Math Giraffe
  • Start Here
  • Blog
  • Doodle Notes
  • Shop
  • Classroom Management & Ideas
  • Algebra
  • Geometry
  • Middle School
  • Inquiry Learning
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Pre Algebra Doodle NoteBook
  • Finance Doodle NoteBook
  • Distance Math Activities
  • Start Here
  • Blog
  • Doodle Notes
  • Shop
  • Classroom Management & Ideas
  • Algebra
  • Geometry
  • Middle School
  • Inquiry Learning
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • Pre Algebra Doodle NoteBook
  • Finance Doodle NoteBook
  • Distance Math Activities
Search by typing & pressing enter

YOUR CART

Picture

8/3/2017 5 Comments

Teaching Strategies Backed by Research

The 5 Best Methods & Specific Tips on HOW to Incorporate Each in Your Own Classroom

Research Based Teaching Strategies for Math Class
Being a teacher is a tough business. It can be hard to navigate the classroom and know if your teaching methods are truly hitting home with your students.

That’s why we rely on our specific go-to teaching strategies to help guide the way throughout the year.

But, do we know if these methods that we use day in and day out are truly effective?

Here's the deal about what researchers have found recently and what the top minds in education have to say about teaching strategies after taking a deeper look.

Check out the top five things that you can (and should) be doing in your classroom to help your students succeed this year.
Pin it
​What are teaching strategies?
 
First off, it’s important to know exactly what teaching strategies are and how they can assist you in the classroom. Basically, these are methods teachers use to deliver information and lessons to their students. They are most often identified with three main basic areas of learning; visual, auditory, and kinesthetic.
 
However, it can be hard to know what strategies to use and exactly when to use them. It can seem, at times, like we almost have too much information coming at us about the best designed lesson plan. And it can easily leave us teachers feeling overwhelmed and a little lost. We all want to be innovative and try new things, but how can we know what is the best use of our time and effort? 
Teaching Strategies for Math Class Backed by Research
Pin it
​Here’s what research says:
 
John Hattie, who has researched the levels of achievement in K-12 children for over 15 years and is the author of Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning, has some insight for us. His findings helped link student outcomes to a few highly effective teaching practices.
 
His findings along with those of other researchers have helped to link positive student outcomes with highly effective teaching strategies. So, which teaching strategies has research supported as the best? Here are the top ones that were found.
​1.) Clear Lesson Goals - Making sure that you are clear and concise with what you want your students to learn in a lesson is imperative. In fact, in Hattie’s research, he found that the student results were 32% greater with clear lesson goals than if they were held to generally high expectations (source).
 
TRY IT:  Post the objectives for each day on a specified space on your whiteboard following these guidelines. 
 
2.) Checking for Understanding - Kathleen Cotton’s research in Classroom Questions - School Improvement Research Series suggested that even though teachers spend a lot of time asking questions, they don’t always use their questions to check for understanding. However, it is incredibly important to do so before moving on to the next part of a lesson.
 
TRY IT:  Check out this fantastic article on How to Check for Understanding, for some great ideas.
 
3.) Give Students Plenty of Practice - This tactic can be a little tricky since we always seem to be under some kind of time constraint in our classrooms. However, practice really does make perfect. Make the most of practice by ensuring your students are practicing the right things. Split up topics among students and have them demonstrate their knowledge to the classroom in a show and tell/question and answer session in class.
 
TRY IT: Use games that do not waste time.  I call these “no fluff.”  The creative & unique game options available for purchase here offer a bit of fun without taking away any lesson time.  They incorporate the same number of problems as a worksheet, but in a fun way (the perfect blend of fun and rigor!)  
 
4.) Provide Feedback - It’s hard for students to know where they are without proper feedback. According to John Hattie’s research, “any teachers who seriously want to boost their children’s results should start by giving them dollops and dollops of feedback” (source).
 
TRY IT: 
  • These printables include forms and specific examples for giving feedback,
  • and this list offers 20 ways to make sure your feedback is effective.
 
5.) Nurture Metacognition - Basically this is thinking about thinking and it is very beneficial to our students. It helps them make connections when reading and verbalizing problem solving. This tactic involves more than just strategies. It involves thinking about your options, your choices, and the results. This actually helps the student decide on the strategies they can use instead of being told which one to use. Then they can analyze their choices and decide if they are on the right path of cognition.
 
TRY IT:
  • Have students explain their thinking process when using card sorts, always, sometimes, never activities, and other similar critical thinking tasks.  Get the “math talk” going! 
  • Be sure to also have your students WRITE about their thinking. (Learn more here.)
  • Structure your lessons in a way that requires students to test cases and provide examples and counterexamples.  (Learn more here.)

Research - Based Teaching Methods for Math Class
Pin it
​Having these 5 teaching strategies in place is exactly what our students need to succeed. By giving clear lesson goals, checking for understanding, letting them practice, providing feedback, and nurturing metacognition in our students, we can give them strong support in their learning.

For more ideas, inspiration, articles, resources, and updates, follow along with the Math Giraffe through email by entering your email address in the box below:

To Read Next:

Picture
Picture
Picture
5 Comments
sam
8/18/2017 04:17:29 pm

I would love to see some of your objectives. It makes sense to post the objectives, but how does one do this without interfering with the discovery of a math lesson? A well designed lesson will include some tool building that has the objective in mind, but not reveal what the students are expected to discover and draw conclusions. Was this strategy intended for the Social Studies and Language classrooms?

Reply
Math Giraffe link
8/18/2017 07:52:44 pm

Hi Sam,
Yes, awesome question - you can still do this while allowing for discovery. For example, if the objective is "Students will identify special angle pairs along a transversal and use their relationships to solve problems," you can still do the inquiry activity where they discover what those relationships actually are. It's still good for them to know that the goal is for them to see special relationships and then that they will ultimately need to apply that to solving equations within the diagrams. Hope this helps! :) Have an awesome school year!
-Brigid

Reply
Natasha
9/4/2017 09:20:03 am

Thanks for providing another great quick read, reinforcing what I am doing well so far and reminding me of areas where I can improve! I am not a Maths teacher and sometimes struggle to see how some of the activities you suggest could translate into the English classroom. Any suggestions? I came across your website when I was trying to help my own child review Maths concepts in a fun way and have been trying ever since to incorporate some of your strategies.

Reply
Math Giraffe link
9/6/2017 09:09:05 pm

Hi Natasha,
I'm so glad you are enjoying reading some of the ideas!
A lot of this can apply to English class too. Everything in this post can apply, but also the visual notes / doodle notes! We do have English teachers in the doodle note club loving trying it with their classes! I wonder if some of the activities could too. You've got me thinking :) Maybe card sorts and always, sometimes, never questioning would work for critical thinking. Thanks so much!
-Brigid

Reply
Language & Learning link
4/13/2022 08:54:56 pm

What a nice insights and guide that every parents should follow through for their kids learning needs.

Reply



Leave a Reply.


    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    March 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    September 2021
    July 2021
    April 2021
    November 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    November 2019
    September 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014


    RSS Feed

    Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
    Click to set custom HTML
Proudly powered by Weebly
Photos used under Creative Commons from kellywritershouse, Robert-Herschede, University of the Fraser Valley, mrhayata, Iwan Gabovitch, nateOne, Franklin Park Library, rhymeswithsausage, US Department of Education, Edsel L, Larry1732, philwarren, peteselfchoose, Dean Hochman, BryonLippincott, AFS-USA Intercultural Programs, Nilsze, philosophygeek, VividImageInc, cantanima, dcysurfer / Dave Young