List of Articles

• "Today, we're going to discuss..."

  Read how these five words, "Today we're going to discuss...", transformed a teacher. Karen shares a heartfelt narrative of a defining moment in her life and career — a moment that caused her to reflect on her teaching priorities and methodology. Karen's middle-school son posed a simple question that changed everything for her — a question that brings us to the heart of what it really means to be a teacher. Read Article

• 10 Years and 1,000,000 Students Later!

  KaganUK celebrates its 10th year of bringing Kagan's full engagement to the UK. Gavin reflects on his journey from when he had his Kagan epiphany to the impact his training company has had on countless schools in the UK. Read Article

• A Cooperative Learning and ELL Success Story

  Oh no! A brand new student with no comprehension of English. What is a teacher to do? Ms. McKoy successfully included the ELL student with ease. See how. Read Article

• A Game Changer for Special Education

  Principal Howell reports how the staff at Wilbur Elementary claims Kagan Structures are a game changer for their special education students. Special needs students are so included and engaged in learning, visitors can't even tell which students have IEPs. Read Article

• A Revolutionary Way to Teach

  Dana Davila recently attend a TESOL conference in Caracas, Venezuela where Dr, Spencer Kagan gave a 16-hour workshop. She describes how this "technique for teaching revolutionized my thinking and had a deep impact on my life." Read Article

• A Simple Bully Buster: Cooperative Learning

  Working cooperatively in the classroom results in more kind behavior toward classmates. Working competitively leads to more acts of aggression. Intended or not, cooperative learning is a bully prevention program by producing more kind and caring students. Read Article

• A Story of Inclusion . . . A Model for Us All

  Including special needs students in the regular classroom is an academic detriment to the entire class. The teacher is too busy with students who need extra attention to academically challenge regular and gifted students. Do you agree with this premise shared by many parents? Rob shares a differing perspective, based on actual classroom events. Read Article

• A Teacher and Principal's Perspective of Kagan Structures

  Teachers and administrators have very different roles and responsibilities. But they also have some very important things in common: They love to see meaningful learning in action and they love Kagan Structures. Hear their unique perspectives on this unique approach to teaching and learning. Read Article

• A Teacher Fosters Social Competence With Cooperative Learning

  Is cooperative learning worth the effort? Yes! is the resounding answer from this once-struggling novice 4th grade teacher who found Kagan Structures. The author details her journey from struggling with group work to succeeding with structures. She conducted an inquiry project and found that with Kagan Structures, student interaction patterns changed and promoted less social isolation, disruptive behaviors steadily dropped, and students improved their social skills. Read Article

• A “D” School Ramah Elementary

  Ramah Elementary in New Mexico was unpleasantly surprised with its low "D" rating, almost failing! With nearly a third of their students categorized as English language learners (ELL), teachers were challenged with helping students achieve both language and academic proficiency. Ramah introduced Kagan to their teachers. In one year, they posted a respectable 23 point growth. Read Article

• An Interview with Laurie Kagan for Liwa Times in the United Arab Emirates

  The Liwa school in the UAE is in route to becoming a Kagan Model School. At a recent visit, Laurie Kagan was interviewed for the Liwa Times. She responds to a range of questions about Kagan: Structures, theory, mission, books, and more. Read Article

• An Interview with Spencer

  The Independent Day School in Tampa Florida led by Joyce Swarzman, is a model Kagan school. For the past several years, Dr. Spencer Kagan has been working with the IDS staff. Each year, they open up the school to educators to see Kagan Structures in action. Mary Toothman interviewed Dr. Kagan regarding Kagan Structures, and his work with IDS. Read Article

• At Lehigh Senior High School, “It’s All About Engagement!”

