Retrieval Practice: Boosting Memory and Student Success In past posts, I've shared a bit about the Cognitive Science Microcredential I earned through the Center for Excellence in Leadership and Learning. Cognitive science is all about understanding how our minds work. The main point of the microcredential is to know how people learn best and then apply that understanding to support the work we do in the classroom. Today, I want to focus on the concept of Retrieval Practice.

Students think rereading helps them learn. Research says the opposite. 🔬 The testing effect is one of the most powerful tools we're underusing. New post 👇 #CogSci #EdLeadership #ScienceOfLearning #FESTigers

Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction (Part 2) In the last post, I shared a bit about Barak Rosenshine and the work he did to bring together research in cognitive science, master teachers, and cognitive supports. His principles were created to support teachers in bringing research theory into regular classroom practice. In the last post, we briefly discussed the first five of the principles: Begin a lesson with a short review, present new material in small steps, ask a large number of questions, provide models, and guide student practice.

Unlock student mastery with Rosenshine's final 5 principles! From checking understanding to spiral review — research-backed strategies every teacher needs. 🎓
#ScienceOfTeaching #Rosenshine #InstructionalPractice #EdLeadership #TeacherPD #FESTigers

Play-doh letter work bridges fine motor skills with early literacy, making abstract symbols concrete, memorable, and fun. It’s especially effective in Kindergarten because it respects the developmental need for tactile, playful learning. #FESTigers #FESReads

There are so many benefits for our learners:
- Fine motor strengthening
- Tactile awareness
- Letter recognition
- Sound-symbol connection and more!
#FESTigers #FESReads

Play-doh letter making

More multi-sensory learning during the literacy block. Today, some of our kindergarten students are creating letter shapes out of Play-doh. #FESTigers #FESReads #reading #scienceofreading

Student making words with magnetic letters

First graders are using magnetic boards and letters to build words. Magnetic letters turn phonics into a tactile, interactive puzzle, helping students internalize sound-symbol relationships more deeply than with listening or writing alone. #FESTigers #FESReads #reading #SOR

The Commitment As a teacher, what do you define your primary purpose as? We all know that a lot goes into supporting our students – we’ve been trained in SEL, Restorative Practices, Crisis Intervention, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, and that list could go on. In addition to the training we’ve had, we have supervisory roles; we communicate with families, we manage our classrooms, we document student attendance, we collaborate with our colleagues, and we may even support students by organizing extra-curricular activities.

Together, we are building high levels of learning for ALL! 📚🐯 As educators, our commitment is clear—if they didn’t learn it, we must teach it differently. Let’s push every student to success and mastery! #BuildingSuccess #edchat #LearningForAll #edusky #FESTigers #Teaching

Orienteering Some of you may not know this about me, but many of the core memories from my pre- and teen years relate to my time as a Boy Scout. I attended weekly meetings with my troop; we had campouts throughout the year; each summer, we went to a scout camp; and every other year, there was a high adventure trip. Eventually, I worked my way up the ranks from Scout to Eagle, the highest rank available in scouting.

Just like orienteering, guiding student writers requires knowing both the destination and the starting point. In our latest PD, we’re mapping out writing progressions to ensure growth. Check out how we navigate this challenge! #WritingProgressions #StudentGrowth #FESTigers #edchat #edusky #FESWrites

The LEGO Conundrum Last week, we began a new round of professional development. One of our School Improvement Goals is to increase the number of students proficient in evidence and elaboration in their writing. In our most recent round of ILEARN testing (the test used in our state to check student proficiency in math and ELA in grades 3-8), only slightly more than 17% showed proficiency in this area.

Building strong writers is like building a LEGO—skip a step, and the whole structure struggles. Every grade matters! How do you ensure your students get all the pieces they need? #WritingSuccess #FESWrites #FESTigers #edchat #edusky #learning #EdLeadership #school #inspiringschools

The Novice to Expert Continuum I’ve recently been reading the book Just Tell Them: The Power of Explanations and Explicit Teaching by Zach Groshell. I see it as something of the convergence of the work from John Sweller on Cognitive Load Theory and the work from Anita Archer on Explicit Instruction. I’ve been really enjoying the book, and I highly recommend it as a way to reflect on how you explain your instruction to your students.

Reflecting on 'Just Tell Them' by Zach Groshell: A must-read on teaching novices to experts along a continuum. Insights on explicit teaching, cognitive load, and learner needs. Quick, impactful read! #FESTigers #edchat #edusky #bfc530

Eight Ways to Help Kids Read Complex Text | Shanahan on Literacy This blog entry provides advice on how to teach reading comprehension using grade level text instead of instructional level text. It provides 8 useful approaches.

This is an excellent post by Timothy Shanahan about supporting struggling readers, and would be especially valuable for teachers at upper grade levels trying to help students get to #readingcomprehension! #FESTigers #FESReads #reading #edusky #bfc530

Cognitive Load Theory Have you ever had moments in your life where something seemed to be coming at you from multiple directions? That's how I learned about my all-time favorite television show: Breaking Bad. Numerous friends from different backgrounds talked about it sometime during the second season, and I decided to give it a chance. I was hooked. That's also how I came across the book 

Over break, I deep-dived into Cognitive Load Theory—how mental effort affects learning. From simplifying lessons to reducing distractions, let’s optimize learning in every classroom. 🧠📚 #FESTigers #edusky #edchat #bfc530

Sometimes there are things you do as a principal because your students love it. Our third graders won the Penny Wars competition this month, so they got to be present for the pie in my face.

#FESTigers #edusky #principalsinaction #bfc530

What really goes into teaching comprehension As a classroom teacher, I remember spending chunks of time with my students. We'd read, sometimes me to them, sometimes them to me, sometimes to each other, and sometimes on their own. Then, I would do some comprehension activity—maybe some questions to answer, a written response, or something similar. This is how I was trained then, so it's what I did.

The way I was trained to teach #readingcomprehension, and what the science is telling me is the correct way to teach reading comprehension are not in alignment. This post takes a look at some of the best practices to support students. #FESTigers #edchat

We've recently been engaged in a series of professional learning around vocabulary. What we're coming to realize is that it's not just about defining words, it's about building word associations. That's how the brain works. Word webs, sorts, etc., can all help. #edusky #FESTigers

The goal is not to simply get kids to answer questions. The goal is to prompt them to discuss the questions, ask their own questions, and have discussions at higher levels of thinking. #FESTigers #FESReads #edusky

Teaching #reading comprehension doesn't happen through assessing at the end of reading. It happens through building pathways to comprehension through meaningful questions throughout the reading of a text. #FESTigers #FESReads #edusky

I was in a fourth grade class this week. Instead of just typing up their informational pieces, they used Canva to create infographics to share their information. Still went through the complete writing process, met all standards, but created something much more modern. #bfc530 #FESTigers

Today Officer Clausius from the local police department is talking with our third graders about trusted adults. We always appreciate all the partnerships with our first responders to help our students learn how to be safe. #FESTigers

A first grade class that is building the foundation of learning.

HSEFoundation Giving Tuesday sign.

Literally building the foundation for learning with our new building renovation and expansion.

It's #GivingTuesday. I gave to the @hsefoundation because we are building a foundation for learning for ALL! #HSEFunselfie #FESTigers #HSESchools #learning

If you'd like to support our mission, check out www.hsefoundation.org/events/givin...

Student typing final draft of nonfiction writing piece on their iPad utilizing Canva.

This is an excellent example of blended learning. Students in this 4th grade class wrote rough drafts. Then there was a round of self, then peer, then teacher editing. Now they are using their edited copy to create a final draft of their informational writing in Canva. #edusky #FESTigers