My Top Ten Strategies (1, 2, and 3)

1.  The Writing Break


The writing break strategy involves stopping what ever is going on in the classroom to allow the students a minute or two to quickly and spontaneously reflect upon and write about what has been presented in the classroom up to that point.  This is an an important strategy because it allows the student and the teacher a moment to pause, to catch their breath and to reflect upon what has gone on in the classroom up to that point.  Research has shown that none of us, high school students especially, remember more than 10% to 30% of what we see, hear or read.  Research has also shown that none of us, high school students especially, can pay close attention to anything for longer than 20 minute or so.  Therefore, stopping every 10 to 20 minutes in a class to allow the students a minute to reflect upon and to write about what has happened will not only reinforce what the student has seen, heard or read, but will allow the students to pause, take a break, and gather themselves to pay attention for another 20 minutes or so.  Studies have shown that the Writing Break strategy can increase retention and comprehension from 10% to 30% to 70% to 90%.  That is a significant enough increase in the important areas of retention and comprehension for me to put this strategy in my Top Ten Strategies.

In my classroom, whether I am lecturing, the class is reading silently, reading aloud or we are watching a video, I will stop what ever is going on every 10 or 20 minutes for a writing break.  I will give the class a prompt, like "what about what we have read, seen, or heard today stands out for you and why?", or "what about what we have read, seen or heard in the last 20 minutes is unclear to you?".  Then I will tell the class that they have a minute or two to reflect and write their responses.  After everyone has had a moment to write, I will call upon several students at random to read what they have written, and make a few comments about what they have raised in their writings, and then go back into the class activity.  These writing breaks will be a good assessment tool for me as a teacher to see if the students are getting what I want them to get out of the class activity, and to highlight  areas that I might need to clarify or review.


2.  The Exit Slip

The Exit Slip strategy involves using the last one to five minutes of class time for the students to jot down their response to the day's lesson on an index card and to hand that card to the teacher as the student "exits" the classroom.  The teacher then reviews the exit slips before the next class. 

In my class, I will explain the Exit Slip procedure to my class at the beginning of the term.  I will provide them with 3x5 index cards for them to use as exit slips.  I will stop class early enough to allow the students one to five minutes to write their exit slips.  I will put up several prompts on the overhead that the students can use if they want, like 'what did you learn in today's lesson', 'what was the most important thing you learned today, 'what questions do you have about today's lesson, 'is there anything that you would like me to review the next time we get together'?  I will then have the students write their exit slips and I will collect them as they exit the classroom.  I will review the exit slips before the next class.  The exit slips will be a valuable tool for me to assess what the students are learning and what they are missing and for me to identify areas that I need to review or clarify in the next class.  The next time the class gets together, I will read and discuss some of the most representative exit slips, and use that opportunity to review the last session, to clarify or review any points that a lot of the class seemed to have missed and to answer any lingering questions that the students have.  I will devote as much time to this part of the exercise as is necessary, but the hope is that it will take only a few minute at the beginning of every class.


3.  The Admit Slip

The Admit Slip strategy involves asking the students to bring in a short piece of writing about the assignment they have done to the next meeting of the class.

I will explain the Admit Slip procedure to my class at the beginning of the term.  I will provide them with 3x5 index cards as needed upon which to write their admit slips.  I will tell the class that, after they have done the homework assignment for the next class, I want them to write down a brief, spontaneous response to the assignment.  I will give them some written guidelines and prompts at the beginning of the term that they can keep in their notebooks and refer to when filling out an admit slip.  Prompts such as 'what did you get out of this assignment', 'what are the three most important things that you learned', 'what questions do you have about the assignment'?  I will collect the admit slips as the students enter the classroom for the next session, and quickly review them as the students settle in.  After we have dealt with the exit slips from the previous class session,  I will read and discuss a few of the most representative and salient admit slips and respond accordingly.  Like the exit slip, the admit slip will be a valuable assessment tool for me to see if the students are getting the material and to point out areas that need answer, clarification and explanation before we move forward.   Better to find and deal with problem areas during the term than at the end.