The Master Teacher Blog

It may seem like a small thing, but how we choose to respond when we do not fully understand the motivation behind the words and actions of others matters a lot; in fact, it often matters more than we realize. The meaning we assign and interpretation we give to what we do not fully grasp can have major consequences for our relationships, productivity, and happiness. When we assume that the intentions of others are negative, hurtful, or harmful toward us, we can set in motion a negative spiral that leads to misunderstanding, conflict, and mistrust, even when neither party planned—nor would choose—such an outcome. Yet, for most of us, assuming the worst when we do not know or understand the motivation behind the words and actions of others is more common than we might want to admit.  

On the other hand, assuming the positive intentions of others, even when we are not sure of their motivations, can lead to a myriad of positive outcomes. In fact, assuming positive intentions is the first step in building and maintaining trust, whether that be in personal relationships, with colleagues, on teams, or when engaging with strangers.  

Assuming positive intentions: 

• Leads to better, more trusting relationships. 
• Creates better opportunities for understanding and resolving conflicts. 
• Reduces anxiety and stress. 
• Lessens the likelihood of embarrassment and the need for apologies due to misunderstanding. 
• Leads to a better outlook on life. 
• Encourages others to respond with trust. 

So, how can we take advantage of the benefits of assuming positive intentions? Here are five steps to accomplish just that.  

First, we can cultivate the habit of suspending judgement and wait to draw conclusions until we are aware of the full circumstances behind what we hear and observe. When we assume negative motivations or are suspicious of something or someone, we tend to look for “evidence” to support our thinking. Rather than doing that, it is best to begin with a positive, or at least neutral, stance. As a result, we can avoid later having to apologize for our misunderstanding and then backtracking. An added benefit is that a positive stance often leads the other person to be less suspicious and more ready to collaborate. 

Second, we might choose to take a position of curiosity. Start with the question, “I wonder why?” There may be things we do not know or understand. We might ask ourselves questions such as the following: What experience do we have with this person? What reasons might we have to not trust this person? What else might we need to learn?  

Third, we can listen. Our initial goal, after all, is to understand. What do we need to know? We should try to understand the other person’s real motivations. We can listen for the context in which the other person is acting and speaking. What problems or challenges might the other person be facing? What worries and fears might be driving their behavior? 

Fourth, we would do well to share our intentions. Having the other person guess whether we come with positive intentions risks further complicating the situation. When we share our positive intentions toward others, we can lower pressure, openly communicate, and increase understanding. 

Fifth, if we discover the other person’s motives are not positive, then we can respond in an informed and measured way. If someone’s motive is to hurt or take advantage of us, we can respond assertively and take steps to protect ourselves, and we will be doing so with a more accurate understanding of the situation. Regardless, it is important to note that we do not necessarily give up any advantage when we start with the assumptions that the other person’s motives are positive. 

Life is full of faulty assumptions, misunderstandings, and conflicts, and there are few benefits, if any, associated with adding to the challenges life routinely presents to us. Fortunately, when we assume the positive intentions of others, we can sidestep unnecessary pain, embarrassment, and regret, while simultaneously building a path of trust. 

It is hard not to be amazed by what artificial intelligence (AI) can and promises to do. We wonder how much AI will change the ways in which we engage students and support their learning. It seems clear that there will be new opportunities and unexpected challenges as we adjust to this new reality.

However, we need to remember that many of the most important influences we have on students cannot be duplicated by AI—because they are uniquely human. Their power resides in the relationships we build with students, and our relationships with students are among the most powerful influences on students’ choices related to their learning.

Consider that each day we reach out to students to discern their mood, learn what is happening in their lives, and understand how their emotional state may influence their behavior and probable success in upcoming lessons. Here are five of those routine behaviors and the important implications they hold for students and their success.

First, we welcome students at the door with a smile, and we check out their emotional state. Initial contact between students and teachers sets the stage for the learning experience designed for the day. Eye contact and other nonverbal cues can tell us when students will need more attention, some additional space, or have exciting news and experiences they want—and need— to share.

Second, we offer a wink, frown, or raised eyebrow to connect and encourage. We possess a variety of communication tools beyond words. In fact, among the most effective tools for managing the classroom are nonverbal signals, facial expressions, and “looks.” When teachers know their students, they can anticipate what students are likely to do next, “nudge” their behavior, and prevent a variety of behaviors that otherwise might necessitate intervention or redirection.

