Teacher Toolkit

Sophie Kettenbrink
 Faux
Reggio
Subject & Grade Level
Subject: Mathematics

Grade Level: 5-12

**can be applicable for any subject and

middle/secondary grade, good for
science & English
 Other Helpful Info
Purpose
Teachers in their first couple of years (and at any point
in their career) often wonder if the way they are
presenting their content is helpful to their students. It is
difficult to know whether students are interested in their
learning and as educators we want them to be engaged
in the content for understanding, not for a good grade.
As teachers, we can’t change the curriculum and for
math there’s certain content I have to get through. But,
how I present that content can be unique to each class I
have! By giving my students a voice in how we are
learning and how to connect it to their lives, it’s my hope
that I increase their willingness to engage in content.
Connection
One of the reasons math is seen as such a widely hated
topic is because students don’t understand when they
will use it in the future. Even if they will not be calculating
the exact equations in the future, it can be wildly
engaging to show students how much of the world is
made up of math (ex: zebra stripes are sine waves!)
especially when their interests are represented. It is done
often at the elementary level (Suzie has 12 Taylor Swift
Tickets), but can do wonders for engaged learning at the
high school level when implemented correctly (show
understanding of linear equations by mapping where
Taylor Swift walks on her stage).
 Actionable Strategy
This strategy is great when you and your class have a good personal relationship. There’s a couple
different ways to implement this when you aren’t completely doing an entire unit based around students.
You can make a culminating project something that a majority of the class is interested in and surprise
them with the fun connection to their lives to try to get them more engaged. It’s also possible to ask
students to vote on activities or the content the activities are based around to hopefully get some student
voice into the classroom. With this strategy, though, you need to leverage your learning partnerships and
relationships to let students know that this is for their academic benefit to include their interests.

In this scenario individiuality can be hard because where one student might live and breathe Minecraft,
another might loathe it. It’s imperative to use the majority opinion of students that seem widely
disengaged in content as is also known as teaching to the bottom 20%. The hope would be that all
students can have their interests represented at some point in this class, but if you don’t continue to use
this strategy consistently throughout the year the students might think you are playing favorites or
making exceptions. This strategy could also not necessarily improve understanding of the topic at hand,
so keeping students engaged in the actual content is also very important. Balance is key!
Catch-up
Day
Subject & Grade Level
Subject: Mathematics

Grade Level: 9-12

**can be applicable for any

subject & K-12, but best in this
specific scenario for 9-12
 Other Helpful Info
Purpose
Students in middle and high school can be involved and
responsible for so much. Parents often say that being a
student is your first job, but students often also have to
work to pay for activities or help to pay bills for the
family, care for younger siblings, and are involved in
sports/extracurricular activities. All of this on top of
telling students to worry about their grades so they get
into a good college. It is imperative to give students
grace while also having standards and structure to your
classroom. By being decently serious about deadlines,
but implementing work-days into the schedule you allow
for flexibility and understanding for your students.
Connection
There are a good number of our students that face a
lot more than we can imagine once they leave school. It
is our job as teachers to make the job of a student as
easy as possible to manage the rest of the workload
and support them in any way possible. By not knowing
exactly what a student’s expectations outside of school
are, implementing this catch-up day is an equitable
way to demand a lot of your students while they are in
class. There are many ways you can implement
Culturally Responsive Teaching as a cornerstone to
your pedagogy, but a good start is implementing
supports for students in ways similar to this.
 Actionable Strategy
At the beginning of the year or of each unit when you are making a general calendar, building in extra
time is not just a good practice for other crises that might arise, but great for this catch-up day strategy.
Most teachers structure review days at the end of the unit for catching up on content or asking lingering
questions, but I think it can be beneficial to spend some time in the middle of a unit on a “free day” of
sorts. Depending on the length of my class periods, I could do half periods of catch-up time to still get
content in and stay on track, but this would all be a part of planning. But I also wouldn’t shy away from
pivoting and adding in a catch-up day if I felt the students needed one!

