Lessons · Teaching · Quick reference
Teaching quick reference
74 topics, one line each, in the order Hone teaches them.
Hone is a place to practise a career, one idea a day. This sheet is the whole Teaching track at a glance: every idea it covers, in the order they are taught, one line each. It is a map rather than a lesson. Read opens the full explanation of an idea; Practise gives you a question on it. Both are free, and reading needs no account at all.
From a blank room to a lesson that lands · How learning actually works
how much a person can hold at onceWorking memory is the small desk where thinking happens and it holds only about four new things at a time; long-term memory is the warehouse behind it, and that is effectively unlimited. Read: What a person can hold at once · Practise how much a person can hold at once
the three kinds of cognitive loadThree things compete for that small desk: the difficulty of the idea itself, which is intrinsic load; the effort wasted on how the lesson is presented, which is extraneous load; and the effort that actually builds the understanding, which is germane load. Read: The three kinds of load, and the only one you cut · Practise the three kinds of cognitive load
new learning sticks to what is already knownNothing is learned in a vacuum. New material is understood by attaching it to something a learner already has, so the first job of a lesson is to find that hook and put it where they can reach it. Read: New learning has to stick to something · Practise new learning sticks to what is already known
the forgetting curveWithout being brought back, most of what is taught today is gone within days, so one good explanation is not teaching; it is the first of several appointments with the same idea. Read: Forgetting is the normal case · Practise the forgetting curve
spaced practiceThe same total practice time produces far more durable memory when it is cut up and spread out than when it is done in one block. Read: Spacing: the same minutes, further apart · Practise spaced practice
retrieval practicePulling something out of memory strengthens it far more than putting it back in, so a question is not only a measurement; it is the strongest teaching move you have. Read: Being asked is how it sticks · Practise retrieval practice
interleavingPractising one kind of problem twenty times in a row teaches the method; mixing several kinds teaches which method to pick, and picking is what a test and a job actually ask for. Read: Mixing the problems up · Practise interleaving
the illusion of fluencyFluency is the feeling that something is easy, and it comes from things being familiar rather than from them being known, so a class that follows you perfectly may have learned nothing at all. Read: A class that nods has not learned · Practise the illusion of fluency
From a blank room to a lesson that lands · Designing a lesson
an objective you can watch happenAn objective names what a learner will do that you can observe, so understand, know and appreciate are not objectives; and the success criteria say what a good one looks like, drafted at planning time rather than at marking time. Read: An objective is something you can watch happen · Practise an objective you can watch happen
backward design: write the check firstDesign a lesson from its evidence backwards: write the question you will ask at the end, then the practice that makes it answerable, then the explanation, in that order. Read: Write the check first · Practise backward design: write the check first
gradual release of responsibilityResponsibility moves from the teacher to the learner in three steps: the teacher does one while thinking aloud, the class does one together, then each person does one alone. Read: I do, we do, you do, and the trap in the middle · Practise gradual release of responsibility
worked examples, and fading themBefore a learner can solve a problem they need several fully worked examples, because solving without a method spends all of working memory on searching and leaves none for learning the method. Read: A novice needs to see it done · Practise worked examples, and fading them
modelling by thinking aloudModelling is not showing the steps; it is saying the decisions out loud, including the ones that turn out wrong, because the choosing is invisible and the choosing is the skill. Read: Thinking aloud is the part they cannot see · Practise modelling by thinking aloud
checking for understanding mid-lessonChecking for understanding is something you do several times inside a lesson, from everybody at once, so that you find out while there is still time to do something about it. Read: Check every few minutes, not at the end · Practise checking for understanding mid-lesson
wait time and cold callAsk the question, name nobody, wait several seconds, then choose who answers; hands up hands the lesson to the people who already knew. Read: Wait time, cold call, and the hand that is always up · Practise wait time and cold call
the exit ticketAn exit ticket is one or two questions answered by everybody in the last three minutes, and its whole value is in what happens to the pile before tomorrow morning. Read: The exit ticket, and what you do with it tonight · Practise the exit ticket
From a blank room to a lesson that lands · Teaching reading