Third, we offer high-fives and fist-bumps to celebrate or a pat on the arm to comfort and reassure. Physical contact can be a powerful communication tool. Celebrating with students in a moment of success and triumph can reinforce the experience and create a lasting memory. Reassurance and encouragement can also be powerfully communicated by a gentle touch. Of course, physical contact requires sensitivity and thoughtfulness. However, it remains an important way to communicate caring, support, and confidence.

Fourth, we look over a shoulder or stand next to a desk to refocus attention and discourage distractions. Physical proximity can have a significant influence on student behavior. Experienced and insightful teachers for generations have known that moving close to a student can be a reminder of the task at hand and lead to engagement in expected behavior. This move can influence students to shift their behavior or attitude without having to say a word.

Fifth, we send students off with a personalized comment or words of encouragement to carry them through the day or evening. During the time we spend with students, we often learn much about what may be on students’ minds, what may be worrying them, and what they may be looking forward to during the remainder of their day. This information positions us to provide students with specific reassurance, support, and encouragement as they move to their next challenge or experience.

We need to be open and ready to learn how AI can support our work with students. However, we would also do well to remember the power of our connections with students, how we build relationships with them, and how influential we are in nurturing their well-being and success.

The transition from the end of the school year to the beginning of summer can be a good time to pause and take stock of our emotional and mental state. While the past year may have been exhausting, summer can be a time of renewal. We may still have commitments and responsibilities to which we still need to attend, but the shift in routines can offer opportunities to rebuild our energy, replenish our reserves, and ready us for the fall.

However, without some thought and a plan, the summer can slip away without our having taken full advantage of what this time of the year can offer. Now is a good time to think about what will make this summer one that leads to renewal, refocusing, and restoration. One way to approach this opportunity is to think “5-4-3-2-1" to prioritize our planning and give us a focal point. Here is an example we can use to get started.

Make a list of the five things for which you are most grateful. Gratitude is a powerful antidote to many draining and harmful emotions. Even in challenging times, we have much for which we can be grateful. Gratitude focuses our attention and emotions on others and what they mean to us rather than being self-centered. We can review this list periodically during the summer to remind us of what is positive and important in our lives. We may even add items as we become aware of additional people and circumstances for which we can be grateful.

Identify four people with whom you want to connect or reconnect. Summer is a great time to widen our network of friends and expand our relationships. Relationships can also be great sources of support as we navigate uncertain and unpredictable times. We can give priority to the people we find interesting, optimistic, creative, or just fun to be around. Reaching out to an old friend or colleague can restore a connection that has been important to us. Developing new or existing relationships can give access to new ideas, perspectives, and insights.

Decide three things you would like to learn. Learning can be a great energy refresher, especially when what we are learning is our choice and serves purposes important to us. The learning can be personal or professional, or it could be a combination of both. We might choose to learn a skill that leads to a new hobby. We might pursue an area of long-standing interest. We might explore some new technology or develop a new instructional strategy or approach. The key is to stay fresh and enjoy the experience of learning.

Eliminate two sources of stress. Some stressors are beyond our control, and we need to focus on managing how they will impact us. Others are within our control to push aside or remove. As examples, social media accounts that have us “doom scrolling” and news sources that are overly political and negative might be left behind. We can also consider stressors such as unrealistic expectations we hold for ourselves and our inner critic that constantly engages us in negative self-talk. Stressors drain energy and challenge our outlook. Removing even a few negative stressors can make a big difference in our attitude and well-being.

Commit to forming one new habit. By choosing just one, we will be better able to focus on, track, and build success for that habit. For example, we might decide to form an exercise habit. Summer can be a great time to get into a routine that will carry through into the next school year. We might think about routines that can make our lives easier and more manageable, such as tackling the most difficult challenges first or starting each day by doing something that builds energy and gives us satisfaction. Or we might choose something as simple, but important, as having more conversations and dialogue with people we respect and from whom we can learn. The possibilities are endless.

This approach may seem simple—and it is. However, by being intentional and planful with the time we have away from the school year routine, we can restore our energy, rebuild our spirit, and create resources on which we can draw as we approach a new year.

