of what they hear and experience. It can assist them to make connections to prior learning so that they can gain a deeper understanding as they sequence, organize, and catalogue what they learn. Consequently, they become more active learners and are better able to retain what they learn.

Additionally, reflection increases self-awareness, helping students to assess their strengths and areas of weaknesses. Reflection can assist students to develop and test strategies to improve their learning; as a result, they become more critical thinkers and confident learners.

Further, reflection moves new content and skills from being simply what others have provided to learning that students can own. The process of reflective thinking can help students integrate new learning with current skills and insights, making them better able to learn from experience and adapt to new challenges.

The strategies we can use to encourage and coach students to become better reflective thinkers combine several familiar activities with some that are less well known and practiced. Here are nine activities that we can tap to build our students’ reflective thinking skills and habits:

• Reflection prompts and opportunities: We can present students with questions such as, “What did I learn today that I did not know when I woke up this morning?” and “How does what I learned today connect with something I already knew?” As your students become comfortable asking themselves these questions, you can add questions that fit your particular context and students.
• Journaling and blogging: Writing by its nature is a reflective process. Intentionally organizing thoughts, sequencing events, and interpreting experiences are great ways to build understanding and clarify areas of confusion.
• Small-group discussions: Activities such as “think-pair-share” can offer opportunities for students to describe their learning and share their reflections with peers. These can also be good opportunities for students to hear and consider the reflections of others.
• Peer teaching: Peer teaching takes discussions with classmates to another level. When students teach each other what they have learned, they organize and explore their learning at a deeper and more complex level. In addition, they often receive more and better feedback on the clarity and completeness of what they share.  
• Concept mapping: Creating graphic representations of new learning can help students to explore relationships—such as hierarchies, connections, and disconnections—among elements they already know and what they have just learned.
• Creating pictures: Like concept maps, drawing pictures to represent and explain new learning gives students another way to capture their learning and reflect on its significance and implications. Picture drawing has also been shown to significantly increase students’ learning retention.
• Goal setting and tracking: When students set goals, they are better able to focus, track their progress, and reflect on areas where they are making expected growth and where they may be struggling. Goal setting is also a great way to give students greater ownership of their learning.
• Exit tickets: Well-designed exit ticket questions can encourage students to think about their learning struggles and victories. Exit tickets can nudge students to reflect on the strategies they employed, the effort they invested, and the resources they tapped to support their learning.
• Modeling: Our thinking and the processes we use to reflect can provide powerful insights for students to adopt and adapt for their own use. We are the expert learner in the room, and there is much that students can learn from us about how and why we reflect.

Obviously, reflection is a powerful tool. It holds the promise of increasing real-time learning and extending learning retention. Meanwhile, we are helping students to build a skill and habit that will give them the power to chart their own learning journey.

The absence of students’ ability to focus is a significant and growing learning challenge. In fact, a study released this summer by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES) found that 75% of school leaders named students’ lack of focus as having a significant negative impact on learning. While the pandemic has certainly contributed to this condition, lack of focus has been a growing cause of learning struggles for the past several decades.  

At the core of the problem is an increasing overload of information bombarding our brains. The fact is that our brains are wired for a slower pace and much lighter information load. Consider that today’s Americans absorb more than five times the amount of information than was common in the 1980s.  

When our brains become overloaded, we have a more difficult time deciding what information is important, processing it, and storing it in memory. We lack the time, energy, and focus to sort and manage what is and is not relevant and use it to perform tasks.  

We might think of the ability to focus and concentrate as one of today’s super skills. Because it is not a skill that is widely possessed, we cannot take it for granted. We need to monitor and manage the amount of information and other stimuli presented to students as they learn to help them to remain focused. We also need to teach, coach, and reinforce the skill of focusing to increase our students’ capacity. Here are ten steps to get started. 

1. We need to reduce and manage distractions in the environment. Bulletin boards, posters, and other decorations should be limited in number, size, and amount of content. We can design handouts and other material to be visually clean and distraction free. Games, puzzles, and other attractive distractions might be covered or placed out of the view of students as they are learning. We also need to pay attention to seating arrangements; for example, we should place students who are easily distracted in positions that minimize visual and auditory temptations. Further, we can monitor background noise and optimize natural lighting. 

2. We can limit the length, number, and complexity of instructions. Students can easily lose focus when we present too much information and too many instructions at once. We might limit our direction to one or two steps until students are ready for more guidance.  

