“The more you learn about how the brain works, the better you can teach the brains that are in the room.” —Cathleen Beachboard, High School Teacher

🎧 Tune in! @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social shares her 3 best, brain-based strategies for helping students remember what they’ve learned: https://apple.co/4ceLWhB

Helping Students Overcome the Forgetting Curve Podcast Episode · School of Practice · April 16 · 22m

Our brains are wired to forget—unless we take active steps to remember. 🧠

In this week’s episode of School of Practice, we talk to @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social, who shares her top 3 strategies to help students remember what she’s just taught them.

Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/4ceLWhB

Podcast: Helping Students Overcome the Forgetting Curve High school teacher Cathleen Beachboard shares her top three strategies to flatten the dreaded forgetting curve and help students remember what you teach them.

www.edutopia.org/podcast/help...

What if student memory is not the problem but our design is?
Students do not forget because they cannot learn.
They forget because learning is not built for the brain.
Three ways to make learning stick:
www.edutopia.org/podcast/help...

Thank you for sharing this, I really appreciate it. Writing it made me think about how leaders often have clear goals, but habits quietly pull them off course.

I would love to hear, what habit has made the biggest difference for you as an educational influencer/leader?

Why Students Give Up on a Task—and What Teachers Can Do About It Students often start working on a task, but disengage if it gets difficult. You can use these three tips to encourage them to persist.

"In many classrooms...the real challenge isn’t students’ initial motivation. It’s helping them stay w/ a task when learning becomes difficult... Persistence...can be shaped by the environments that students experience every day & by the ways we structure learning." /1
- @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social

Why Students Give Up on a Task—and What Teachers Can Do About It Students often start working on a task, but disengage if it gets difficult. You can use these three tips to encourage them to persist.

Persistence isn’t a personality trait—something students either have or don’t.

Instead, @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social writes, it’s a skill, and you can help students build it up over time. ⛰️

#EduSky

Why Students Give Up on a Task—and What Teachers Can Do About It Students often start working on a task, but disengage if it gets difficult. You can use these three tips to encourage them to persist.

The most dangerous moment in learning isn’t the start.

It’s not the end.

It’s the middle.

That’s where motivation drops and students decide to quit.

Here’s how to keep them going:
www.edutopia.org/article/guid...

Student Engagement 12 Ways to Use Cues to Boost Students’ Effort in the Classroom Teachers can use these research-based cognitive and behavioral cues to help students feel capable, focused, and ready to work, even when tasks are challenging.

Flashy speeches or slides might initially grab your classroom’s attention.

However, high school ELA teacher @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social writes, it’s the quieter ✨behavioral & cognitive cues✨ that prime students for deep learning.

Let’s explore 2 ways teachers can use cues.

🧵1/7 #EduSky

12 Ways to Use Cues to Boost Students’ Effort in the Classroom Teachers can use these research-based cognitive and behavioral cues to help students feel capable, focused, and ready to work, even when tasks are challenging.

Once you know what to look for, cues become some of the most powerful tools in a classroom.

@cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social shares 12 research-informed cues that help students feel capable, focused, and willing to try! 🌟

#EduSky

12 Ways to Use Cues to Boost Students’ Effort in the Classroom Teachers can use these research-based cognitive and behavioral cues to help students feel capable, focused, and ready to work, even when tasks are challenging.

www.edutopia.org/article/12-c...

How to Really Prepare Students for State Tests A high school teacher uses her state’s testing blueprint to give students practice with the standards and question types they’ll encounter most frequently.

It’s not so much teaching to the test, and more a matter of understanding the test’s priorities.

HS teacher @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social explains how she does it—and shares free downloadable resources for review stations. 🚀

#assessment #EduSky

How to Streamline IEP Paperwork for Special and General Education Teachers With this simple Google Form and spreadsheet—free template included—the whole IEP team can keep up to speed on the supports students need.

If rushing to put together required IEP documentation sounds familiar, try @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social and her co-teacher’s free template!

By helping Ts regularly and quickly provide updates, it not only eases the paperwork burden but also results in better support for students. 🌟

Paige, this means more to me than I can put into words. Being your first interview still feels like such an honor, and watching the way you’ve built this space with curiosity, generosity, and heart has been a gift. Thank you for seeing people so fully and elevating teachers everywhere!

Why Students Don’t Ask for Help – and How to Change That 1. Modeling: Lead by Example 2. Structure: Designing for Engagement 3. Communication: Changing the Narrative Around Help-Seeking Via Teacher Cathleen Beachboard and Edutopia

"I saw students go from silent frustration to actively seeking help. The problem wasn’t their ability. It wasn’t even their motivation. The real barrier? Social norms."

From T @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social, via @edutopia.org: www.edutopia.org/article/gett...

We’re not facing a motivation crisis in schools and organizations.

We’re facing a crisis of hope.

When people can’t see a future they believe they can reach, learning, performance, and well-being suffer.

I explore this question in my #TEDX and tools to boost hope.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdWR...