Times of stress or uncertainty can lead us to overthink many situations, issues, and decisions we face. We can find ourselves hesitating, analyzing, and second-guessing in what may feel like a closed loop. The options available may be clear, but we can’t decide which to choose. We keep coming back to the same topic and reviewing the same information without being able to decide which factors should be given the greatest weight. Or we may repeatedly return to heated conversations and embarrassing situations from the past, replaying them in our head and reliving our emotions.

If any of these experiences seem familiar, you don’t have to feel alone. In fact, in a recent survey including 10,000 people, 99.5% of the respondents reported struggling with overthinking. Nearly three-quarters of the respondents indicated their overthinking at times makes them feel inadequate. And more than half of the respondents reported that their tendency to overthink often leaves them feeling drained.

To be fair, taking time to reflect and consider is a good thing when there’s a need to gain a better understanding of a situation, or there are multiple implications and potential outcomes to be considered. Overthinking emerges as we become preoccupied, stuck, and unable to let go and move forward.

Researchers and psychologists divide overthinking into two categories: rumination and worry. Rumination describes times when we get stuck in negative thought loops about the past. Often these loops involve a problem, incident, or experience that we involuntarily and compulsively return to reanalyze and relive. Over time, excessive rumination can be associated with symptoms of depression and anxiety. Worrying typically is more future focused. Our overthinking is more likely to be associated with anticipation of something that we fear will be negative or harmful. Worry focuses on the “What if’s” of the future. Like rumination, worrying can lead to anxiety and stress. We can feel overwhelmed and become paralyzed in our thinking.

The end of the school year can be a powerful stimulus for overthinking. We may find ourselves looking back over the year wishing we’d made different decisions in response to specific incidents or experiences. We may regret that we were unable to reach a particular student. We may wish we’d accomplished more or engaged less in some behaviors. We may also find ourselves worrying about difficult decisions, adjusted assignments, and new challenges that lie ahead over the summer and in the fall.

The key question is what we can do to reduce the frequency and intensity of our rumination and worry. Here are five strategies we can use to help us counter the tendency to overthink:

Focus on letting go. The truth is we can’t change what’s happened in the past. Often committing to learn from the experience and not repeat it in the future is enough to allow us to move forward and leave the pain behind. A good way to counter worry about the future is to accept that some dimensions of the situation likely are beyond our control and worrying doesn’t help. Rather, we can focus on what we can control and influence and focus our attention and actions on these elements to make success more likely.

Interrupt overthinking habits. When we become aware that we’re slipping into overthinking, whether about something that’s happened or may happen, we can use an interruption technique, such as saying to ourselves, “Stop,” or “Enough.” Some people find that snapping a rubber band on their wrist can accomplish the same outcome. Sometimes just becoming aware and committing to shift our thinking is enough to break the pattern and begin reprogramming our brains to focus on more productive thoughts.

Uncover the source. Often uncovering the source of worry and fear, beyond the specific incident or potential circumstance, can be revealing and freeing. It may be that the sources of our overthinking are long held, but unexamined fears that have little relevance and limited value in our lives. It may be that social media, some news sources, or even some people may trigger our overthinking about the future. By becoming aware of the fears and triggers that drive our rumination and worry, we can position ourselves to make choices that dissipate their power over us.

Refocus attention. Engaging in exercise, spending time in nature, pursuing a hobby, and practicing relaxation techniques often can reduce our anxiety and replenish our energy. Whether caught in reliving the past or stressing about the future, just dialing down our anxiety can be a welcome relief.

Find an “awe” experience. Gazing at the stars and contemplating the majesty and mystery of the universe, studying the intricacies of a spider web, watching a great performance, or observing the innocence and curiosity of a young child can inspire a sense of awe and give us a better perspective. We may discover that the object of our overthinking is quite small in comparison to the wonders and miracles that surround us.

Our thoughts play a significant role in our mental health and happiness. Taking the time and making the effort to break patterns of overthinking can help us find better life balance and renewed peace and satisfaction.

It may seem odd to consider giving oneself gifts in the final weeks of the school year. Our attention has been focusing on others and making certain we complete crucial tasks, making sure students stay focused, while ensuring important recognitions and awards get presented with appropriate fanfare. We typically think of this time as busy, stressful, pressure-packed, and, occasionally, chaotic.

