4 Routines that Good Students Follow Every Day
Any teacher can think and define hundreds of things that they believe students should do every day. But today we’re going to try to summarize and focus on the most basic routines that good students follow every day.
We’re not going to mention all the routines they usually follow, such as critical thinking, intellectual empathy, creative expression, establishing priorities, distilling important information, making decisions, reflecting on the effects of those decisions in a meaningful way, etc.
We’re going to make it easier, as we decided to make a list of quick and useful routines good students follow that help them learn on a daily basis.
Students should contribute more than they receive
It’s important for them to be able to leave school every day feeling cognitively and intellectually motivated. They should know that something changed in them. And, for this to be sustainable over time, it has to come from the students themselves, not from the teachers.
Thus, they must create, practice, collaborate, and design, rather than sit around receiving content. Ideally, the current roles between teachers and students should change a bit. Thus, teachers should bring them to self-direction, to feel that they’re owners of the processes and of the commitment to learning.
A good strategy may be to use project-based learning to focus and empower students in the classroom.
Students should ask more questions than they answer
Why should students ask more questions than they answer? Obviously, quantity isn’t exactly the point but insisting on quality isn’t enough either. A student’s tendency to ask more and better questions is an indicator of participation, involvement, curiosity, appropriation, and autonomy.
How can you help students ask more questions than they answer?
Here’s one strategy: Start little by little. When they ask a question, you can encourage them to improve and develop it. At first, you may need to help them practice this skill cognitively (know how to do it) and behaviorally (in other words, their willingness and tendency to do so).
Good students transfer what they learn in the classroom to their daily lives
This is quite logical since it wouldn’t make sense not to transfer new knowledge to reality. The transfer is usually framed in terms of evaluation, as it’s a kind of marker for understanding. But if you look at it differently, it can be a powerful framework for designing projects, lessons, units, homework, and learning projects, among others.
One strategy: students should keep learning journals that help them think. They can write in these journals for a while each day or night, reflecting on what they learned and its usefulness.
Students should have a sense of progress and “hope” every day
Although “hope” may sound like a vague concept, it goes beyond the classroom. Classroom progress should produce a sense of hope in real life. Thus, teachers should make the relationship between the curriculum and life direct enough.
Students have to see what they’re learning and know that it’s something that’s happening. Progress and “hope” won’t always be the same or clear. Some days, they may be minimal. But with each passing day, they should feel they’re improving or growing. Otherwise, they can feel an unpleasant sense of failure.
How can you help students have a sense of “hope” and progress? One way is by being careful with the learning feedback you leave them every day. Remember there needs to be a collaboration between curriculum and instruction to ensure that progress is tangible.
In short, these are the routines good students follow every day. They aren’t things that they have to do, such as studying a certain number of hours or having a certain level of concentration or tasks. It’s something that goes beyond, and something that’s good to know so you can help your students whenever they need it.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Ciardiello, Angelo V. (1998). Did you ask a good question today? Alternative cognitive and metacognitive strategies. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy.