  Principal Jackie Corey shares what happened at her Title I high school when they went to school-wide Kagan implementation. Spoiler alert: Students improved academically as well as behaviorally. Lehigh experienced a 58% reduction in disciplinary referrals. Read Article

• Book Review: Nurturing the Naturalist Intelligence

  Book Review: Nurturing the Naturalist Intelligence Read Article

• Brain-Friendly Learning Promotes Student Engagement

  Brain research corroborates Mark Twain’s assertion that “Telling ain’t teaching.” True learning occurs not when students are passive recipients of knowledge, but rather are actively engaged in their own learning. Learn three principles of Dr. Kagan’s Brain-Friendly Teaching as well as some specific structures. Read Article

• Brain-Friendly Teaching Press Release

  Dr. Spencer Kagan's game-changing new book condenses cutting-edge brain science into six proven principles for brain-friendly teaching. Read Article

• Breakouts To Energize Brains and Boost Achievement

  Breakouts are strategies to regroup students, preparing them to interact with classmates who are not part of their base team. Dr. Kagan examines structures for breakouts, when to use them, and why they align how we teach with how brains best function. Read Article

• But What About My Shy Students?

  Communicating with teammates is central to Kagan Structures. Speaking is part of the academic standards. But what do we do when students are too shy to share? In this article, Dr. DuVall provides some insights and recommendations for how to get ALL students interacting. Read Article

• Cabot Middle School North Earns Top Award

  Principal Tanya Spillane sent Kagan a newspaper article, lauding her school for earning a national award for excellence—again! Cabot adopted Kagan's engaging approach to teaching and learning and has been distinguished as one of only five Diamond Schools in the entire state of Arkansas. Read Article

• Calling on One

  Why call on one student when we can call on every student? Dr. Kagan critiques the traditional method of calling on a single student at a time and proposes replacing it with Kagan Structures that engage every student. Dr. Kagan offers five Kagan Structures to replace calling on one: PairShare, Timed PairShare, RallyRobin, RallyCoach, and PairCoach. The key advantage of these structures is that they multiply student engagement enhancing equity and learning for all. Read Article

• Caruthers Elementary Is on the Path to Achievement with Kagan

  Principal Dominguez reports a 95% growth in language acquisition as measured by the CELDT test. Teachers attribute the growth to the safety and communication that goes on with Kagan Structures. Read Article

• CCSD Hosts Kagan Workshop

  When Calloway County School District in Kentucky wanted to focus their professional development on student engagement, they turned to Kagan to train their elementary, middle, and high school teachers. Hear what Calloway teachers and administrators had to say about their training. Read Article

• Cedar Grove Elementary School’s Heather Hodges Earns 2019 Kagan Winter Academy Scholarship

  Kagan offers scholarships to educators to attend Kagan’s Winter and Summer Academies. Ms. Hodges, a fifth grade teacher in Kentucky, was a recent scholarship recipient. Her district wrote this article to share the exciting news. Hear Heather’s story. Read Article

• Chatting Up Kagan

  We came across a long thread on a popular teacher online chat board. Read what teachers really have to say about Kagan and Kagan workshops. Read Article

• Clarity and Cooperative Learning: The Concrete-Abstract Connection

  From the man who brought us Think-Pair-Share and Think Trix comes some clarity about thinking. The key to promoting thinking in the class is to transform mental abstractions into concrete concepts that students can easily wrap their minds around. Read Article

• Closing the Achievement Gap

  Closing the Achievement Gap Read Article

• Collaborative Staff Meetings

  We invited Don McLean, Karen Kettle, and the Eastdale Leadership Camp Committee of Durham District to share the ways they are using structures to empower staff and students. At this year's annual meeting of the Great Lakes Association for Cooperation in Education in Toronto, students and staff from the Durham District School Board made remarkable presentations on ways they are using the Kagan Structures in staff meetings and in student-led meetings. Read Article

• Collective Memory

  Collective Memory is a powerhouse of a cooperative learning structure. Students work in teams to reproduce any visual image. The catch is: only one teammate views the original image at a time, and for a limited period. Students must strategize, cooperate, and communicate well to successfully recreate the original. Promote visual literacy, teamwork, and content learning with Collective Memory. Gavin walks you through the steps, provides ideas to use it in your classroom, and shares a sample lesson, pictures and all. Read Article

• Cooperative Chaos

  In this study, the author investigates how cooperative learning structures impact social skill development and social network patterns among first graders. Ms. Alvarez finds that through the use of structures, students are more willing to work with more classmates and are better equipped with the social skills to work together successfully. This is in contrast to the chaos that often results from simply telling students to work together without providing the structure for how. Read Article