Certainly, our students deserve the attention and recognition we’ll provide, but we also need to attend to our mental and physical health during these weeks. As we think about what lies ahead, we do well to also consider what we need and how we’ll take care of ourselves. With this challenge in mind, here are five gifts to give ourselves to sustain our energy and carry us through to the end.

The first gift is time. We may not think that it’s realistic to set aside time to catch our breath, clear our minds, and restore our spirit. Yet, taking a relaxing walk, listening to our favorite music, or just visiting with friends can go a long way toward helping us power through looming activities and responsibilities.

The second gift is simplicity. The end of the year can be complicated. Programs and celebrations need planned, significant portions of the curriculum have yet to be engaged, and much documentation and report completion lie ahead. Now’s a good time to ask ourselves what really matters, what can be simplified, and what can be let go. Focusing on what’s essential helps us preserve energy and allows us to enjoy the experience of concluding our teaching and learning journey with students.

The third gift is forgiveness. Not everything has gone perfectly this year, and not everything will go perfectly during the final weeks. Still, much good has been accomplished over the past weeks and months. We shouldn’t allow what we wish would’ve happened to cloud and crowd out what’s been good. Similarly, much that’s good lies ahead, even if what we’ve planned and what we’ll do won’t go exactly according to our script. Unfortunately, too much focus on what’s not perfect can rob us of what’s been so good and has given our students so much.

The fourth gift is kudos. Now’s a good time to reflect on the difference we’ve made in the lives of our students. We’ve been a driving force for learning, growth, and maturity in their lives. We may hear expressions of appreciation from students and families. We may receive congratulatory comments from colleagues and supervisors. However, we know about differences we’ve made of which no one else is aware. We can recall special moments when our counsel, encouragement, and coaching made a crucial difference during a time of struggle and challenge for our students. We can celebrate even if we can’t share some of these experiences with others.

The fifth and final gift is joy. We can let go of the responsibility we felt as we launched our students on their learning journey, the weight we felt when they struggled, and the commitment we made to keep trying, even when we felt as though we were running out of ideas to support them. As the year ends, we can release the load we carried, experience the joy of having completed our task, and ready our students for the next phase of their learning journey.

This is a time of mixed emotions, competing responsibilities, and significant stress. Consequently, it’s also a time when taking care of ourselves is especially important. Enjoy these five gifts and make this an end to the year that you’ll celebrate and remember.

Occasionally, we face the challenge of a difficult meeting with a volatile parent, a parent who has a history of struggling to control their emotions, especially when their reactions can be explosive and threatening. We may have some negative news to share about their child that includes significant consequences, and we need the parent to understand the full scope of the situation. We may need to ask for the parent’s cooperation and support for a difficult decision. We may need to caution the parent to not reach a premature conclusion or allow the bad news to lead to physical abuse of their child. Regardless, these situations call for face-to-face interaction despite our anxiety.

Meetings with parents who may become volatile require special planning and precautions to increase the likelihood that the purpose of the meeting can be accomplished without the situation becoming unmanageable. We also need to be prepared should the situation escalate, and we need to take steps to protect ourselves. Here are seven elements and actions to consider when a meeting with a volatile parent is in your future

First, carefully choose the location of the meeting. Meet with the parent on the school campus, if possible. Choose a space with visibility, such as windows or glass walls. The space should be near a public area, if possible. Visibility can serve as a deterrent to having the situation spin out of control and provide access to assistance, if necessary. Avoid meeting in a windowless office or remote room.

Second, arrange for someone to attend the meeting with you as an observer. The observer might be another staff member, but an administrator or supervisor often is preferable. Explain the observer’s role to the parent, as a listener and “second set of ears” to be certain that everyone’s questions are answered, and all concerns are addressed. The presence of a third person can reduce the potential for threats and other out-of-control behavior and can be an additional option to summon assistance, if needed.

Third, set ground rules at the beginning of the meeting. Before beginning, restate the purpose of the meeting. Consider expectations, such as committing to listening, showing respect, focusing on the needs of the student, and remaining focused on the problem. Seek agreement on the ground rules, but don’t press if agreement isn’t immediately forthcoming. Often, it’s enough to have stated your expectations.