Some possible pushbacks I could receive from administrators or parents is that it’s a waste of time for the
students who are completed with their work. I will have a couple of different systems in place to ensure
that this is not an issue. If students feel comfortable being a peer tutor, I will use them as a resource to
their classmates while giving them the opportunity to review the content by having to explain it to
someone else. If not, I can have some extension worksheets for students to work through as a
supplemental activity to continue their fluency. If students get done with all of their must-dos, then it is
not unreasonable to work on other assignments, reading, or putting their head down for a little while.
Defronted
Classroom
&
Proximity
Subject & Grade Level
Subject: Mathematics

Grade Level: 5-12

**best for classes with frequent

collaborative work
 Other Helpful Info
Purpose
Group work is shown to be one of the most effective
ways for students to not only learn content, but to also
learn how to work together with others better. However,
students know their “role” in the group after years of
teachers using the same methods…the student who
understands the content and could do the problem
without the group easily, etc. My goal is that all students
willingly and actively participate in group activities to
find a greater sense of understanding of the topic and
an even greater sense of purpose with their peers. I
would love for my students to look forward to group
work rather than dread it or think of it as a free day!
Connection
The obvious reasoning for implementing this seems to be
more tied to classroom management, but it’s actually an
excellent behavior management strategy too. When you
give the power back to the students and collaboartion is
encouraged, your classroom functions completely
differently. This collaboration could come at a time when
you want students to not talk, so that’s where proximity is
introduced. Individuals who take advantage of the ability
to talk to their peers at the wrong time can use a gentle
physical reminder to pay attention. Not drawing attention
to the behavior can cause less distractions in class and
gives yourself an opportunity to float around the room.
 Actionable Strategy
The first step to this is implementation at the very beginning of the school year. The best way to do this is
to create groups of desks or have tables that are spread completely across the room which gives you a
great opportunity to wander around the room. I think grouping desks even if your intention isn’t to
defront your room is beneficial for students to work together. Adding in defronting to this grouping
scenario and you’ve created a classroom climate where the learning is in the hands of the students and as
the teacher you simply become the facilitator. This requires buy in and good relationships with your
students, but if this strategy is effective the student learning will increase greatly.

The biggest thing to keep in mind when using proximity is being extremely intentional about moving
around. In order for it to work as an effective strategy, your students need to respect your presence as a
leader in the classroom. Students might not react like you want them to, but a majority of students will
probably at least pay attention to what you are saying when you are close to them. Wandering around
the classroom with intention is not something that might come naturally to most teachers, but just
remembering not to stand in the same spot for too long!
 Math
Autobiography
Subject & Grade Level
Subject: Mathematics

Grade Level: 9-12

**can make a general

“Letter to the Teacher” and
be applicable for any subject;
best 9-12, good for 5-12
 Other Helpful Info
Purpose
This strategy could be used in any classroom to get to
know students better, but I truly think it is not just
helpful but a non-negotiable in my future classroom. I
have always thought it important to not only know what
kind of knowledge students have that shows on a test
but to know what kind of emotional charge their math
background has for my students. I loved my math
classes, but that’s because I had positive experiences
with the content and believed I was good at math. I want
to know about my students on a personal level, but
having the information of their opinions on math allows
me to see in our learning partnership.
Connection
Knowing your students is a great way to be able to
differentiate your relationships with each individual in
your classroom. No two students are going to react to
situations the exact same and I think it can be
important to have this baseline understanding of where
students are coming from to be able to implement a
more individual behavior management strategy.
Obviously there will be students that will require more
time and effort than others, but knowing a little about
if the environment or the content has been a problem
in the past will help with being able to meet the needs
of every single student.
 Actionable Strategy
It can be difficult to plan for the first couple of days of classes balancing a non-boring get-to-know-you
activity and when to jump into content to stay on track. I think too frequently teachers jump in
immediately without having any understanding of the specific class at hand. Adding in small fun activities
where the teacher actively participates as well will warm students up to you and your personality is huge.
Assigning a math autobiography for homework might be something the students (especially those who
are strategic-number people) hate, but it stops the students from thinking that the first assignment you
will grade them on will be based on the amount of knowledge they retained over the summer.

