Browse practical guidance by the job you are trying to do: plan a lesson, gather evidence, improve participation, manage routines, or support a wider range of learners.
Planning and assessment
Lesson planning
Build a coherent lesson around a learning goal, success evidence, explanation or modeling, guided practice, participation, and adjustment.
Assessment beyond tests
Match observations, performances, conferences, portfolios, self-assessment, and other methods to the evidence you actually need.
Differentiated lesson design
Plan common goals with flexible routes, supports, materials, and ways for students to show learning.
Classroom management and routines
- Classroom Management Strategies for Teachers — prevention, relationships, routines, responses, and reflection.
- Giving Effective Directions — reduce ambiguity and check that students know what to do.
- Fixing Noisy Transitions — teach, rehearse, cue, and improve predictable classroom movement.
Student engagement, discussion, and thinking
Student engagement
Separate meaningful cognitive and behavioral engagement from entertainment or simple compliance.
Questioning and discussion
Use wait time, participation structures, follow-ups, and checks for understanding to hear more student thinking.
Critical thinking and reasoning
Teach students to clarify claims, examine evidence, compare sources, test alternatives, and revise conclusions.
Collaborative learning
Design interdependence, individual accountability, roles, and reflection instead of merely seating students together.
Inquiry-based learning
Choose an appropriate level of guidance for students’ knowledge, the task, and the learning goal.
Hands-on and experiential learning
Connect activity to explanation, reflection, feedback, and transfer so that doing becomes learning.
Supporting diverse learners
Need the full alphabetical reference? Browse the Instructional Strategies List for Teachers.