Strategy

Settling
Starter
Activities

Lining Up
Before
Class

Explanation
Have a simple
activity planned
and either written
on the board or on
a paper at their
desks for when the
students first enter
the classroom. This
should be an
activity that is
clearly described
and does not
require any teacher
intervention to
accomplish. Paper,
pens, pencils,
colouring tools, or
any other materials
that are required
for the activity
should be provided
to reduce any
distractions that
the students may
face.
Before allowing the
students inside the
classroom after a
noisy break (recess,
PE class, lunch) line
them up outside of
the classroom and
only allow the ones
who are displaying
good behaviour
into the classroom.
Instead of telling
the students who
refuse to settle
down what not to
do, focus on
reinforcing the

Key
Considerations/Reflections
This strategy will give the
teacher time to get a feel for
how the class is going to
behave for that day.
Depending on how smoothly
the students transition into
this activity can show a lot
about what is going on in their
lives outside of the classroom.
It will also give some time to
immediately intervene on any
students that are trying to act
as troublemakers that day and
will keep the other students
distracted so that the
intervention can be done
privately.

If students enter the

classroom with a rowdy
attitude the teacher has
already lost control. Not only
does this strategy start to
maintain control of the
students outside of the
classroom, but while lining the
students up it allows some
time for the teacher to get to
know their students with
casual conversation. It is
important to reinforce the
behaviours that you want
instead of punishing the
behaviours that you do not
want. When you allow some

Grade Level
All
- Difficulty of
tasks can be
increased as
the grade level
increases.

Elementary
and lower
junior high
school
- Older
students may
feel offended
by being
treated in this
way.

Guided
Viewing of
Videos

Virtual
Presentati
on

good behaviour of
the students so
that they all strive
for that same
excellence.
Combine with
Settling Starter
Activities so that
the good behaviour
students who enter
the class have
something to work
on while you focus
on reinforcing good
behaviour in the
students outside.
When showing a
video to your
students, pose a
few specific
questions that you
want the students
to pay attention to
while watching.
Quickly ask some
students to repeat
what they are
watching for to
make sure that
they understand
the questions.
Instead of giving a
regular class, either
record or set up a
visual online
presentation in its
place. A series of
these can also be
recorded and set
up as learning
stations for
students to walk
around and view or
even interact with.

of the good behaving students

to enter the classroom, the
others will hope to become
part of the group and will fall
in line as good behaving
students themselves. If some
students refuse to behave
well, it immediately allows you
some time to talk with them
because they are already
separated from the class.

This strategy will focus the

students attention and make
them feel more obliged to
listen to the video. A
limitation that arises from this
is that the students may filter
out any information that is not
directly related to the
questions. If the extra
information in the video that is
not addressed in the
questions is not deemed
important by the teacher,
then this technique can be
useful.
Students are often more
interested in listening to
videos than they are in
listening to their teacher. This
is a strategy that allows the
teacher to use this to their
advantage. Setting up a
classroom with different
virtual learning stations could
be a great way to keep
students moving around and
engaged in their learning. If a
teacher is tech savvy, they

All
- Pose very
clear questions
in lower
grades and
more open
questions in
higher grades.

All
- Younger
grades will be
intrigued by
the virtual
learning while
older students
will be happy
to get out of
their desks to
learn. Also
older students

Combine with the

Guided Viewing of
Videos strategy to
further improve its
effectiveness. It
can also be a great
way to keep on
track if a class is
pressed for time in
a semester and
their teacher gets
sick for a day or
two.

Vote With
Your Feet

Debate
Swap

At the start of a
class discussion or
debate, allow the
students to place
themselves along a
wall in the form of a
spectrum. The
students then
discuss why they
placed themselves
where they did.
This strategy could
also be used to
form teams for a
classroom debate
by drawing a line in
the middle and
separating them
into two teams.
When setting up a
classroom debate
allow the students
to choose the side
that they support
(consider using
Vote With Your
Feet). Once they
are decided, the

