7 Buzzwords You're Most Likely to Hear in Education

Common Words Teachers Use Everyday

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Updated on July 03, 2019

Just like in every occupation, education has a list or set of words it uses when referring to specific educational entities. These buzzwords are used freely and frequently in the educational community. Whether you are a veteran teacher or just starting out, it is essential to keep up with the latest educational jargon. Study these words, their meaning, and how you would implement them into your classroom.

Common Core

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The Common Core State Standards is a set of learning standards that provide a clear and consistent understanding of what students are expected to learn throughout the school year. The standards are designed to provide teachers with a guideline of what skills and knowledge students need so that they can prepare students for future success.

Cooperative Learning

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Cooperative learning is a teaching strategy classroom teachers use to help their students process information more quickly by having them work in small groups to accomplish a common goal. Each member that is in the group is responsible for learning the information given, and also for helping their fellow group members learn the information as well.

Bloom's Taxonomy

Bloom's Taxonomy refers to a set of learning objectives that teachers use to guide their students through the learning process. When students are introduced to a topic or concept the teacher uses higher-order thinking skills (Bloom's Taxonomy) to help students answer and or solve complex problems. There are six levels of Bloom's Taxonomy: remembering, understanding, applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating.

Instructional Scaffolding

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Instructional scaffolding refers to the support a teacher gives a student when a new skill or concept is introduced to them. The teacher uses a scaffolding strategy to motivate and activate prior knowledge on the subject they are about to learn. For example, a teacher would ask students questions, have them make predictions, create a graphic organizer, model, or present an experiment to help activate prior knowledge.

Guided Reading

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Guided reading is a strategy that a teacher uses to help students become great readers. The teacher's role is to provide support to a small group of students by using a variety of reading strategies to guide them to become successful in reading. This strategy is primarily associated with primary grades but can be adapted in all grade levels.

Brain Break

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A brain break is a short mental break that is taken during regular intervals during classroom instruction. Brain breaks are usually limited to five minutes and work best when they incorporate physical activities. A brain break is nothing new. Teachers have incorporated them into their classes for years. Teachers use them in-between lessons and activities to jump-start students' thinking.

Six Traits of Writing

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The six traits of writing have six key characteristics that define quality writing. They are: Ideas — the main message; Organization — the structure; Voice — personal tone; Word Choice — convey meaning; Sentence Fluency — the rhythm; and Conventions — mechanical. This systematic approach teaches students to look at writing one part at a time. Writers learn to be more critical of their own work, and it helps them to make improvements as well.

Additional Educational Buzzwords

Other common educational buzzwords that you may hear are: student engagement, higher-order thinking, Daily 5, everyday mathematics, common core aligned, critical thinking, portfolio assessment, hands-on, multiple intelligences, discovery learning, balanced reading, IEP, chunking, differentiated instruction, direct instruction, deductive thinking, extrinsic motivation, formative assessment, inclusion, individualized instruction, inquiry-based learning, learning styles, mainstreaming, manipulative, literacy, life-long learning,flexible grouping, data-driven, SMART goals, DIBELS.

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Cox, Janelle. "7 Buzzwords You're Most Likely to Hear in Education." ThoughtCo, Aug. 27, 2020, thoughtco.com/buzzwords-in-education-2081955. Cox, Janelle. (2020, August 27). 7 Buzzwords You're Most Likely to Hear in Education. Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/buzzwords-in-education-2081955 Cox, Janelle. "7 Buzzwords You're Most Likely to Hear in Education." ThoughtCo. https://www.thoughtco.com/buzzwords-in-education-2081955 (accessed June 1, 2023).