Fourth, consider taking notes as the meeting unfolds. Recording what’s agreed to, noting questions, and documenting areas for follow-up signals that you’re listening and taking the conversation seriously. Also, taking notes can help manage the pace of the meeting. Stopping to make a note allows for reflection and allows tempers to cool. Of course, meeting notes can be helpful if the situation deteriorates and there becomes a need for legal involvement.

Fifth, remain calm, factual, and focused. Listen carefully and respectfully to what the parent says. You may discover hints and clues in the parent’s words that can help you navigate emotions and reach a satisfactory conclusion. Avoid getting caught in an argument. An argument can be a shortcut to an emotional eruption.

Sixth, if the conversation becomes heated, remind everyone of the purpose of the meeting and the importance of finding solutions. Keep your emotions in check. Share your concern that emotions may get in the way of what’s best for the student. You might consider suspending the conversation briefly to allow emotions to settle and refocus attention.

Seventh, if you hear a threat or feel threatened terminate the meeting. Ask the parent to leave. If the parent refuses, you and the observer should immediately leave the room. Report the incident to the principal or appropriate central office staff member. If it appears the threat may extend beyond the meeting, the administration may consider involving legal counsel to take appropriate steps.

Meeting with volatile parents is never a pleasant prospect. However, these meetings often are necessary to address difficult situations. Choosing to avoid these meetings can make the situation worse and undermine our efforts to serve the needs of the student. Our best choice is to plan carefully, prepare fully, and engage thoughtfully. We might be surprised by how well the meeting goes.

The end of the school year offers a final opportunity to communicate with parents and reflect on the past year. It can also be a great time to provide parents with recommendations and advice to help their children retain what they’ve learned and prepare for learning that lies ahead next year.

We might begin our end-of-year communication - whether in a formal letter, email, video, or by other means - by sharing our gratitude with parents for sharing their children with us for the past year. Children are the center of parents' lives, and their trust in and support for us is a crucial contributor to learning success. Our message can reinforce the importance of this relationship and encourage parents to make a similar investment in teachers with whom their children will learn in the future. Our communication also might include a brief recounting of the year’s highlights and shared special experiences. Reflecting on the year can be a good way to bring closure and remind parents of the important role they play in their children’s learning.

Our observation about the important role parents play in learning can serve as a transition to reminding parents of the crucial role they’ll play in retention of their children’s learning during the summer months. For example, we might share with parents that without ongoing stimulation and reinforcement of learning, students can lose a full month or more of school year learning over the summer. Consequently, students may enter school in the fall with their learning having fallen back from where it was in the spring and necessitate time consuming reteaching and stressful catch-up. Spread over multiple summers, lost learning can accumulate to as much as a full year.

Of course, we need to share formal summer learning opportunities offered by the school or in the community that parents can access for their children. These opportunities can serve as valuable counter forces to learning loss. However, there are many other opportunities of which parents can take advantage beyond or, in some cases, in place of formal summer learning experiences. Here are four strategies we can share with parents to counter summer learning loss and help their children be prepared when school resumes in the fall.

First, parents can look for everyday opportunities to make connections and discuss applications of learning. Not all summer learning must be planned and formal. Parents can seek out connections in everyday experiences. Routine events can offer rich opportunities for children and young people to apply concepts and skills they’ve learned during the year. Common tasks and projects can provide opportunities to apply math skills or observe scientific phenomenon. News events can be starting places to make geographic connections and explore historical contexts.

Second, parents can make it a practice to read to, read with, and read to share with their children. For young children, listening to someone read can increase vocabulary, stimulate imagination, and build motivation to become a reader. For older children and even adolescents, reading aloud or listening to recorded reading can keep reading skills sharp and provide enjoyable shared family experiences. For example, on long car trips consider having one person read as others listen and then discuss what was read. Also, parents might consider having each family member select something they’d like to read and then have family members share what they’re reading, how they’re reacting, and what they’re learning.

Third, parents might seek out fun events that also offer learning opportunities. Visits to museums, libraries, historical sites and exhibits, attendance at cultural events, and even nature and neighborhood hikes can offer valuable opportunities to reinforce and extend learning. During and after the experiences, parents can help children and young people to place the experience in context and make connections. Equally important, parents need to pay attention to questions their children ask and take time to explore implications and reinforce aspects of significance.

