Even though it’s been a long time, I can remember a few moments where I made what felt like a very small decision, but it turned out to be an inflection point. For example, when a student told me that they “just weren’t feeling it” during an admittedly boring review lesson, I threw away the plan and let them lead a gameshow-type review activity we improvised on the spot for the rest of the period. It turned out to be much more engaging, and probably equally instructionally valuable.
What’s one small strategy, decision, or approach that you’ve tried that had a large positive impact on the classroom environment?