• Cooperative Learning and Multi-ethnic Classrooms in Singapore

  Cooperative Learning and Multi-ethnic Classrooms in Singapore. Read Article

• Cooperative Learning and the Lamplighter School

  Lamplighter School in Dallas, Texas was founded on the mission to develop each students' uniqueness in a cooperative, nurturing environment. For nearly a decade and a half, Lamplighter school has made a commitment to Kagan Structures. Read about their journey in making Kagan Structures an integral part of their school culture, how Kagan supported their philosophy, and the positive impact Kagan Structures have on interpersonal relationships and academic achievement. Read Article

• Cooperative Learning in My Classroom

  With a very diverse group of students ranging from special needs to gifted, Stuart sought a way to reach all his third graders. He found his answer in Kagan Cooperative Learning and hasn’t looked back since. Mr. Sanks describes how he uses cooperative learning structures in his classroom to create excitement, safety, and accountability. By incorporating cooperative learning into every lesson, Stuart meaningfully engages his students and has become the teacher he always wanted to be. Read Article

• Cooperative Learning in the Block

  What do I do for the eighty minute block schedule? Dr. Schmitt will show you how to break down the block and how to keep students active and excited for the whole period using cooperative learning. Take advantage of the block. Read Article

• Cooperative Learning in the Inclusive Classroom

  Arielle L. Genee shares how cooperative learning can create an inclusive classroom environment in which students of all ability levels can have a part to play. She illustrates her point beautifully with a step-by-step first grade lesson plan using Simultaneous RoundTable. Read Article

• Cooperative Learning Structures

  How we structure the interaction among our students impacts dramatically on achievement and acquisition of social skills. Dr. Kagan shares how Kagan Structures create frequent and equal participation among students, resulting in more engagement and more learning for more students. Read Article

• Discipline Referrals Decrease Dramatically at Sage Elementary

  For the past four years, discipline referrals at Sage have been steadily declining. Five years ago Sage began implementing Kagan Cooperative Learning. Coincidence? Not at all. Hear the two reasons Sage's instructional coach cites for Kagan's role in decreasing discipline referrals by 33% over the past four years. Read Article

• Does "Group Work" Work?

  Dr. Kagan appears on a television show focused on group work in the classroom. Tune in to hear Dr. Kagan's take on the difference between group work and true cooperative learning. Read Article

• East Haddam Elementary Receives Kagan Charitable Foundation Grant

  East Haddam Elementary in Connecticut applied for and received a charitable grant from the Kagan Charitable Foundation. They used their grant to host a Kagan Cooperative Learning Day 1 training at their school. In this article and short video, East Haddam shares their story, their appreciations, and some of the structures and goofy games they learned in the workshop. Read Article

• Edgewood Academy Then and Now: The Kagan Difference

  Edgewood Academy has fully embraced Kagan. Kagan is now deeply rooted in the culture of the school. Hear their journey. Watch a brief video of Edgewood's principal and vice principal describing how they have supported their teachers along the way. Read Article

• Educator Preparation Institute and Kagan

  EPI is a teacher preparation institute that has thrived in Florida, thanks in large part to their work with Kagan. Hear how EPI has teamed up with Kagan to prepare teachers to succeed as K–12 teachers. Read Article

• Effect Size Reveals the Impact of Kagan Structures and Cooperative Learning

  Effect size is a statistical tool educational researchers use to determine the effectiveness of innovations. Do Kagan Structures work? You bet your effect size they do! Learn about effect sizes. Learn about the research on cooperative learning and Kagan Structures. Read Article

• Effective Instruction in the One Computer Classroom

  If your classroom computer is sitting idle because you haven't been able to engage all students at the same time, you'll want to read Robert Schmitt's article. He provides practical suggestions for using your computer as a center with just about any content. Read Article

• El Colegio Mission Awarded Mexico’s First Kagan Model School

  For the past 10 years, this school in Los Cabos has been training, coaching, and perfecting their skills with Kagan Structures. Kagan Trainer Tom Searl presents the school a Kagan Model School award for their passion and dedication. See pictures and hear from the co-founder and teachers about their Kagan journey. Read Article

• Engaged Learning

  Kagan has helped transform the school culture at Parkview Elementary. Referrals for discipline have virtually disappeared. Kids are having fun learning. Teachers are having fun teaching. What more could you ask for? Read Article