Students might not be willing to share the whole truth with you when they have just barely met you, but
reminding students the information they share will not be shared with anyone else should help. Buy-in is
sometimes tricky with students who think that what you are having them do is dumb, but it’s not overkill
to explain why it is important to you! It also would be beneficial to tell them that you won’t be grading on
grammar, only on completion of the assignment to relieve any stress they might have about the quality
of their writing. This assignment could also be opened up to drawing or making a collage that represents
your feelings on mathematics, which could get some unique and cool representation of student feelings!
Randomized
Grouping
Subject & Grade Level
Subject: Mathematics

Grade Level: 5-12

**can be applicable for any

subject & K-12!
 Other Helpful Info
Purpose
Group work is shown to be one of the most effective
ways for students to not only learn content, but to also
learn how to work together with others better. However,
students know their “role” in the group after years of
teachers using the same methods…the student who
understands the content and could do the problem
without the group easily, etc. My goal is that all students
willingly and actively participate in group activities to
find a greater sense of understanding of the topic and
an even greater sense of purpose with their peers. I
would love for my students to look forward to group
work rather than dread it or think of it as a free day!
Connection
One of the biggest things that students need in their
development as adolescents is positive social
interaction. Randomly grouping students allows the
students to not spend time trying to guess which role
their teacher wants them to play in the group which
allows camaraderie to occur naturally and aids in
creating an inclusive class climate. I want students to
look at the class roster and see it full of faces that know
them and that they know will have their backs. It’s so
important for students in high school when friend
groups move around to still have a face as a class friend
that will be someone they will look forward to.
 Actionable Strategy
The biggest thing to note here is to randomize the groups in front of the students to ensure that they
know you are using a completely random system. There’s lots of different ways to randomize groups, but
utilizing different strategies frequently encourages this strategy works long term (wheel online, pick
students as they come into the room, popsicle sticks, etc.). Students will not really believe this strategy if
you aren’t doing the picking in front of them, but by knowing it’s completely random and expecting to
have to work with all students in the class, the students (after a small adjustment period) will be more
willing to work with ALL of their classmates.

The groups could be full of behaviors, have all students struggling with the same content, etc. but a
majority of the time the splits will be similar to how you might have hand-picked groups. As the teacher it
is your hope that there are no existing relationships that require certain students not to be together in a
group, but that’s not often the reality so knowing how to react to these sorts of situations with grace is
also a key part of implementation. This strategy is also good to work in tandem with situations where the
students will be able to pick their group or work with those around them so they get used to all different
types of group settings (aiding them in learning more about themselves and their learning styles :))!
PBIS
Subject & Grade Level
Subject: Any

Grade Level: K-12

**this is often implemented

at a district & school
level, but it is a good fit for
individual teachers as well
 Other Helpful Info
Purpose
It has been proven that students react to positive
reinforcement rather than negative punishments. People
in general don’t like being seen as a failure especially if
it comes at the expense of their reputation in front of
their peers. The point of this strategy is to base your
management strategy on encouraging students to
continue doing the things that are wanted behaviors
rather than focusing on changing or fixing behaviors
that are unwanted. It is also difficult to implement a
chart, etc. at the high school level since most of the time
students know what the expectations are, they might
just be choosing not to follow those rules.
Connection
This strategy is very obviously tied to how you could
manage your whole classroom and set up expectations
for students to follow. The difference between “don’t use
mean words” and “use kind words” can really be huge
for a class full of students that tend to use mean words.
Teenagers are encouraged to do things that are
specifically in the rules not to, it’s part of the questioning
of authority that comes with growing up. By setting rules
and expectations in a way that rewards positive
behaviors rather than punishing negative ones can be a
huge help for teenagers. To keep order in your class,
your students also have to respect that you trust them!
 Actionable Strategy
The basis to this strategy is having expectation posters or setting expectations at the beginning of the
year. Those things can be strategies in and of themselves, but how you set those resources up can differ
and in this scenario tying it to PBIS is the major differentiation. The biggest thing to keep in mind with this
strategy is re-visiting what has worked well and what hasn’t. There’s different ways you can encourage
students to continue doing wanted behaviors based on a specific student’s motivations (notes home,
being praised in front of classmates), but those motivations could change as time goes on.

It can be difficult with students who are always already doing what you want and knowing when to use
them as the example and when to encourage. An example of this strategy in action would be if you asked
students to transition to groups quietly “I love that Henry is pulling out his chromebook right now
individually”. The drawback can be sometimes this sounds condescending or students might not like being
called out in this way. Again, using what you know about your students in your partnership with them is a
big help to the overall environment that you create in your classroom. PBIS also allows for a lot of fun
and positive interactions with your students :))
 Reflection
There are plenty of different strategies to implement into
your classroom and most of them when done correctly
won’t even seem difficult to incorprate after a while. I am
excited to see how these work in my classroom and what
other new strategies I can pick up along the way :))