Fourth, parents can use summer opportunities to preview key skills and concepts students will learn in the coming year. Our communication might preview highlights of the next year’s curriculum to help parents become aware of what lies ahead. We can offer ideas and examples of how parents can expose students to key concepts and skills. The idea isn’t to have parents pre-teach, rather they can look for opportunities to expose students to and discuss what they’ll be learning. We know the more background knowledge students bring to new learning, the easier and more successful learning becomes.

Certainly, as we reflect on a sincere end-of-year message to share with parents, we understand parents want their children to have a relaxing, fun-filled summer, especially in the aftermath of the past three years. Fortunately, summer learning doesn’t necessarily have to be time-consuming or drudging work. When combined with family activities and shared experiences, summer learning can be a great antidote for learning loss - and it can be fun.

We serve in institutions with the mission of nurturing learning. On the surface, this statement seems obvious. Yet, when we examine the focus, practices, incentives, and culture present in most schools, this relationship isn’t always clear. For example, when asking what’s most important to achieve in school, students are likely to respond with “getting good grades.” Such a response isn’t surprising when we consider the messages students so often hear from adults. We tell them, “Study hard to get good grades.” We should advise them to “study so they learn well.” Grades should serve as a reflection of learning, not the purpose for it.

We might think this is a distinction without a difference until we examine its implications. In fact, when grades become the relied-upon driver for student attention and effort, learning too often takes a “back seat.” Learning becomes a servant of grades rather than grades reflecting learning. When this happens, we and our students risk becoming victims of several unfortunate outcomes. As examples:

Earning points becomes more important than finding purpose. Students can become distracted by how to increase their grades and can lose sight of the importance of and reasons why they're learning.

Performance gets valued over progress. When grades symbolize status and accomplishment, it’s easy for students to want to look good and appear smart over engaging in struggle while developing knowledge and skills.

Cheating can become a strategy. If the point is to get a good grade, finding a short cut can seem like a rational consideration.

Learning is seen as a means rather than an end. In life, learning is the differentiator. Grades that aren’t supported by learning are artificial and useless in the “real world.”

Learning recall is compromised. When learning is driven by grades, once the grade is assigned students typically forget much of what they’ve learned, as their brains believe the purpose for learning has been served.

Grades can mislead. People who attempt to understand what students know can be deceived by the grades students received.

Of course, the position grades occupy in the culture of most schools may seem unassailable. While we may not be able to immediately change the system, there are steps we can take to counter the pressure and influence of grades that can compromise learning. Here are four actions to get started.

Focus on purpose as students are introduced to and engage with new learning. We may not always think deeply about why students should learn what we’re asking. Yet, we know that in life, purpose is the strongest driver of learning. Not everything we ask students to learn has immediate life application, but our students can still benefit from our reflection. Here are some questions we might ask: Why’s this learning important? How might it improve students’ lives? How might they use what they’re learning beyond the confines of the classroom? Of course, achieving a goal to gain competency in a skill can be a purpose. Meeting a challenge can be worth putting in the effort, especially when working with others. Providing service and support to others while learning together can also be a reason to build one’s skills and knowledge.

Focus on the learning process over the product, especially early in the teaching and learning cycle. For example, we might focus instruction and coaching on key strategies for learning, on effective ways to invest learning effort, and on connecting students with key resources to support their learning. Our coaching might focus on where students struggle, on what insights they’re gaining, on what they see as next steps, etc. Meanwhile, we should also consider delaying the assignment of grades for as long as possible. Multiple studies have shown that when grades are assigned, students devalue feedback and focus on the grade. Grades focus on the product and can overwhelm attention to the process.

De-emphasize grades as the reason for learning. Learning builds competence and confidence. Learning creates capacity, options, and power, while grades provide limited value if not supported by real learning.

Remind students that grades have a limited “shelf life,” while learning holds its value. Some students and parents argue that good grades are crucial to get into the post-secondary school of their choice. While in many cases this may be true, it’s good learning that allows students to stay there once they’ve been admitted. Meanwhile, learning leads to good grades, so preoccupation with grades as the goal isn’t necessary.

