Teacher's School Checklist
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Table of Contents
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- Getting students' attention
- Ask an interesting, speculative question, show a picture, tell a little story, or read a related poem to generate discussion and interest in the upcoming lesson.
- Try "'playfulness," silliness, a bit of theatrics (props and storytelling) to get attention and peak interest.
- Use storytelling
- Add a bit of mystery
- Signal students auditorily: ring a bell, use a beeper or timer, play a bar of music on the piano or guitar, etc.
- Vary your tone of voice: loud, soft, whispering
- Use visual signals: flash the lights or raise your hand which signals the students to raise their hands and close their mouths until everyone is silent.
- Frame the visual material you want students to be focused on with your hands or with a colored box around it.
- If using an overhead, place an object (like little toy car or plastic figure) to be projected on the screen to get attention.
- Clearly signal: "Everybody…Ready…"
- Color is very effective in getting attention
- Model excitement and enthusiasm about the upcoming lesson.
- Use eye contact
- Focusing students' attention
- Employ multisensory strategies when directions are given and a lesson is presented.
- Maintain your visibility.
- Project your voice and make sure you can be heard clearly by all students.
- Be aware of competing sounds in your room environment (such as noisy heaters or air conditioning unit.)
- Call students up front and close to you for direct instruction (like seated on the carpet by the board).
- Position all students so that they can see the board and/or overhead screen
- Explain the purpose and relevance to hook students in to your lesson.
- Incorporate demonstrations and hands-on presentations into your teaching whenever possible.
- Use a flashlight or laser pointer
- Use study guides/sheets that are partial outlines
- Use visuals
- Illustrate, illustrate, illustrate: It doesn't matter if you don't draw well to illustrate throughout your presentation
- Point with a dowel, a stick/pointer, or laser pointer to written material you want students to focus on
- Note: Overhead projectors are the best tools for focusing students' attention in the classroom
- Block out material by covering or removing from the visual field that which you visually don't want students to focus on
- Have students write down brief notes or illustrate key points during instruction.
- Maintaining students' attention
- Move around in the classroom to maintain your visibility.
- Teach thematically whenever possible, allowing for integration of ideas/concepts and connections to be made.
- Present at a lively, brisk pace.
- Be prepared and avoid lag time in instruction.
- Use pictures, diagrams, gestures, manipulatives, and high interest materials.
- Use higher-level questioning techniques
- Decrease the amount of time you are doing the talking
- Use direct instruction techniques and other methods of questioning that allow for high response opportunities (i
- Structure the lesson so that it can be done in pairs or small groups for maximum student involvement and attention.
- Alter the way students are called on to avoid calling on students one at a time
- Make frequent use of group or unison responses when there is one correct and short answer
- Use the proper structure of cooperative learning groups (assignment of roles, accountability)
- Allowing students to use individual chalkboards or dry-erase boards throughout the lesson is motivating to students and helps maintain attention
- Use motivating computer programs for specific skill building and practice (programs that provide for frequent feedback and self correction.
- Keeping students on-task during seat work
- Check for clarity
- Make sure necessary supplies are available.
- Give a manageable amount of work that the student is capable of doing independently.
- Give other "failproof " work that student can do in the meantime if he or she is stumped on an assignment and needs to wait for teacher attention or assistance.
- Study buddies or partners may be assigned for any clarification purposes during seat work, especially when you are instructing another group of students while part of the class is doing seat work.
- Have students use signals to the teacher/aide for "I need help!" Some teachers use a sign or a colored signal that students may place on their desk that alerts any adult scanning the room that the student needs assistance.
- Scan classroom frequently
- Consider using a timer for some students who work well with a "beat the clock" system for work completion.
- Use contracts, charts, and behavior-modification systems for on-task behavior.
- Reward for the certain number of completed items that are done with accuracy.
- Provide desk examples for reference.
- Use response costs and natural consequences for off-task behavior
- Make use of study carrels or quiet office areas for seat work.
- Teach students to self-monitor their own on-task behavior
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Presented by:
Kimberly French
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Who it's for
This Teacher's School Checklist is for teams that want consistent execution, less rework, and clear ownership.
- Standardize quality - run the same Teacher's School steps every time, regardless of who executes
- Save time - reuse a proven Teacher's School workflow instead of rebuilding processes from scratch
- Improve accountability - assign owners and see what's done vs. what's pending
- Onboard faster - use the Teacher's School checklist as the SOP and training guide
- Coordinate across roles - handoffs are clear and everyone works from the same source of truth
How to use it
How to use this Teacher's School Checklist:
- Start by saving it - save as a Template if you'll reuse it, or as a Checklist if it's a one-off project.
- Customize it once for your workflow - remove what doesn't apply and add your team-specific steps.
- Assign ownership and execute - set owners/due dates where needed and track completion as work happens.
- Reuse without rebuilding - when Teacher's School comes up again, start from your saved version and run it with clear ownership.
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Scores 4.80 with 90 votes