a phoneme is a sound, not a letterA phoneme is the smallest unit of sound in a spoken word, and the number of sounds in a word is very often not the number of letters in it. Read: A phoneme is a sound, not a letter · Practise a phoneme is a sound, not a letter
blending and segmentingBlending is pushing separate sounds together into a word and segmenting is pulling a word apart into its sounds; blending is what reading needs and segmenting is what spelling needs. Read: Blending and segmenting are two different jobs · Practise blending and segmenting
phonics, where letters map to soundsPhonics is the teaching of which letters and letter groups spell which sounds, in an order, so that a reader can turn print they have never seen before into a spoken word. Read: Letters map to sounds, and the map is teachable · Practise phonics, where letters map to sounds
the six syllable typesEnglish has six syllable types, and the type a syllable is tells you what its vowel says; dividing a long word turns it from unreadable into several short readable pieces. Read: Six syllable types, and where to cut a long word · Practise the six syllable types
prefix, root and suffixLong words are built from parts that carry meaning: a root in the middle, a prefix in front of it, a suffix behind it, and knowing about thirty of these unlocks thousands of words. Read: Prefix, root and suffix · Practise prefix, root and suffix
words correct per minuteFluency is reading accurately, at a workable pace, with expression; the number usually taken is words correct per minute, which is words attempted minus errors, scaled to sixty seconds. Read: Words correct per minute, and what it does not tell you · Practise words correct per minute
the running record and its three bandsA running record is a count: the running words in the passage, the errors made, and accuracy as a percentage, which then falls into one of three bands that describe what the text is good for. Read: The running record, and its three bands · Practise the running record and its three bands
vocabulary in three tiersWords sort into three tiers: everyday words almost everybody already has, the useful words that turn up across every subject, and the technical words that belong to one topic. The middle tier is where teaching time pays. Read: Words come in three tiers · Practise vocabulary in three tiers
decoding times language comprehensionReading comprehension is decoding multiplied by language comprehension, so a zero in either one is a zero overall and a weak one caps the whole thing. Read: Decoding times language comprehension · Practise decoding times language comprehension
From a blank room to a lesson that lands · The numbers a teacher actually does
a weighted gradeA weighted grade multiplies each category's score by that category's weight and adds the results; the weights add to one, and if they do not, the grade is wrong before you start. Read: A weighted grade · Practise a weighted grade
scoring against a rubricA rubric scores several named criteria on a small scale; the total is points earned over points possible, and the percentage comes from that rather than from an impression. Read: A rubric, and turning it into a percentage · Practise scoring against a rubric
percentile against percentageA percentage says how much of the paper was right; a percentile says how many others in the comparison group scored at or below this person. Different questions, and the same number means different things. Read: A percentile is not a percentage · Practise percentile against percentage
growth against proficiencyProficiency asks whether a learner has reached a bar; growth asks how far they moved. A class can be low on one and high on the other, and the two questions need two different answers. Read: Growth against proficiency · Practise growth against proficiency
mean, median, and the average that hides two groupsThe mean is the total divided by the count and the median is the middle value once the scores are in order; when a class splits into two groups, the mean describes nobody in the room. Read: The mean, the median, and the average that hides two groups · Practise mean, median, and the average that hides two groups
attendance and the minutes lostAttendance is a percentage of sessions present, and the version of it that is useful to a teacher is the number of teaching minutes a learner has lost. Read: Attendance, and the minutes that are gone · Practise attendance and the minutes lost
pacing a unitPacing is arithmetic: the minutes you really have, divided by the objectives you really have, gives the minutes each one gets, and if that number is too small then something comes out of the unit. Read: Minutes per objective, and what has to come out · Practise pacing a unit
From a blank room to a lesson that lands · Running the room
teaching a procedureMost of what looks like misbehaviour is a routine nobody ever taught: how to come in, how to hand something in, what to do when you have finished. A procedure is taught like any other content, practised, and retaught. Read: A procedure taught is a behaviour problem prevented · Practise teaching a procedure
the first five minutesThe start of a lesson is a routine that runs without you: something on the board before they arrive, done alone, that needs nothing from you to begin. Read: The first five minutes · Practise the first five minutes
