Where Do I Start With Marzano? The Placemat

So, maybe you just found out your district is transitioning to Marzano, or maybe you just had Marzano training and your head is spinning, or maybe you've heard of it and are just curious to learn what it's all about.  Whichever is true for you, the Marzano placemat is a great place to start.  Here is a modified version of it:

The placemat breaks best teaching practices into three general categories.  I call the first category "Things To Do Every Day".  The most important things in this category are deciding what you want students to learn and how you will measure what they learn.  I use a daily scale in conjunction with a daily learning log students rate themselves on at the beginning and end of class.  CLICK HERE FOR A FREE DIGITAL COPY OF MY DAILY LEARNING LOG.

I call the second part "Planned Activities".  This section more or less lists a lot of best practice strategies you can implement.  This is my favorite part because it helps you think about you want students to learn (what you identified in the first category), and select which strategy or activities will best help your students learn it.

I call the last part "Off the Cuff" strategies, but, really, some of them are things that can (and should) be planned for that just look like they are off the top of your head - things like playing quick games.  Others are just things good teachers do like "Maintain a Lively Pace" or "Engage Low Expectancy Students."

I really think the way Dr. Marzano categorized and presented things on his placemat make it much easier to understand how all these best practices can go together to get the best results possible, and am excited to share with you what I have learned about Marzano goals, scales and best practices!