• English Language Learning Workshop Survey Results

  Kagan conducts surveys after every workshop. Teachers consistently rate the Kagan trainings as either the best they’ve ever had or at least high up there. But those are Kagan’s own surveys. What do teachers tell their district on their own independent survey? Read the article to find out! Read Article

• EPI Instructors, Directors, and Graduates Applaud Kagan

  The faculty of EPI lauds Kagan for strategies that promote learning, develop critical thinking, create active engagement. Teachers who graduated from EPI offer insights to how Kagan has helped them become better teachers. Read Article

• Every Child, Every Day at Waterway

  When Waterway was restructured from an grades 4-5 intermediate school to a preK-5 school, the school had serious challenges to overcome. They sought a solution that would raise test scores, improve student behavior, and create a safe learning environment. They found Kagan. Like the flip of a light switch, test scores went up, referrals went down, and the whole atmosphere improved. Read Article

• Evolution of Cooperative Structures in Borneo

  Kagan Structures travel far and wide. Ng Kee Chuan shares personal experiences using cooperative structures for training teachers in Borneo. Read about implementation challenges encountered and resulting variations on Jigsaw II, One Stay, RoundRobin Reading, and Inside-Outside Circle. And hear student teachers' reaction to cooperative structures from a different part of the world. Read Article

• Fans of Silly Sports and the Brain Break

  Read students' reactions to playing Silly Sports and taking brain breaks. Here's a preview of a few: "I really like your brain breaks because it helps calm the brain after hours of work, and wracking it for ideas." "I think if every day we do 7 brain breaks it will allow our school to be 98.9% more fun because it will give students small breaks during class." Read Article

• Find My Rule — A Gem of a Structure for Nurturing Critical Thinking

  Looking to boost thinking skills using your own curriculum? Find My Rule is a gem. Students must cooperate and use inductive thinking to "find" the teacher's rule for placing samples in different places of a graphic organizer. Karen shows you how to use the structure, shares her favorite variations, and provides a variety of sample activities across the curriculum. Read Article

• Flexible Seating

  Can we improve student engagement by ditching the desks? Will the move to make the classroom look more like a Starbucks lounge or a Google office space promote student learning? Read on to see if alternative seating is really the answer. Read Article

• Fostering Communication Skills with Match Mine

  Match Mine is fun, but does it really have practical applications in the classroom? In addition to building students’ communication skills, Ms. Willette provides examples of how Match Mine can be used in the secondary classroom to promote communication over academic subject matter. Read Article

• Found in Translation – Teaching English in Spain Using Kagan Structures

  Active engagement is the universal language of learning. It knows no boundaries. Whether in Spain or in the class down the hall, students learn more and smile more when they use Kagan Structures. Read Article

• Garnering Support for Kagan Structures

  How do you get your principal's and/or superintendent's support for implementing Kagan? Simple. Let them experience the power of Kagan in action. Karen Dailey, a Nationally Certified Kagan Trainer, describes how she and her colleagues won support from administration and transformed faculty meetings into a model for classroom enthusiasm and active participation. Read Article

• Get Up and Get Moving With Geometry!

  Julie shares how she uses the Kagan Structure, Kinesthetic Symbols to teach her third-graders basic geometry terms. Students love to get out of their seats and express their learning with their bodies. Whether or not you teach geometry, you'll pick up some ideas to use Kinesthetic Symbols with your students. Read Article

• Getting Started with Kagan

  Read questions by Kagan neophytes and responses from Kagan experts and trainers. You'll find the answers to some of your burning "getting started" questions: Which structures should I start with? What are the best materials to use? Read Article

• Going to the Head of the Class

  Kagan Publishing & Professional Development was awarded a "Top Work Place" by the Orange County Register. Kagan was thereafter featured on the front page of the Jobs section of the newspaper. This is the Register's feature article on Kagan. Read Article

• Good Writers Consider the Writer-Reader Relationship

  Teach your students about the social relationship between the author and intended audience. Teaching students about this writer-reader connection may be more important than the writing process itself. Improve your writing instruction and your students' writing skills. Read Article

• Highest Evaluation Possible

  Surprise! Today is your unannounced classroom evaluation. While that may strike fear into the hearts of some teachers, Rickey didn't sweat it. He kept his cool. You, too, can get the highest evaluations possible from even the toughest evaluator by heeding Rickey's advice: Always keep your students actively engaged. Read Article

• How Controversial Topics Inspire Deeper Learning

  Controversial topics are just that because there is often more than one way to look at an issue. Instructional specialist Jeanie Dailey describes how cooperative learning can be used to deepen thinking about sensitive topics. She provides an example of a moving lesson developed to explore a local historical event from multiple perspectives. Read Article

• I Can!