could even set up interactive

activities for the students to
do while they visit each
learning station which will
further increase student
engagement. It can also be
used to make up classes
missed while sick. Substitute
teachers are often unable to
teach to the needs of the
students due to a lack of
individual understanding.
These presentations can keep
a class on track if a teacher
has to miss a couple of
classes.
When a difficult question is
posed in class, it can be hard
for a teacher to see who is on
which side of the debate.
Using this technique a teacher
can clearly see how many
people agree with each side
and get an equal number of
people to give their ideas from
each side of the spectrum. It
also gets the students out of
their desks which will make
them more alert and more
confident to give their answer.
In higher grades, we may
want to pursue the debate
further so you could draw a
line in the centre and make
each side into a debate team.
Getting the students to
develop an argument for a
viewpoint that they disagree
with is an effective way to
expand their understanding of
a topic. It also puts them in
the shoes of the people
opposing their viewpoint and
may give them some insight

require more
time pressured
information so
one missed
class could be
a lot of
information.

Upper junior
high and high
school
- Requires the
students to
think for
themselves
and to debate
in a mature
manner.

High school
- Requires
critical
thinking skills
that students
have just
started to
develop by this

Preview
Readings

Relooping
Informatio
n

Writing
With

teams are flipped

so that the
students have to
debate for the side
that they did not
agree with.
When giving a
reading material
(book, course
outline, assignment
description, etc.) to
the students, allow
them three times to
go through it. The
first time is to
familiarize them
with the structure
but not the
material. The
second time is to
familiarize them
with the content by
skimming through
it and focussing on
the titles. The third
time is when they
read the specific
points and pose
questions about the
material.
Start each class
with a brief recap
of the previous
class and end each
class with a brief
intro into the next
class.

After introducing a
writing topic, have

into why the others would

choose that side.

grade level.

Students often feel

overwhelmed when they are
presented with a written
document. Using this
strategy, a teacher can make
the students familiar with a
document before having them
read through it. When the
students have already
familiarized themselves with
the structure it makes it much
easier for them to find the
information that they are
looking for and to know what
is coming up next.

All

Instead of seeing each piece

of information once, as they
usually do in a classroom,
they see each three times.
Even though it is short they
get an intro and a recap into
each lesson which allows a lot
more time to think about the
topics. This also gives the
students much more time to
develop questions and gain
clarity on each lesson.
Young students often lack
confidence in writing. Using

All

- People often
feel
overwhelmed
(even in
university) by
reading
materials so it
is always
useful to go
through these
in this way.

- Students of
all ages learn
better when
they see
information
multiple times.

Elementary

Students
Modeling

Fo(u)r
Learners

the students
collectively write an
example together.
Using the white
board or smart
board, allow them
to give ideas and
then write them
down in the ways
that the students
word it. It is
important not to
critique or alter
what they say
when they give the
ideas otherwise you
may stifle them
when they are
working alone.
Once you have
finished, the
students will have
made their own
model of what is
expected of them.
Knowing that the
main learning
styles are visual,
reading & writing,
auditory, and
kinesthetic, a
teacher can
present the
information in each
way. First present
the information by
saying it (auditory).
Then follow it up
with either a
handout of
information or a
reference to the
textbook (reading &
writing). Next draw

this strategy you can show

them that their writing does
not have to be perfect. The
teacher can even purposely
make mistakes in order to
further push that point and to
introduce the importance or
editing and proofreading.
Students are also introduced
to turning verbal sentences
into written text. Many
students think that they are
unable to write well but when
they are able to take part in
this activity, they can see how
easy it is to turn exactly what
they said into writing.

- Should be
used as an
introduction to
writing and to
show the basic
structure of
different types
of writing.

This strategy is great for a

variety of different learners.
Sometimes students can only
learn in one of these four
ways so if the information is
not presented in that way they
will not be able to remember
it. Understanding how many
of each learner that you have
in your class is important for
this because it tells you how
long to spend on each type.
The order also will vary with
the lesson, according to what
the topic is and what needs to
be discussed first. The
drawback with this technique
is that it will require a lot of
time in class and planning

All
- Learning
styles are
something that
sticks with
learners
throughout
their entire
learning
career.

or present a visual
representation of
the information
using a mind map,
branch diagram, or
any other visual
that can convey the
information
(visual). Finally,
have the students
do a hands on task
using the
information
(kinesthetic). Try
varying the order
according to the
needs of your class.

outside of class.