When you run into a student on campus, or walk from one classroom to the next, don't let those few minutes pass you by.

Instead, take your students on a walk down memory lane.

Check out this quick strategy for retrieval practice–by design. As always, no prep, no grading. We love it so much, it's a walk in the park! 

P.S. Have you pre-ordered our book Powerful Teaching? It has even more no prep, no grading strategies!

Take a Walk Down Memory Lane

Recently, we heard from a literacy tutor, Robert. He read last week's update on saving time with retrieval practice and shared his quick strategy for retrieval.

We call it Taking a Walk Down Memory Lane.

"I work with young struggling readers and writers, and here's how I save time with retrieval practice:

When I pick up a student I'm tutoring from a classroom, I use the walk back to the Learning Center as a chance for retrieval practice by asking questions:

What did we work on last time? What is a closed syllable? What is a phoneme? What is the difference between a phoneme and a digraph?"

It's that simple! When you Take a Walk Down Memory Lane with students, you are using those precious few minutes to improve their learning. Students enjoy sharing their knowledge in this no-stakes environment and you'd be surprised how much rapport Taking a Walk builds, too. As we write about often, retrieval practice builds a positive classroom culture and decreases anxiety.

Can't think of questions to ask? Start with our Retrieval Warm Ups! A question as simple as "What's your favorite ice cream flavor?" helps students become comfortable with retrieving what they know, without the pressure of grades.

The next time you run into a student, Take a Walk Down Memory Lane!