  I CAN!' are two potent words that passionately drive my enthusiasm for teaching, kids, and the application of Cooperative Learning. Read this inspiring story of how a dedicated teacher armed with a powerful set of instructional tools was able to make a profound impact on the life of her student. Read Article

• I Was Ready to Quit, Until Kagan Came to My Class

  After her first year of teaching, Ms. Higgins was disillusioned. She was ready to quit. But that summer she attended a Kagan cooperative learning training. That training renewed her excitement for teaching and gave her a glimpse of the classroom she wanted to create. With new tools, she decided to give teaching one last chance. Today, after five years of success in the class, she reflects on her rollercoaster of emotions and how Kagan has helped her become the teacher she'd always dreamed of being. Read Article

• I'd Never Go Back to Rows

  "Bueller, Bueller…?" Why is this familiar movie reference, so funny? Because it is so true for so many classrooms. Not in Ms. Van Fleet's classroom anymore! Read Article

• Inclusion of English Language Learners in Kagan Cooperative Learning Activities

  Include your ESL students in the classroom and dramatically boost their language learning using cooperative learning. Inclusive cooperative learning structures with some basic accommodations will allow you to actively involve students with even very limited English. Read Article

• Increasing Student Participation, Interest, and Communication with Cooperative Learning Structures

  This research project examined students' attitudes toward Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures on a number of dimensions: enjoyment in participating in structures, increased interest in the learning topic, improved communication skills, comfort with peers and teacher, and increase in classroom participation. See how students rated Kagan Structures. Read Article

• Infusing Kagan Structures into Library Lessons

  Librarian Teresa Bettis wanted to make her library lessons more engaging. She set a goal of infusing Kagan Structures into 75% of her lessons. She exceeded her goal and found a way to insert Kagan Structures into 100% of her lessons. Hear about how Kagan Structures helped Ms. Bettis create more engaging library lessons. Read Article

• Interview with Michelle Voelker, a Kagan Instructional Coach

  Michelle Voelker, an Instructional Coach form Warren Woods Public Schools in Michigan shares her district’s journey with Kagan Cooperative Learning on “School Talks” with Dr. Robert Livernois on WJR 760 AM radio. Read Article

• Investigative Jigsaw

  Dr. Lyman adds an "investigative" twist to the classic cooperative learning structure Jigsaw. The result: Students investigate the topic in greater depth, plus students expand their conception of what it means to be an "expert" on a subject. Read Article

• Jackie Has ADHD

  Can a student who is hyperactive with attention deficits—usually among teachers' biggest challenges—really be a tremendous asset to the entire class? This story suggests that with the right teaching tools, we can channel that energy into productive learning. Read Article

• Kagan Awarded Top 10 Mom-Friendly Workplaces in Orange County

  Being a mother, like being a teacher, is tremendously challenging. Kagan strives to make work better for moms, and all employees, by creating a positive work environment where all employees feel welcome, appreciated, and enjoy coming to work. Read Article

• Kagan Coaching Competencies

  Kagan Coaching is a workshop Kagan offers to districts to help them create internal capacity for sustaining Kagan implementation. Kristi McCracken, educational columnist from the Porterville Recorder, attended a Kagan Coaching workshop presented by Dr. Vern Minor. In this article, Ms. McCracken shares some of her key observations and takeaways from this coaching workshop. Read Article

• Kagan Connections–Project Based Learning

  What is Project Based Learning? What are the challenges? What are the connections to Kagan? Read this article and your questions will be answered. Read Article

• Kagan Connections—AVID

  AVID and Kagan Structures are aligned philosophically. They both strive for greater educational equity—to improve outcomes for traditionally disadvantaged students. In this article, the authors show how Kagan Structures can be infused into AVID activities to create even greater engagement, collaboration, and learning. Read Article