3. We might break complex and multi-step activities into manageable parts (called “chunking”). Like with instructions, students are best able to function when they can easily hold in their minds the actions and steps they need to take. Over time, we might expand the number of steps and increase complexity as our students’ ability to manage them grows.  

4. We can schedule frequent mental and physical breaks. When we give students timely opportunities to stand, move, twist, and stretch, they can release tension and renew their energy. Meanwhile, breaks also give students time to reflect and process what they are learning, even when they are not consciously trying to do so. These so-called “brain breaks” can be important contributors to learning.  

5. We might design lessons to feature multi-sensory experiences. Presenting variety among visual, auditory, tactile, and kinesthetic input can provide variance and novelty to the learning experience and support students to stay focused. A brief verbal explanation followed by visual support and reinforced through physical movement or handling an object can be a good way to extend students’ focus. Meanwhile, we will be expanding students’ exposure to different learning approaches and processing that can extend and increase their ability to focus.  

6. We can design game-based learning activities that build memory and encourage students to concentrate. The process of memorizing can help students to focus. The experience of concentrating is closely related to focusing. While we need to be intentional about connecting what students are memorizing to the learning context and key concepts, these activities can help to build focusing skills.  

7. We might limit our movement while instructing. Certainly, moving around the room to monitor student work and provide individual or small-group coaching can be an effective way to discern if students understand and are able to apply what they are learning. However, during direct or explicit instruction, limiting our movement can reduce distractions and reduce temptations for students to lose focus and engage elsewhere. 

8. We need to monitor and adjust our instructional pace. Among the most frequent causes of loss of focus is a mismatch between information input and processing rate. Going too slow invites students to substitute other thoughts and actions for intended learning, while going too fast may leave students behind and lead to their engagement in off-task activities. Checking in with students frequently can help us to monitor and adjust our pace in response to our students’ learning readiness. Making students aware of the impact of the pace of learning can also help them to monitor and signal their need for adjustment.  

9. We might vary the learning context. We should give students opportunities to work in pairs, learn in small groups, and engage in individual reflection. We also might shift the physical location and configuration of learning, such as rearranging the learning space to create novelty, interest, and curiosity. However, we need to monitor student behavior to ensure that the unfamiliarity we create does not result in loss of focus.  

10. We can explicitly teach attending behaviors and give students opportunities to practice them. We might point out that focusing typically involves authentic eye contact, making thinking connections, and resisting mental distractions. Once they are clear on the concept and behavior, we can coach students to practice focusing as we introduce new content or as they encounter unfamiliar concepts.  

The ability to focus is the gateway to learning, especially when learning is complex and challenging. We need to do all that we can to create conditions that support students to focus as they learn. We also need to teach them the skill of focusing so they become increasingly skilled and independent learners.  

Homework has been a part of formal education for as long as anyone can recall. As such, it is assumed to play a crucial role in learning. Yet, research on the effectiveness of homework as it is typically employed is mixed. Some educators and researchers argue that the practice of assigning homework should be abandoned. Others note that homework is expected by most parents, and it is seen as a key component of learning outside of the classroom. Still others advocate for better designed homework and confining it to specific tasks and roles.  

Obviously, such variation of opinion presents a dilemma. As teachers, we face expectations that homework be assigned, but we also want the time and effort students give to homework to be worthwhile. Here are some cautions and options to consider regarding the design and role of homework, should we decide to assign it. 

Homework that is not done does not result in learning. When students are unable or choose not to complete homework, no learning reinforcement occurs. We need to design homework that students will do if we hope to have it contribute to learning. Assignments need to be purposeful, realistic, interesting, useful, and accessible to maximize the probability that they will be completed.   

Assigning more homework does not necessarily generate more learning. Lengthy homework can overwhelm students, leading to increased stress, frustration, and resentment. The quality of time and effort students give to homework is more important than how long they spend doing it. In most cases, when homework is designed as reinforcement, practicing a relatively small number of tasks or solving a few problems can solidify understanding and build adequate confidence. Assigning more items and activities will generate negligible, if any, further confidence or learning.   

