Multiple Opportunities to Practice Independently

It's important that students have multiple opportunities to practice independently, whether you're in a traditional or standards based classroom. The nice thing about a standards based class is the opportunity to tag independent practice with the standards so that they are organized and easily accessible.

I put some nails in my wall (oops!) to create a "Practice Wall" of worksheets. When students need extra practice, they just pull out one of these. They mostly consist of practice I've already assigned for homework, but there is often a little bit extra. I post answer keys online and use the Homework Sandwich method from Bruce Jackson. While I do give feedback to students one-on-one, this lets them practice and get their own feedback whenever they're ready.

All the videos, formative assessments, and online answer keys all tagged with the same standard too. This makes it easier to go between them - the same number indicates the same standard. I also open up all of my online quizzes for unlimited re-trys (after I see the data from the first try in class) so that students can continue to practice and improve. Again, they're getting their own feedback.

But all of these opportunities have been about content. About once a week, we have can activity where students get feedback on practice standards. They are typically in the style of a five practice routines, and feedback could be verbal or written (using a practice standard rubric). Again, it's all about empowering the student to practice and giving formative feedback when they do.