• Kagan Connections—Balanced Literacy

  Balanced Literacy is a way to teach language arts that balances different language arts components including: comprehension, word study, fluency, and writing. Balanced Literacy is even more powerful when delivered using interactive instructional methods. Read how to integrate Kagan to get greater engagement with Balanced Literacy. Read Article

• Kagan Connections—Common Core State Standards

  Learn about five major connections between Kagan and the Common Core. Kagan Structures enable educators to more effective meet the demands of the Common Core. Read Article

• Kagan Connections—Differentiated Instruction

  What are the connections between Kagan and differentiated instruction? Learn how Kagan dovetails with the philosophical tenets of differentiated instruction. All kids can learn. Read Article

• Kagan Connections—Teacher Appraisal Models

  There has been an unprecedented momentum to develop and adopt new teacher evaluation systems. Learn about two of the most recognized systems and the Kagan connections with each. Read Article

• Kagan Connections—Visible Learning

  Principal Michael Winters made dramatic academic gains at his elementary school using Kagan. He was confident he could duplicate his success at another high poverty, diverse population school. Spoiler alert: He had even greater success with Kagan at his second school. Read Article

• Kagan Cooperative Learning Book Review

  The radically improved and expanded book, Kagan Cooperative Learning was reviewed for a secondary school newsletter in the United Kingdom by a county inspector. Read the review here. Read Article

• Kagan Cooperative Learning for Teaching Assistants, Paraprofessionals, and Classroom Aides

  Framed as a Q&A, this article describes the different roles and different ways teaching assistants can help support the teacher and students in the cooperative classroom. If you’re a teacher using Kagan and have classroom support staff, this is a great article for you and your aides. Or, if you are a teaching assistant looking to see how you can add the most value to the cooperative classroom, this article provides helpful advice. Read Article

• Kagan Cooperative Learning Song

  Karen recently attended a Kagan Cooperative Learning graduate course in Pennsylvania. She enjoyed it so much, she was so moved to song. See if you can sing along and remember some key Kagan concepts. Read Article

• Kagan Goes to Cabo

  Nope, it's not to lounge on the beach and work on a tan. It's to bring Kagan Cooperative Learning structures to Mission School in Los Cabos, Mexico. Each year the school staff's enthusiasm for Kagan grows as they witness the transformational impact of student interaction on academics and social skills. Read Article

• Kagan Implementation Surveys

  Kagan Cooperative Learning continues to expand worldwide. The book, Cooperative Learning, has been translated into several languages. Hungarian is one such translation. This article includes extracts from the preface of the Hungarian version that offers an interesting perspective on cooperative learning which is both very foreign, yet very familiar at the same time. Read Article

• Kagan in the Foreign Language Classroom

  This article focuses on the author’s use of two Kagan Structures—Quiz-Quiz-Trade and Fan-N-Pick—in her Spanish classroom. Read how one teacher uses Kagan to increase comprehensible input and foreign language acquisition in her classroom. Read Article

• Kagan Lesson Planning

  Kagan offers lesson planning services to schools and districts. Learn the three major aims of Kagan's lesson planning approach and how to bring in Kagan to assist you in planning lessons that optimize engagement and student learning. Let Kagan help you make the most of your daily lessons. Read Article

• Kagan Magic

  “This student was engaged for the first time in his life!” That’s how one first-grade teacher describes the impact the “Kagan Magic” had on one of her struggling students. He improved his state test scores by 80 points, felt a sense of belonging, and was actually excited about going to school for the first time. Read Article

• Kagan on the Carpet: Structures and Management Tips for Little Ones

  Help! All these little people want to share. Their poor little arms are going fall off if they keep them raised all day. Angela has made it her mission to help primary teachers more fully engage their little ones. Start on the carpet with Angela's top three management tips and top three Kagan Structures. Read Article

• Kagan On TV

  Principal and Kagan Trainer David Jones shares Kagan's vision for classroom engagement with a live studio audience of award-winning teachers on the TV show, Teacher Talk. Read Article

• Kagan Publishing Product Submission Guidelines

  Some of Kagan's best products and publications are submitted by teachers just like you. Got something you think is right up Kagan's alley? Take the next step. Read Article

• Kagan Saved Me

  The teacher next door calls in sick and there's no sub available. What do you do with fifty first graders? No problem for this teacher who has a mastery of Kagan Cooperative Learning. Read Article