what a transition costsA transition is every move between one activity and the next, and each one costs minutes; they are small, they are frequent, and across a year they come to weeks. Read: What a transition costs · Practise what a transition costs
positive narrationPositive narration is saying out loud, without praising anybody, what people are already doing correctly, so that the room hears the instruction again from somebody who is following it. Read: Positive narration · Practise positive narration
de-escalation, in orderWhen somebody has escalated, the order of your moves matters far more than the words: your own volume first, then the audience, then a short private sentence, and the consequence later when everybody is calm. Read: De-escalation, in order · Practise de-escalation, in order
a consequence ladderA consequence ladder is written before the week starts, has a small number of steps, and is applied in order; the point of it is that it is predictable, not that it is severe. Read: A ladder you follow rather than invent · Practise a consequence ladder
where a learner sitsA seating plan is a teaching decision made in advance: who is near the front, who is near you, who is not beside whom, written down so that it is not remade under pressure. Read: Where a learner sits · Practise where a learner sits
From a blank room to a lesson that lands · The duties that are law
mandated reportingA teacher who suspects that a child is being harmed reports it, and the report is a suspicion rather than a conclusion; the finding out is done by somebody else. Read: Mandated reporting: you report a suspicion · Practise mandated reporting
student records and who may see themA student record is anything the school keeps that identifies a learner, and it is seen by the family and by staff who need it to teach or protect that learner, and by nobody else without a written request. Read: Student records, and who may see them · Practise student records and who may see them
the parts of an individualised education programmeAn individualised education programme is a written plan for a learner with a disability: where they are now, targets that are measured, the services provided, the supports you give in class, how much of the day is with everybody else, and when the team meets again. Read: The parts of an individualised education programme · Practise the parts of an individualised education programme
a 504 plan against an education programmeBoth remove barriers for a learner with a disability. An individualised education programme changes the teaching itself and carries measurable goals; a 504 plan provides accommodations so that the ordinary programme is reachable, and carries none. Read: A 504 plan against an education programme · Practise a 504 plan against an education programme
supporting a multilingual learnerA multilingual learner is learning your subject and the language it is taught in at the same time, so the support is to keep the content at full difficulty and take the language load off the things around it. Read: A learner who is learning the language as well as the subject · Practise supporting a multilingual learner
when a student reports harassmentWhen a learner reports harassment to you, you pass it on promptly to the person your school names for it, you keep it away from anybody who does not need it, and you do not decide whether it counts. Read: When a student reports harassment · Practise when a student reports harassment
confidentiality, and the staffroomWhat you learn about a learner is shared only with people who need it to do their job, and the staffroom is not that test; the test is whether this person needs it to teach or protect this learner. Read: Confidentiality, and the staffroom · Practise confidentiality, and the staffroom
From a degree to a Texas classroom · The route in
the routes into a Texas classroomTexas certifies teachers who finish an approved preparation programme, and there are three kinds: a university programme taken inside a bachelor's degree, a post-baccalaureate programme taken at a university after a degree, and an alternative certification programme. The certificate at the end is the same one; what differs is when the money starts. Read: Three doors into a Texas classroom, and only one pays you while you train · Practise the routes into a Texas classroom
what a programme asks before it admits youAdmission is decided by the preparation programme against a bar the programme publishes: a degree from an accredited institution, a grade point average, evidence that you know the content of the field you want, and usually an interview. Read: What a programme wants before it will let you in · Practise what a programme asks before it admits you
the content examination for your fieldTexas will not certify you in a field until you have demonstrated subject-matter knowledge in that field by examination, and the examination is the content test that matches the exact certification field you applied for, in the state's own examination programme, which Texas calls TExES. Read: The content examination: proving you know the subject itself · Practise the content examination for your field
the examination on pedagogy and professional responsibilitiesBesides the content examination there is an examination on pedagogy and professional responsibilities, which Texas calls the PPR: planning and instruction, the learning environment, assessment, and the legal and ethical duties a teacher carries. Read: The second examination: how you teach, not what you know · Practise the examination on pedagogy and professional responsibilities
