Now that you a few years of teaching under your belt, you need to refresh your teaching style. The information you learned from college is becoming dated and you need some new ideas. Where do you look for new strategies? Marzano’s strategies have the history, research, and results to assist any teacher to improve their craft and knowledge. I began using Marzano’s strategies in 2017 and have witnessed students improving their critical thinking skills and classroom management.
1.Robert Marzano is a respected educator within the field. He has written over thirty books and countless articles based on research. Marzano has been an expert for over three decades. On Marzano’s website, Learning Sciences International, it states, “Founded by former university faculty and researchers, Learning Sciences International employs only the most highly qualified professionals as staff developers—those with extensive real-world classroom experience.” The strategies that are created have been researched and tested before including it in any of the thirty books. That’s comforting to know.
2. Marzano’s books are teacher-friendly and direct. If you want to learn about instruction, he has a book. You want to improve your classroom management, there is a book for that. I have read and frequently used Classroom Management that Works and The New Art and Science of Teaching. Classroom Management that Works is organized with each chapter having examples from an elementary and high school vignette and action plans to implement. The New Art and Science of Teaching is arranged by Marzano’s elements and lists strategies with a short description. I have witnessed success using both books and I recommend both books for your professional library.
3. There are several online resources. Marzano has a website, that is part of iObservation, and has a library of professional development books. My first experience with Marzano’s videos was during a staff meeting. My principal had the staff focus on one of the standard-based instruction and we watched a short video on the topic. If you Google Marzano strategies, there are a ton of pdfs and articles about the benefits of using the classroom strategies.
4. Free online tools to help you strive for an accomplished rating on your teacher evaluation. During my first evaluation at my new school, I found the Marzano Focused Teacher Evaluation Model. It was a wealth of knowledge because it analyzed teacher’s expectations with checklists. There are 21 pages of evaluation topics you can print and focus on within your class. At my school, we focused on two areas for one school year. Focusing on two areas gave teachers directions and a goal to reach.
5. Researched teaching strategies you can use immediately and see results soon. I like how you can read one of Marzano’s books or watch a video and immediately use the strategy. I watched some of Marzano’s videos on iObservation during a staff meeting. The teaching strategies include creating learning goals, establishing classroom rules, and helping students deepen their understanding. There are over three hundred strategies in the book The New Art and Science of Teaching. In the book, Classroom Instruction that Works, there are nine high-yielding instructional strategies. They include identifying similarities and differences, cooperative learning, and setting objectives and providing feedback.
Many districts are adopting Marzano’s way because of its strong research on student’s learning. My district wants to see results in student assessment and improve the state grade. We have been using Marzano’s strategies for years and our state grade has improved by one letter grade. There are many books and strategies that a teacher could take years to use every strategy. I have personally seen results using the instructional and classroom strategies. One result I am proud of was using the rubric for writing a claim. Students struggled with writing a claim, but after I posted the rubric, every student was able to write a claim and counterclaim. I was happy with the results. Would I use Marzano’s strategies again? Yes, because they are teacher-friendly and they produce results.
Tell me about your experience with Marzano’s strategies. Do the strategies work? Do you like using Marzano’s strategies?
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