Success in the classroom goes beyond just academic achievement—it’s about building skills that last a lifetime. As teachers, we’re always looking for smart ways to improve student success, from boosting engagement to creating an environment where students thrive. Whether it’s through thoughtful classroom management, differentiated instruction, or encouraging a growth mindset, there are plenty of ways to help students succeed. I was able to attend an amazing conference called CCIRA and I want to share with you some mind blowing ideas that has exponentially improved student success in the classroom. Let’s dive in!
What Sparked Change
I have learned so much about myself as an educator over the years and two things have attributed greatly to my the drastic shift of my teaching, This two things were the birth of my son and attending CCIRA for the first time.
I had the privilege of staying home with my son for his first year and when I went back to the classroom, I realized one huge thing that my classroom was missing. Students need more play! Kids have a constant need to play and be active. I then realized that my first graders were not much different and they too needed these things in order to be successful. I attribute this as the beginning of some radical changes in the way I run my classroom. The next big thing was attending CCIRA Conference on Literacy.
Smart Ways to Improve Student Success
I realized that my classroom wasn’t just mine—it was ours. I wanted students to take pride in their learning space and feel ownership over their education. Subsequently, this shift in thinking led me to focus more on fostering student choice and voice.
I had incorporated flexible seating, connection circles, and other tools to give students more freedom, but after attending CCIRA and hearing Debbie Miller speak, I realized I was still missing a key part of student voice. Debbie posed a question that made me rethink everything: “Are there rules to workshop?” Initially, I thought, “Of course!” But then, she opened my eyes to the idea that workshop doesn’t have to follow the same structure every time. It can and should vary based on our students’ needs.
This was my biggest aha moment triggering a smart way to improve student success. Our teaching should be about the students, not the structure. Debbie challenged us to let students own their work, showing their learning in ways that work best for them. This hit me hard. I realized that, despite discussing learning targets and success criteria daily, I was the one truly owning the process, not my students.
Making Change
On Monday following the conference, I made a change. I told my students, “Show your learning in a way that works for you.” The initial response? Confusion. Day one was a disaster—most students didn’t get much done. But it was a powerful learning experience, both for them and for me. We were starting a journey where students could truly take charge of their learning.
During planning time, my teammate and I discussed how we could better support our students. We created a few different examples to show them ways to express their learning. Since our grade level uses Seesaw, we demonstrated all the tools the app offers—recordings, drawings, typing, and writing. After showing these examples, I was amazed at how deeply the students engaged with the material. We’ve since fine-tuned the process, but the impact was immediate.
By giving students true ownership over their learning, I’ve seen firsthand how brilliantly they differentiate for their own needs. It was such a smart, simple way to improve my student’s success. I’m constantly in awe of their creativity and their deep understanding of the material. They are now the true owners of their work, and it shows. This clip, in particular, is one of my favorite student samples. She completely captured the character’s experience in such a personal and insightful way. Watching this unfold has been nothing short of incredible.
Improve Student Success with Micro-Progressions
Eventually my teammate and I decided we were ready to fine-tune this process a step further and we created our first micro-progression. This happened after listening to Maggie Roberts speak about the importance of micro progressions in the classroom. “Micro-progressions house the way toward higher levels of work. By providing actual examples of work that’s improving, as well as listing the qualities that make up each “level” of work, micro-progressions allow for both self-assessment and self-assignment.” (Roberts & Roberts, 2016, p. 17)
We decided to try it out with our character unit and made our first micro-progression for character traits. Starting backwards, we created 4 levels of understanding of character traits. Then, we discussed the four levels and again gave students the opportunity to show their learning in a way that worked for them. You can grab an editable success criteria board for your class below!
Editable Success Criteria Board
I was blown away at not only their depth of understanding of character traits, but also the ability to assess themselves at the level they were working at. Learning these two tools at CCIRA has changed the way our classrooms look. If you walk into our classroom, you see students engaged in literacy and taking ownership of their learning. You will hear students discussing with one another their understanding of their learning target and how to increase their level of understanding. So I leave you with this –
“If we’re not teaching children to be independent thinkers, what are we teaching them?”(Miller, 2018, p. 171)
Want more posts about important topics in your classroom? Check out these for more!
The Importance of Learning Through Play
Managing Teacher Workload: Easy Ways to Lessen Your Load
Importance of Social Emotional Education
I really hope you enjoyed learning about how to improve student success in the classroom! Don’t forget to subscribe to my email list! Not only will you get the most up to date tips, tricks, and classroom projects… and of course fun FREEBIES! You will also have exclusive access to tons of digital how to videos! If you would like to learn about this and other things happening in my classroom follow me @sweetnsauerfirsties on Instagram.
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References
Miller, D. (2018). What’s The Best That Could Happen? Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Roberts, K., & Roberts, M. B. (2016). DIY Literacy: Teaching Tools for Differentiation, Independence, and Rigor. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
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