When students are confused or uncertain about a skill or concept, homework can reinforce errors and solidify misconceptions. Assigning homework before students fully understand and are confident in their learning risks students being unaware of their misunderstanding and making confusion-based mistakes. Unfortunately, the more times students repeat mistakes and practice incorrect processes, the more those errors become embedded in their learning and memories. Consequently, efforts to clear up confusion and help students grasp correct information and processes become even more challenging than if they had done no homework in the first place.  

Homework can reinforce and magnify existing inequities. When homework is dependent on technology, transportation, adult involvement, or other resources for completion, students without these supports can be at a significant disadvantage. Further, when homework assumes prior knowledge and experience that is not shared by all students, it can require significantly more time and effort for completion. Having to search for, learn, and apply information and skills not previously possessed can be a major disincentive for students to complete work.  

Grading homework does not necessarily increase learning. Many believe that if homework does not count for a grade, students will not do it. It makes sense that if students do not see value in the work they are asked to do and there is no accountability, some students will not do the work. Of course, we typically design and decide what homework to assign. If we cannot create homework that is engaging, useful, and accessible, we might consider not assigning it. Further, homework should be practice, not performance. Rather than assigning a grade, we might ensure that homework completion is instrumental to successful participation in class discussions and other activities. We might provide feedback on homework without assigning a grade. Or we might keep a record of homework completion to use as data to investigate should students struggle to make progress.     

The decision to assign homework deserves more than identifying which problems to solve or tasks to complete. Homework that matters is thoughtfully and purposefully designed, calibrated to reinforce learning, interesting and engaging, and can be completed by the students to whom it is assigned. 

As human beings, it is inevitable that we sometimes make decisions that seem logical and right in the moment only to discover later that we sacrificed something important and necessary. In these cases, and with varying degrees of intentionality, we neglect to consider long-term consequences and how we might actually be undermining the very outcomes we seek.

Consider the multi-decade trend to reduce the focus on—and support for—the arts in the school curriculum, “the arts” encompassing the many various branches and presentations of creative activity and expression. It may have seemed that placing greater focus on and giving more time to academics would lead directly to higher test scores and greater student academic success, yet progress has been a struggle and greater pressure has not led to expected levels of achievement. Meanwhile, student behavior seems to have become more challenging and traditional consequences have become less effective.

It's time to reconsider the role of the arts and explore how the presence of arts education in the core curriculum can help us to achieve our goals of increasing academic performance and building learning and life skills. Rather than defaulting to the perception that the arts are extraneous “nice-to-haves” or simply scheduling add-ons, we should consider what multiple research studies tell us about the impact of the arts on learning and life skills. Here are ten areas of impact to consider:

• Better critical thinking. Experiences in the arts can increase students’ abilities to closely observe and remain focused. They nurture analytical skills. The arts ask students to practice introspection and interpretation, and engagement in the arts encourages exploration from multiple perspectives.
• Stronger communication skills. The arts offer multiple ways to express oneself. They are a means for connecting with others, reinforcing the importance of communication while broadening its application. The arts value rich descriptions, interesting images, and varied expression, all of which support the development of crucial communication skills.
• More effective problem-solving skills. The arts often present interesting questions and beg for creative responses, thus inviting novel ideas and innovative approaches to resolve a dilemma or address an issue. Students are free to try multiple approaches and discover unexpected answers. Rather than attempting to calibrate a response to a predetermined outcome, the arts invite risk and exploration in resolving conflicts and solving problems.
• Greater willingness to take initiative. The arts are less driven by templates and restrictions than some other areas. Students are encouraged to develop ideas and create products that are meaningful to them. As a result, students are freer to follow their preferences, express themselves, and take initiative than in many other formal learning contexts.
• Improved self-discipline. The arts reinforce the importance of practice, persistence, and progress before becoming proficient. For example, learning to play an instrument or master a certain visual technique is not necessarily self-reinforcing in the early stages of skill development. Goal pursuit, progress monitoring, strategy selection, and aligned effort are key elements for success in the arts.
• Greater responsiveness to constructive criticism. The arts typically tolerate multiple responses or answers to a challenge or idea. Since there is no single right answer, the arts can lead to multiple final products, all with value deserving of celebration. Consequently, students learn to accept constructive criticism without feeling that they have made an error. They learn to gracefully receive a critique and use it to improve.
• More creativity. The arts can help students see connections and patterns and can build confidence to imagine. They provide a reason, context, and motivation to be creative. Originality is encouraged—and celebrated—in the arts.
• Stronger teamwork. The arts encourage interpersonal skills within a context of purpose and in pursuit of achieving a shared outcome. Through the arts, students can experience authentic, constructive interactions with other students. These experiences help to build interpersonal skills and give students opportunities to learn to manage their emotions and express their viewpoints effectively.
• Increased empathy. The arts offer exposure to different viewpoints and types of people. The arts help students to see the world outside of themselves, with experiences in the arts helping students to become more tolerant of the ideas of others. The arts encourage students to become more compassionate and accepting of diverse thinking and perceptions.
• Better stress tolerance. While the arts build skills and emphasize processes, they are less insistent on a single answer or outcome. The arts can offer permission for students to have fun. When students experience more freedom to express and be themselves, they typically experience less stress while, at the same time, build more tolerance for it.