the reading examination elementary candidates takeA candidate seeking an early childhood or elementary field in Texas takes an additional examination on the teaching of reading, which Texas calls the Science of Teaching Reading examination, on top of the content examination and the pedagogy one. Read: The reading examination elementary candidates sit · Practise the reading examination elementary candidates take
From a degree to a Texas classroom · The classroom year
clinical teaching against a paid internshipAn approved Texas programme puts a candidate into a classroom in one of two ways: clinical teaching, unpaid, working beside a cooperating teacher who holds the class; or an internship, paid, as the teacher of record with your own class and your own roster. Read: Clinical teaching or a paid internship: the fork that decides your year · Practise clinical teaching against a paid internship
the probationary certificateA district cannot put an unlicensed adult in charge of a class, so before an internship begins the programme requests a probationary certificate: a time-limited certificate, issued on the programme's recommendation, that lets you be the teacher of record while you finish your preparation. Read: The probationary certificate: how a district can pay you before you are finished · Practise the probationary certificate
the observations a candidate must receiveEvery Texas candidate in a placement is assigned a field supervisor by the programme, who must carry out a published minimum number of formal observations spread across the placement, each one built from a pre-conference, the observation itself, and written feedback afterwards. Read: Somebody watches you teach, and it is written down · Practise the observations a candidate must receive
the mentor a first-year teacher is assignedA first-year teacher in a Texas district is assigned a mentor teacher from the same campus or field, for the first year, with scheduled meeting time; this is a district duty and it is separate from the field supervisor, who comes from your preparation programme. Read: The mentor: the person in the building whose job is you · Practise the mentor a first-year teacher is assigned
From a degree to a Texas classroom · Getting it and keeping it
fingerprinting and the background checkTexas requires a national criminal history record check based on fingerprints before a certificate is issued and before a district may employ you; the prints are taken through the state's approved vendor and the result is returned to the state, never to you. Read: Fingerprints: the step with a queue and no shortcut · Practise fingerprinting and the background check
the order the application is done inThe application is not one form. You create an educator account with the state, apply inside it for the certificate you want, pay, have the fingerprint check done, and then the programme sends its recommendation; the certificate is issued only once all of those have landed. Read: The order the application is actually done in · Practise the order the application is done in
the standard certificate and its termWhen the recommendation, the examinations, the background check and the application have all landed, the state issues a standard certificate naming a field and a grade band; it is valid for a term the state publishes and it has to be renewed at the end of that term. Read: The standard certificate, and the clock it starts · Practise the standard certificate and its term
continuing professional education across the cycleA Texas standard certificate is renewed by completing continuing professional education hours across the renewal cycle and applying before the certificate expires; the number of hours and the length of the cycle are figures the state publishes, so they are looked up and never remembered. Read: Keeping it: hours across the renewal cycle · Practise continuing professional education across the cycle
adding another field to a certificate you holdOnce you hold a Texas standard certificate, most additional fields are added by passing the content examination for the new field and applying to add it, with no second preparation programme; some fields do require additional preparation, and the state's page for that field is what says which. Read: Adding a field to a certificate you already hold · Practise adding another field to a certificate you hold
From a degree to a California classroom · What you must show before you start
the degree and the transcript the Commission readsEvery California teaching credential starts from a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution, evidenced by an official transcript sent from that institution to the preparation programme, not by the copy you keep at home. Read: The degree, and the transcript somebody else has to read · Practise the degree and the transcript the Commission reads
the basic skills requirement, and the ways to meet itCalifornia asks every credential candidate to show basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics, and it publishes more than one way to do it: the basic skills examination, qualifying scores on other approved tests, qualifying coursework, or a mixture of those. Read: Basic skills: one requirement, several doors · Practise the basic skills requirement, and the ways to meet it
