Oh the life of a teacher. First we plan, then plan, and finish up with planning some more. Our lives center around the planning process. We know that we have to plan our days and weeks to be as efficient as possible, but finding time to do it properly is always a challenge. We have... Continue Reading →

There are many ways in which we can formally assess our students. No matter how a teacher incorporates this teaching strategy, most agree, formative assessments should be used to drive a teacher's next step in the learning process of their students. Retrieval practice is an effective way to gauge student understanding even though it is... Continue Reading →

Teachers assess students in a variety of ways. One of the staples of the teacher toolbox is the good old rubric. Rubrics are simply a set of criteria that contains levels of performance quality on those criteria we set for our students. You may use a rubric to observe a student in the process of... Continue Reading →

One of the unique question features found in the premium version of Formative is the "Resequence" option. This type of question gives teachers a way to assess students on their ability to place items in sequential order. This type of question can be valuable to use in any content area. Sequencing can be a powerful... Continue Reading →

Teachers are always looking for creative ways to engage their students. Unfortunately, most of us have handed out an assignment and our students react saying, "this assignment is boring". Once our students are bored, classroom management issues usually follow close behind. Numerous factors contribute to improving student engagement, like creating a positive learning environment, knowing... Continue Reading →

As professionals, we all strive to do our best. As our journey through a school year or teaching career unfolds, we get feedback from a variety of places. Typically, administrators give us feedback on our performance a few times a school year through an evaluation system. Colleagues share thoughts on our practices during our school's... Continue Reading →

Teachers realize that not all students learn in the exact same way. We may create an outstanding lesson that engages most of our students, but we always seem to have a few that it just does not work for. Teaching to the varied learning styles of our students is difficult and time-consuming.Students seem to be... Continue Reading →

The word "change" can be scary and frustrating for many people. We love our comfort zone. We like how things "used to be". Just when it seems like all the hard work we have put into something, someone wants us to try a different, better way. This potential change can cause an array of emotions... Continue Reading →