It should come at no surprise that many studies have shown that students who are engaged in the arts do better academically, are better behaved, and graduate at higher rates. The arts build key skills and nurture foundational characteristics that are easily transferred to and applied in academic subjects and life. We do our students a disservice when we do not include arts education in the core curriculum.

The Master Teacher is the creator of the new Museum of Art + Light (MOA+L) in Manhattan, Kansas. It was built at this time because the research is so clear that children who are in the visual and performing arts in our schools out-perform all other students, and this is particularly important in this new high-tech era. The Master Teacher passionately supports the arts and advocates for arts education to be an integral component within the public-school core curriculum. The first of its kind, the MOA+L boasts its unique vision to explore the limitless convergence of visual art, the creative process, and digital technology. Its mission is to bridge 21^st century technology with the visual and performing arts to incite positive emotion, cultivate meaningful connections, encourage artistic exploration, and spark innovation.

Historically, education has been one of the last places where partisan politics and conflicts were likely to play out. School-board elections were relatively quiet affairs in which community-minded people stepped forward to lend their time to guide and support their local schools. School curriculum was rarely a flash point for conflict and debate. Schools were places where consistency and support were largely assumed.

However, in the aftermath of the pandemic, schools and the world of education itself have become fertile ground for debate, conflict, and conspiracy. Issues that used to be taken for granted are spotlighted for attack. Partisan politics have become commonplace in school-board races, policy debates, and instructional practices.

Amid such conflict and confusion, we can become distracted from the fundamental responsibilities schools exist to fulfill. So many of the debates are around side issues and distractions that we can lose focus on what is most important. Yet, our voices and our advocacy remain important and need to play a role in the debate over what schools should be and need to do. More than ever, we need to focus on what is most important and what our students need us to do on their behalf. Putting aside the distractions and manufactured issues, here are ten things worth our fighting for:

A safe and supportive environment: Physical, emotional, and psychological safety must be priorities. Students deserve learning environments that are free from bullying, bias, and intimidation. They need to know that there are adults around them who know and are ready to advocate for them.

A future filled with opportunities: Students deserve to experience an education that prepares them for the future they choose. They deserve ample opportunities to develop skills, be exposed to multiple career and life options, and build social currency in the community and beyond. A student’s family or history should not be predictive of their future.

Opportunities to speak and be heard: Students’ perspectives and input should be valued in decisions regarding their school experience. A student’s academic record, family, or social standing should not determine whether their voice is heard and heeded. Respect must be assured regardless of who chooses to speak.

Fair and equitable discipline: A student’s race, socioeconomic status, behavior history, or other demographic factors must not drive discipline decisions. Discipline needs to be seen as an equitable opportunity for teaching and learning rather than as an occasion for punishment. When consequences are called for, they should be in response to the specific behavior, not the personality or identity of the student.

Respect for culture, history, and life experiences: The curriculum needs to reflect the makeup of the student population and offer exposure to a wide variety of perspectives, traditions, and experiences. Students need to see relevance in their learning experiences, and the curriculum should foster a sense of identity and belonging in addition to academic content.

Instruction that is responsive to what students are ready to learn: Instruction should be designed with students in mind. Their learning needs, readiness, and uniqueness must be key considerations in how instruction is presented, support is offered, and progress is assessed. Students, regardless of special needs and gifts, deserve to be supported in a manner that fosters success for them.

Exposure to diverse perspectives: Students should be exposed to and have opportunities to engage with others who think differently, have different life experiences, and approach life in unique ways. Learning needs to be embedded in context and be rich with opportunities to explore and develop unique ideas and perspectives. Students should be encouraged to appreciate other ways of thinking and varied viewpoints.