subject-matter competence, by examination or by programmeCalifornia asks you to show that you know the subject you intend to teach, and accepts more than one kind of evidence: the subject-matter examinations for your field, completion of an approved subject-matter preparation programme, or qualifying coursework the Commission publishes. Read: Subject-matter competence: the examination or the programme · Practise subject-matter competence, by examination or by programme
a multiple subject credential against a single subject oneA multiple subject credential authorises teaching all the core subjects to one group of pupils in a self-contained classroom, which is most elementary teaching; a single subject credential authorises teaching one named subject to several groups of pupils, which is most middle and high school teaching. Read: One class all day, or one subject all day · Practise a multiple subject credential against a single subject one
the requirement on teaching reading and literacyCalifornia requires every candidate for a teaching credential to demonstrate the ability to teach reading and literacy, and this requirement is in transition from a standalone reading examination towards a literacy performance assessment carried inside the preparation programme. Read: Showing you can teach reading · Practise the requirement on teaching reading and literacy
From a degree to a California classroom · The preparation programme
an approved preparation programme, and what is in itA California credential requires completion of a preparation programme that the Commission has approved, and that one programme carries the pedagogy coursework, the fieldwork and supervised student teaching, the teaching performance assessment, and the health, CPR and Constitution requirements. Read: The approved preparation programme, and what is inside it · Practise an approved preparation programme, and what is in it
the supervised student teaching inside itInside the preparation programme is a period of supervised clinical practice in a real classroom, with a supervising teacher from the school and a supervisor from the programme, for a number of hours the programme publishes, records and signs off. Read: Supervised student teaching: the hours somebody signs for · Practise the supervised student teaching inside it
the teaching performance assessmentCalifornia requires a candidate to pass a teaching performance assessment, in which you submit evidence of your own teaching: the plans for a sequence of lessons, video of you teaching your own class, samples of what the pupils produced, and a written account of what you did and what you would change. Read: The teaching performance assessment: your own teaching, submitted · Practise the teaching performance assessment
the United States Constitution requirementCalifornia requires every teaching credential candidate to satisfy a requirement on the provisions and principles of the United States Constitution, and it can be met either by a course at an accredited institution or by an examination the Commission accepts. Read: The Constitution requirement, and two ways to clear it · Practise the United States Constitution requirement
From a degree to a California classroom · Credential and clearing
the certificate of clearance and fingerprintingBefore a California candidate may work with pupils, the Commission issues a certificate of clearance, which is the record that fingerprints were submitted through Live Scan and the background check came back clear; it comes before student teaching and before any credential. Read: The certificate of clearance: the first document, and the one people forget · Practise the certificate of clearance and fingerprinting
the preliminary credential and its termWhen the preparation programme recommends you, the Commission issues a preliminary teaching credential; it is a full credential that lets a district hire you as the teacher of record, it runs for a term the Commission publishes, and it cannot be renewed. Read: The preliminary credential: real, and on a clock · Practise the preliminary credential and its term
induction, and what clearing a credential meansClearing a California preliminary credential means completing a Commission-approved induction programme, which is job-embedded: you do it while you are employed and teaching, with an assigned mentor and an individual learning plan built around your own practice. Read: Induction: the years somebody walks beside you · Practise induction, and what clearing a credential means
the clear credentialOn the recommendation of the induction programme the Commission issues the clear credential, which authorises exactly the same teaching as the preliminary one did, runs for a term the Commission publishes, and, unlike the preliminary credential, can be renewed at the end of it. Read: The clear credential · Practise the clear credential
the renewal cycleA California clear credential is renewed on a cycle the Commission publishes, through the Commission's own online system, and renewal of a clear teaching credential is an application rather than a count of professional development, which is the clearest place where the two states differ. Read: The renewal cycle, and the thing California does not ask for · Practise the renewal cycle