What to Do When You’re Overwhelmed with all of Those Research-Based Strategies

Have you ever been overwhelmed with learning about all of the research-based strategies and thought, “If I hear about one more strategy to try, I’m going to scream!”. There are so many strategies out there to help your students learn, which is awesome, but it can be a bit much.

I’m guilty of giving you more ideas! The 7 Steps to Help Students Retain Information are the strategies I use to help students remember science content when teaching a lesson. Research-based instructional strategies are great when you can get them down!

So, what can you do when you’re overwhelmed? As a great teacher, you want to incorporate as many of these as you can, but there is never enough time to do or learn them all. It’s all good. I’m here with some ideas for you on how you can overcome this!

Start Small

This is the ONE! As a teacher, I know you just want to do “all the things”. It’s in your nature, and I get it, but when you try to do all of the things, you’ll end up burning out. So, do this now and thank me later.

You’ll have to start small. There are an innumerable number of strategies to choose from, so you just have to try one at a time!

Here are some of my favorite research-based strategies, besides the 7 Steps to Help Students Retain Information, to incorporate in the classroom that are easy enough that you can try one each day.

Think-Pair-Share

I’m pretty sure that I used this one like every day. To do this, you ask your students a question. First, students have to think about the answer to themselves. Once they have an answer, they share that with a partner, and the partner shares their answer too. Then, once that is completed, a few students can share out as a class. This strategy allows each student in the classroom to answer the question.

Graphic Organizers

Graphic organizers are evidence-based learning strategies that help students organize the information that they are being taught. Here are some examples.

• Circle maps are great for brainstorming a topic or jotting down information about a certain vocabulary word.
• The Frayer Model is also great for vocabulary words. Your students can break down the term by definition, characteristics, examples, and nonexamples.
• A cause-and-effect graphic organizer is a great way to get students to dig deeper into the material. For science, these graphic organizers can be used for many things. For example, they can create one for severe weather examples.
• T-Charts are great for comparing to different related terms, such as renewable and nonrenewable energy resources.
• The Venn diagram is a classic graphic organizer to compare and contrast two things. For example, students can compare and contrast plant and animal cells.
• A KWL Chart is great as a pre-assessment and post-assessment. For any topic, before the lesson, students must write down what they already know about a subject. Then, they write down what they want to learn. After the lesson, students will write down what they learned.

Mnemonic Device

Another easy strategy to incorporate is a mnemonic device. After a lesson, students can create their own mnemonic device to help remember the content.

A classic example to remember the colors of the rainbow is ROY G BIV.

Students can also create one for things such as the layers of the atmosphere. “The Smart Man Takes the Elevator” can help them remember troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere.

Use a Template to Save Time

As you are incorporating these strategies to help your students learn, you can also use templates to make your life easier.

We live in a whole of “excess”. There are templates galore online to help teachers incorporate research-based strategies for science.

• You can probably find a template for any graphic organizer online! Canva has SO many that you could print or have your students do digitally!
• Here’s a template for a preassessment called an anticipation guide.
• CER is another example of a strategy to use in science class. Here’s a template available to you!

Permanent “Research-Based Strategies” Display

Don’t have time to think of a “strategy a day”? Well, you can incorporate a research-based strategy EACH and EVERY day just by using some effective classroom décor! Use a word wall! Word walls are a research-based strategy that helps with vocabulary development, helping students remember terms, active learning, and so much more!

By having a word wall in your classroom, students are constantly exposed to the terms that they need to know, and if you have a word wall with the terms and definition on them like these, they are given so much more.

A word wall is an AMAZING and simple way to incorporate vocabulary strategies in your classroom that work.

Technology Can Be Your Friend

I’ll be honest, technology has been a pain for some teachers since that dreaded 2020 time. However, it can be your best friend when working to add more effective strategies in your classroom.

Like I said, adding these strategies in your classroom can be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be hard. Just try a new one each day. You can even make yourself a list and check them off. Once you have tried all of the “simpler ones”, you can move to harder strategies such as PBL and the flipped classroom.

Here are some fun ways to use technology to help your students learn!

• Use PhET Simulations to increase engagement and help students comprehend more complex topics.
• Let your students go on an adventure to improve spatial understanding of a topic using Augmented Reality or Virtual Reality. Let them go on a Google Expedition or check out the GPB Education App.
• For formative assessment, use games such a Kahoot! And Quizizz!

Use Ready-Made Resources

I’ve given you some tips and tricks to make your life easier while trying to incorporate ALL of the research-based strategies in your science classroom that you can.

They are a must in the classroom to help your students learn in the most effective way.

Although I’ve thrown some easy strategies your way, it still can be a lot, and as a teacher, I know there is just NEVER enough time. Am I right?!

So, in order to incorporate even more strategies, you can look into ready-made resources to help you in the process. There are SO many awesome things out there that have kept strategies in mind to help your students learn.

Some high-quality research-based resources can be found:

• Teachers Pay Teachers: Of course, I’m biased to the Bright in the Middle Store, but there are SO many great authors that make resources perfect for what you need in your classroom.
• Khan Academy: Khan Academy has free research-based resources to enhance your teaching. They are amazing!
• NASA: Many places like NASA have great research-based resources for the classroom.

I hope you have found the tips helpful! Comment below with your favorite strategy incorporating hack!