Access to arts, sports, clubs, and other extracurricular activities: Students need multiple places to belong and varied opportunities to develop skills beyond academics. They deserve access to informal opportunities to make friends and learn to work and play productively with others. Students should have places beyond the classroom where they feel connected and belong.

Well-prepared and supported staff: Teachers and other staff need access to rich resources and learning opportunities to develop the skills necessary to prepare today’s students for a world of rapid change, unpredictability, and constant innovation. Compensation, working conditions, and expectations must support educators at a level that is adequate and sustainable. Much of what is worth fighting for will become empty promises if school staff members lack the resources and support to be able to deliver.

Equitable access to resources and support: Adequate funding and facilities are fundamental to supporting opportunities and options for students to succeed. Curricular opportunities need to be rich and not restricted to certain groups of students. Mental and physical health services must be available and aligned with the needs of students. Allocation of resources should be based on needs and the creation of opportunities for success.

Fighting for what is important takes courage. The future of our students and our society depends on sustained advocacy for what matters and what will make our shared future better. We may be tempted to remain quiet and hope that the situation will improve. However, our students have too much to lose to justify our silence. As the saying goes: If not us, who? If not now, when?

Confidence is an important driver of risk, effort, and success. Consider the words of Henry Ford: “Whether you think you can or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.” Confidence can give us courage to try, try again when we fail and prevail until we succeed. On the other hand, self-doubt can rob us of the desire to even try, lead us to quit when things don’t go right, and prevent us from enjoying the success of which we are capable.

Confidence, obviously, also plays an important role in learning. When students are confident, they are more likely to take on difficult learning challenges, look for better strategies and approaches when they struggle, and prevail in their learning efforts.

Of course, some students come to us with histories of easy, successful learning and have grown to see learning as an easy challenge. Others may feel confident in their learning because they have a history of overcoming the learning challenges they have faced. But many students come to us with learning histories that are not as positive and filled with success. As a result, they are reluctant to take on difficult learning tasks and are quick to quit when they struggle or experience setbacks. These students especially need our guidance, support, and coaching. Still, all students can benefit from practices and strategies that build and reinforce their confidence. Let’s examine eight steps we can take to help our students develop and maintain their confidence.

Be confident and prepared. When we know what we are doing, are confident in our approach, and minimize stumbles, confusion, and uncertainty in our instruction, students feel more confident in the tasks we present. Learning is difficult enough. We do not want to make it harder by having to correct ourselves, unravel unnecessary confusion, or fill in gaps we overlooked.

Give students a head start on their learning. Share multiple strategies, tools, and hints related to the learning students will encounter. Give students opportunities to practice using the strategies for success with familiar and less challenging aspects of upcoming learning tasks before engaging students in more difficult learning challenges.

Calibrate learning challenges to match the leading edge of readiness. Confidence grows when students face and overcome challenges. Tasks that are too easy can lead to lack of focus and boredom, but work that is too hard fosters defeatism and avoidance. The best learning challenges require students to build on past learning and use skills they already have while stretching their thinking and pushing their skills to the next level. Often referred to as the Zone of Proximal Development, or ZPD, learning just beyond where students are generates competence and confidence.

Anticipate and normalize struggle. When possible, avoid having students be surprised by having to struggle. Warn students of areas where they may have to slow down, focus, and grind before they will succeed. Describing the experiences of past students (without identifying those individuals, obviously) and how they succeeded can reduce anxiety and make struggling feel expected and seem normal.

Design tight feedback loops. Monitor initial learning efforts and provide coaching, correction, and reteaching before students become confused, frustrated, and lose the confidence they have. Check in throughout practice and application activities to ensure that students grasp key concepts and are using effective techniques.

Share your confidence and commitment. Students want assurance that we believe they will succeed. When we combine our confidence with our commitment to walk beside students as they learn, and support them until they succeed, students are more likely to feel confident and take learning risks.

Offer ample praise and encouragement. Watch for and reaffirm positive steps, progress, and success as often as possible. Be specific, descriptive, and authentic. Go beyond “good job” and tell students what you notice—and why it’s important. Provide details that add substance and meaning. Be sure to focus on efforts, elements, and aspects over which students have control. Praising innate intelligence, physical characteristics, and external factors does little to build confidence.