What if hope is the key to a meaningful life? | Cathleen Beachboard | TEDxCulpeper Women YouTube video by TEDx Talks

In my TEDx talk, What If Hope Is the Key to a Meaningful Life?, I explore why hope isn’t just a feeling—but a measurable, teachable skill that drives motivation, resilience, and long-term success.
youtu.be/QdWRUF3OKMg?...

3 Ways to Prime Students’ Brains for Achievement Using priming language is a powerful way to set the stage for learning, and we’ve got a free downloadable word bank here to help you implement this research-backed strategy.

A few evidence-based tweaks to your first moments of instruction can boost focus and motivation! 🧠

Teacher @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social explains how to use this research-backed strategy—and shares a free downloadable resource to help.

#EduSky

4 Ways to Use the Fresh Start Effect to Motivate Students Research has shown that people put in extra effort on their goals after meaningful time markers like the start of a new year. The good news is, teachers can engineer these markers for students.

Veteran teacher @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social promotes retakes and revision as strategies to encourage students to move past a poor performance in class and continue to learn. 📝⭐

#EduSky

New episode from School of Practice: How to Get Students to Ask for Help When They Need it. Listen on Apple Podcasts.

Do your students avoid asking for help—even when you know they need it? Our latest podcast episode is for you!

It's full of teacher-tested strategies that can make help-seeking not just accepted, but *expected* in your classroom. 🙋

Listen on Apple Podcasts: apple.co/4nTfvsr

“Tips for Feedback” handout with two columns labeled “Glows” and “Grows.” Under Glows: 1) “Name the skill, strategy, or strength you see used in the work,” 2) “Point out an example of the strength you see,” and 3) “Explain why you feel that this is a strength using information from what you’ve learned.” Common discussion starters include: “I like how you used…,” “The best part of this is…,” and “You did a good job when you…” Under Grows: 1) “Name the step, skill, or area that could be improved on in the work,” 2) “Point out an example of the area that could be improved,” and 3) “Explain why you feel the area could be improved using what you’ve learned.” Common discussion starters include: “Next time try to…,” “You might consider…,” and “One suggestion I have is…” At the bottom, a reminder says, “Good feedback is kind, specific, and helpful!” The chart is credited to educator Cathleen Beachboard and shared by Edutopia.

Tip for boosting students’ motivation to learn: Teach them to give each other feedback! 💬

This Glows and Grows handout from @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social can help: https://edut.to/4neBF7w

#EduSky

1-Minute Read. Student Engagement. Using Micro-Goals to Boost Student Motivation. Adapted from: 3 Ways to Boost Students’ Motivation to Learn, by Cathleen Beachboard

When belief + effort = progress, learning sparks ✨

“Motivation for learning doesn’t start with academic success—it starts with expectation,” #ELA teacher @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social says.

Here’s how she uses micro-goals to get her HS students psyched to put in real work.

🧵1/7 #EduSky

“When students believe they can grow and they put in effort and then see that belief confirmed, the brain responds. Memory strengthens. Motivation increases. The desire to keep going builds.” —Cathleen Beachboard, High School Teacher

How to harness insights from neuroscience research to boost students’ motivation: https://edut.to/4neBF7w

#EduSky

3 Ways to Boost Students’ Motivation to Learn New research suggests that motivation isn’t built on grades but on whether grades match students’ expectations, so showing them evidence of their learning is key.

3 research-backed strategies @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social uses in her classroom to fuel student motivation! 🧠⬇️

#EduSky

Turn your class rosters into relationship roadmaps! Quickly get to know who needs more connection with this simple strategy created by teacher @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social 🗺️

Start by looking at your rosters, and ask yourself: How well do you know your students?

#EdutopiaVideos #BackToSchool

Line titled The Forgetting Curve. In an hour, your students will forget more than half of what they learn. The chart shows that in 20 minutes, what students remember declines from 100% to roughly 60%. Then by the hour mark, it declines to just above 40%.

Without reinforcement, we forget almost everything we learn, @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social writes.

Decades of research show that unless an effort is made to retain new information, 50% of new info disappears within an hour, 75% is gone by the next day, & up to 90% fades away within a week. 🤯

🧵1/7

4 Classroom Design Tactics to Motivate Students Teachers can make small shifts in their classroom design to boost engagement, spark curiosity, and celebrate success.

“The environments we create often shape behavior more than we realize. In education, this means that small, deliberate adjustments to the classroom can have outsized effects on students’ motivation and engagement.” 🔧

@cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social shares 4 easy-to-implement changes you can make now.

How to Give Effective Feedback—and Save Your Sanity Grading is a real pain point, but the good news is that giving students targeted feedback on their work is more effective for their learning and saves teachers time.

In order for students to actually use feedback for learning and growth, it needs to be targeted, @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social says. And this strategy makes grading manageable for teachers—win win! 💯

#EduSky #assessment

Why try this playful get-to-know-you activity? “It creates a two-way communication street from day 1 to help the child thrive. This is an activity that gets one of the greatest response rates, because who doesn't like to talk about their kids?” @cathleenbeachbd.bsky.social says. 🧡

#EdutopiaVideos