Imagine having to write your name with your non-dominant hand. You could probably still do it, but it’s going to be difficult and take longer. That’s how it can feels when students are first learn to do a new skill- they may be able to respond correctly, but it’s difficult and slow. We are seeing what happens when we ask students not just practice a skill outside of class until they can do it right, but practice it until they can do it quickly, too.

Sometimes, it can be challenging for elementary schoolers to see how to get from what they can do now to mastering a new skill. Setting achievable short-term goals for these students may help them reach long-term mastery faster. However, there are many ways to determine these goals. We are going to see which way of setting short-term goals works best for these students.

Ultimately, we want students to be able to go beyond what we teach them and apply what they learn to new things. There may be some ways to teach they facilitate application more than others. We’re asking adults to come learn something new and then seeing how well they can apply it. After we find out the best way to teach for application, we’ll try it out in a classroom!