If you and your team are working to create consistent and effective teaching I’m guessing that you want the changes to last for a very long time.
Often meaningful change that doesn’t last can be demoralising, expensive and frustrating for everyone involved.
Yet, there’s a secret to consistent and effective teaching that you can use today. It doesn’t require you to drastically update your curriculum, buy technology or radically change what you already do.
It’s simply requires you to create positive rituals.
Creating positive rituals helps turn effective change into habits that will last.
That’s because positive rituals – like brushing your teeth in the morning – can become so automatic that they turn into the habits of what you do.
Here are 3 positive rituals you and your team can use to support effective and consistent teaching:
1. POSITIVE CLASSROOM RITUALS
At the start of the year create a ritual where everyone has a specific date and time to create his or her inspiring learning space. Classrooms impact learner’s beliefs and expectations about themselves. A classroom that’s clean, filled with natural light, free of noise and distractions, well organised and arranged with inspiring and inclusive learning materials, shows learners they matter. Throughout the year provide time for teams to visit each classroom to see the result and share ideas.
2. SEATING PLAN RITUALS
Within each classroom create a ritual where all students not only have assigned seats, but are moved to different seats througout the year. Seating plans are essential for consistent and effective teaching. When enacted well, students will see sitting with new people, having new partners, and being assigned new seats throughout the year as part of the positive rituals of the class. With little effort, seating plans can become the ritual for all classrooms throughout your school.
3. SUCCESSFUL CLOSINGS RITUALS
At the close of each learning session create a successful closing ritual. Effective closings are critical as they allow all learners to make meaning of their learning. Often we run out of time, or don’t have effective strategies to use to close our lessons well. Your team can support educators with various rituals for closing each learning session and model these strategies in workshops and meetings. *Click here for successful closing ideas.
When the change you seek becomes a ritual, you can be confident it will last for a very long time.