Admittedly, grades have come to occupy an outsized place in schools and in the learning lives of students. But, they can be a significant distraction from rich, lasting learning. We may not be able to fully dispel the perception of their importance in learning, but we can coach our students to gain a better understanding of and better perspective on how the narrow pursuit of grades can be an empty promise and “fool’s gold” in their pursuit of life meaning and success.

This is the time of year when we face the challenge of preparing our students for upcoming assessments and exams. Students have been exposed to a wealth of content, concepts, and skills over the past weeks and months. We know that students often forget much of what they’ve heard and taken in over time. Now we need to understand how well they’ve absorbed, stored, and can recall and apply what they’ve learned. Our challenge is to bring what students have learned to a conscious level and shore up what they still need to learn. Test preparation strategies that refresh learning and extend recall can help students do this.

However, our goal shouldn’t simply be just to have our students do well on an exam. While having our students do well is part of their and our success equation, we really want them to be able to recall, apply, and connect what they’ve learned beyond the exam. Test preparation may be the immediate activity, but it’s a great opportunity to help students to refresh, reinforce, and ramp up what they’ve learned. Our real goal is to have students be able to retrieve what they’ve learned and access it long after they’ve finished the exam and left our class.

Giving students practice questions that mimic the format they’ll encounter on the exam and reviewing strategies for developing and choosing question responses can assist students to accurately demonstrate what they know. However, these activities do little to reinvigorate what students have learned or uncover gaps and “soft spots” in their learning. Interestingly, some of the strategies we used during initial instruction to help students remember can also be useful in refreshing and reinforcing past learning. Here are four strategies that can help our students get ready for major exams while also extending their learning recall.

Schedule brief, frequent, and focused refreshment sessions. Start early and allow plenty of time. For example, we might take the first or last few minutes of daily class routines for quick review and assessment of what students know and what may need to be reinforced. Students will be better able to re-activate prior learning if they engage in small doses of review over time, rather than large dose cramming in the final days before the assessment. These sessions should include concepts and skills with which students did well during initial instruction and areas of struggle. Just because students scored well on previous assessments doesn't mean they can recall and apply previous learning now. In areas where students struggled during initial learning, we need to pay particular attention to aspects and elements that challenged them. We can also challenge ourselves to find new approaches that might sidestep learning traps and trip-ups and create more successful learning paths for students.

Have students engage in retrieval practice. This relatively simple research-based strategy can provide a significant advantage to students’ preparation. We start by giving students a specific topic, process, or skill on which to focus. Students then do a “mind dump” by recounting, orally or in writing, everything they can recall from prior learning related to the recall target. Students can quickly refresh their memories while identifying areas that may need reinforcement. Interestingly, this approach has been shown to be more efficient and effective than reteaching. Of course, we can encourage students to repeat this process on their own as they prepare for exams individually or in small groups. A key benefit associated with this activity is its ability to extend recall well beyond the completion of an exam.

Coach students to engage in self-quizzing. We might encourage students to generate questions they anticipate will be on the exam. We might “prime” this activity by reminding students of the major concepts and skills they’ve studied and likely will be included in the assessment. By developing questions, students will focus on key content they need to know. Their answers to the questions they generate can build confidence and uncover areas needing more focus and study. A twist to this activity is to have students exchange questions and have classmates develop responses for review by the question creator. The exchange likely will broaden the thinking and preparation in which students engage, as different students predictably will focus on different aspects of the content.

Have students build “mind maps” to demonstrate elements, relationships, and key concept hierarchies. Mind maps can be particularly helpful to students who prefer to organize their thinking and recall with visual representations. Seeing the map in their minds can be a great assistance to them as they respond to exam questions, and "mind maps" retain easily long after the exam is complete. If students build "mind maps" during initial learning, now is a good time to have students retrieve them, review them, and explain their meaning to a classmate. The process of explaining will further solidify recall and may surface areas of confusion or memory loss that’ll need to be addressed.

Obviously, we want our students to do well on key unit and end-of-year assessments. However, we also know students often focus their attention on upcoming exams and quickly forget content once the assessment is complete. These strategies can help students learn more effectively now, as well as build long-term memory they can access in the future.