Ben Katcher
@ben_katcher
Knowledge First. My students achieve extraordinary results. Former Teach Like A Champion Fellow. National Board Certified Teacher. I teach AP US History.
Just dropped a new pod talking w History teacher @ben_katcher abt knowledge organizers. Those + Retrieval Practice caused kids passing AP US exam to increase nearly 5x! He also shares learnings from helping other teachers use KOs as well. open.spotify.com/episode/3UR77E…
Teaching the New Deal. Helping students connect to existing schema of "government role in the economy." We'll place the New Deal (as shown on this slide) and then others (conservatives, radicals, etc.) on this same continuum.
Proud to report my students crushed their AP US History exams again! My results are much, much better than other teachers at my school. Why? The knowledge-building cycle. Read more: bit.ly/3TOqkP4 Email me at [email protected] to learn how I can help you.
"Research tells us that most people (including adults!) are not very good at studying. Information becomes better encoded in long-term memory when we are quizzed on it, or when we quiz ourselves on it. With this in mind, partner quizzing has become an important system for…
I just sent out the latest edition of my newsletter. Today's issue is about how to design whole-class retrieval practice. Sign-up! mailchi.mp/142f1feb75aa/k…
If you are thinking about how to teach knowledge to students so that it sticks, check out this video, where I outline the seven steps in our Knowledge Building Cycle. The Knowledge Building Cycle youtu.be/EIR0Uxbmn6M?si… via @YouTube
What's a great book that will help me teach ELs and struggling readers in my high school history class?
We just sent out our latest newsletter with six tips for how to begin every lesson with retrieval practice. Sign up for our newsletter at this link! mailchi.mp/142f1feb75aa/k…
It's been about a month since I switched from using chromebooks in my classroom most of the time (90%) to almost never (10%; only for assessments and select assignments). 100% the right call, students and I agree they are more focused & learning more.
Before we study the Cuban Missile Crisis today, we'll do a couple of retrieval practice questions (below) to activate related prior knowledge about US foreign policy and schema we have developed throughout the year (patterns of isolationism vs. internationalism)
Non-educators are incredulous when I tell them that most teachers write their own curriculum.
“In recent years, just five states have published a map of the curriculum used in local districts.” 🤔
Finalizing the latest edition of my newsletter. The topic? How to introduce new knowledge so it sticks
Robert Caro's description of the Emmet Till lynching and trial in "Master of the Senate" is one of the most powerful texts about American history I have ever read. We spent 30 minutes reading it together as a class.
Yesterday: Started class with retrieval practice about culture in US history to review lesson on 1950s mass culture. Today: Reviewed African-American resistance to oppression to activate prior knowledge before civil rights movement
Excited to attend @TeachLikeAChamp workshop today on wait time, means of participation, and lesson preparation. Especially excited to review lesson preparation and think about how it can help me better support teachers.
Did you know you can apply to be a TLAC Fellow & spend two years studying the craft of teaching with us? And since teachers' time is valuable, we'll even pay you. :) teachlikeachampion.org/blog/applicati…
We studied that a cause of Western expansion was "The Homestead Act"... Students need to be able to generalize this and choose "legislation that facilitated distribution of Western land." Will show all students examples to reinforce this idea.
Doing multiple choice exam corrections with students today. A couple of insights/tips for students... Sometimes the answer choice is a general statement of a specific example we have studied. Need to make the connection. For example....
Doing multiple choice exam corrections with students today. A couple of insights/tips for students 1. If three answers seem wrong and you don't quite understand the fourth, choose the fourth!...
💡 Revolutionise your teaching strategies with our research-informed Retrieval Practice CPD workshop! bit.ly/4dXjUos