Emphasize the “long view” of learning. Remind students that learning will have its ups and downs and that some learning challenges will be easier than others. What is most important is what they are learning about themselves and the experiences they gain that help them to become skilled learners. Not everything they learn will remain important, but what they learn about learning will always be relevant.

Confidence can be fragile. Even the most confident students can become uncertain and anxious whey they hit a rough spot in their learning. We may assume that confident students will be able to weather difficult experiences. However, consistently building and reinforcing confidence is a practice that is good for all.

During the first weeks of school, we spend significant time and energy getting to know our students and having them get to know us. We know that the more we know about our students, the better able we will be to meet their needs and support their learning.

However, getting to know a class or multiple classes of learners is a significant undertaking. We may discover that we gravitate to some students while finding others to be a challenge. We may also look for shortcuts to create an image and profile of our students. Consequently, we can be tempted to make assumptions about students based on factors such as their appearance, what we have heard about them from colleagues, our early interactions with them, or their initial performance in our classroom. Some of our assumptions may be correct, but others may need to be reexamined and adjusted with further experience. However, there are at least five assumptions about students that we need to avoid altogether.

We need to resist assuming that a student:

• Will behave just like their siblings. When students who are siblings of former students enter our class, we can be tempted to make assumptions and prejudge their character and behavior based on our experience with a brother or sister, especially if there is a close physical resemblance. Our prejudgment can be positive or negative. Regardless, our assumptions can be harmful to these students. We may unintentionally place unrealistic pressure on them to perform. Or we may be quick to pounce on any misbehavior, thinking that we need to get ahead of a negative behavior pattern. Whether positive or negative, they are just assumptions, and they risk our misjudging and treating these students unfairly.
• Is not interested in a relationship with us. We sometimes experience students who seem resistant to our attempts to get to know them and form a relationship. It can be tempting to assume that they are not interested and pull back in our efforts to connect. Of course, one possibility is that the student truly does not want to connect with us. However, there are many potential reasons why a student might be reluctant. Negative past experiences might make the student hesitate, or they may be hiding factors and pressures in their lives that they do not want revealed should we get close to them. Our persistent invitations and continued opportunities to connect may be exactly what the student needs to break through the barriers they face and overcome their reluctance to allow us to connect with them.
• Is a lazy person and learner. Some students may seem to care little about the learning we ask of them. They may appear disengaged and not responsive to our instruction. Based on our observations, we might assume that the student is just lazy and uninterested. While we might be correct, this judgment is just one of many possibilities. The student may be reluctant to invest because of a pattern of failure in the past. What they need may be our support and coaching. They may be dealing with challenges outside of our class and school that are overwhelming, leaving them with little bandwidth to invest in learning. Our interest and understanding, and maybe a referral for help, might be what they need to find their way and invest in learning. We gain little by assuming laziness and applying increasing pressure on them to change their behavior. In fact, doing so may make the situation worse.
• Will continue to perform in the future as they have in the past. The truth is that past performance does not have to predict future performance. Many factors can influence the effort, focus, and persistence students will give to their learning. In fact, we may be the force that changes the trajectory of their learning and future. Our confidence, persistence, and encouragement may be exactly what is needed to interrupt a pattern of failure. Interestingly, even small shifts and incremental improvement now can magnify over time. Our influence to build confidence, fill skill and knowledge gaps, and nurture a sense of hope and possibility can make a lifelong difference, regardless of the student’s performance before encountering us.
• Is motivated by the same things that motivated us. History shows that we often teach the same way that we were taught. We may assume that what worked for us should work for our students. Similarly, we might assume that the factors that we found motivating as learners are the same factors our students should find motivating. We may have performed because we felt it was expected of us. We may be drawn to academic activities and find formal learning satisfying and fun. However, even though these factors were powerful for us, they are not universal motivators. Many students will not respond to these factors but may be drawn to others. We know from research that elements such as autonomy, mastery, purpose, and sense of belonging are near universal motivators, but even these factors vary in their power to motivate from student to student. Some learners respond to having more flexibility and choice while others want to know how what they learn will be important and useful. Our challenge is to get to know our students well enough to understand what motivates them. When we know, we can design learning experiences that draw on and maximize the impact of these factors on their learning.

Assumptions can feel like shortcuts to understanding our students. However, assumptions can be traps that lead us to treat students in ways that, while seeming reasonable, can be harmful to our students, their learning, and their relationship with us.