• Kagan Structures Add Power To Corporate Classes

  Kagan Structures Add Power To Corporate Classes Read Article

• Kagan Structures Altered the Way I Teach Forever

  Have you ever had a turning point in your life that forever changed your life's direction? Gavin Clowes did. And that turning point was learning about Kagan Structures for the first time. Gavin, a school teacher in the North West of England, documents his first hand experience learning Kagan Structures and putting them into action in his own classroom with great, immediate success. Read Article

• Kagan Structures Change Teachers' Lives

  Does changing the way you teach really matter? You bet it does! Teachers write how using Kagan Structures profoundly changed their professional and even personal lives for the better. Read Article

• Kagan Structures Empower Teachers, and That Is a Beautiful Thing

  In this interview, Principal Brooke Kelly shares her successes with Kagan at Goose Bay Elementary. It didn't happen overnight, but office referrals almost disappeared. Her school went from the lowest in the district to one of the most successful. Brooke and her teachers share their struggles and their victories. Read Article

• Kagan Structures for Active Learning and Educational Equity

  From across the Pacific Ocean, the host of Dr. Spencer Kagan's nine Japanese workshops for 2003 is a university professor who employs Cooperative Learning to teach future teachers in Japan. In this article Jane shares how she gets students participating actively and equally. Her observations apply everywhere in the world: CL is a powerful tool for an active and egalitarian class. Read Article

• Kagan Structures Improve Teacher Evaluations

  Teachers are scored as more effective with the implementation of Kagan Structures. Christi shares different components of evaluations and how Kagan Structures help teachers receive higher evaluations. Read Article

• Kagan Structures in the Gifted Clustered Classroom

  Stefanie shares her tips for grouping gifted kids in the regular classroom. Read Article

• Kagan Structures Revolutionize Saudi Arabian School

  Al-Andalus school in Saudi Arabia implements Kagan Structures with an immediate positive impact on student motivation and learning. Hear teachers' reactions to this new way of learning. Read Article

• Kagan’s Brain-Friendly Learning Principles

  Unless concerted efforts are made, teachers will teach the way they were taught. Today, we have more brain-friendly teaching options that make teaching easier and more effective. Learn about three more brain-friendly teaching principles: emotion, attention, and stimuli. Join the revolution to bring teaching into the modern era. Read Article

• Kagan’s Thoughts on Homework

  Teachers who use Kagan Structures alter how they teach in class. But what about homework? How does homework change? Dr. Kagan offers his thoughts about homework for the cooperative learning classroom. Numerous Kagan Trainers share their personal experience and advice with homework when using Kagan methods. Read Article

• Kinesthetic Symbols: Harnessing the Power of Gesturing

  In his research on brain-based learning, Dr. Kagan uncovered a wealth of studies on the powerful impact of using hand and body signals for teaching and learning. See how gesturing improves understanding and retention and learn ways you can incorporate Kinesthetic Symbols into your classroom to boost learning. Read Article

• Kudos for Kagan

  Kagan receives rave reviews from workshop participants. But what do teachers have to say about Kagan once they start integrating structures into their classrooms? Hear directly from Kagan users new and experienced. Read Article

• Large Urban District Burnout Buster

  After the first quarter, 38% of Mrs. Hensley's 5th grade science was not passing. Something had to change. Mrs. Hensley started implementing RoundRobin, Fan-N-Pick, and Quiz-Quiz-Trade. The percentage of failing students dropped like the apple from Newton's tree. Take a look at her impressive results. Read Article

• Lesson Plans Must Include the 4 C’s! No Problem – Use Kagan Structures

  Is it realistic for teachers to cram the 4 C’s—Creativity, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, and Communication—into lessons? Wouldn't that just make lessons four times harder to plan? It's no problem when you use Kagan Structures that have all these ingredients already baked into the cake. Read Article

• Liwa International School in the United Arab Emirates Embraces Kagan

  Liwa School instructional leaders share their reflections on Kagan. Liwa is so excited about Kagan, they will host an open house to share with other local educators the power of Kagan in their classrooms. Read Article

• Lots of Talk—Little Dialogue

  Too many leaders are still using techniques to engage staff in conversations that are ineffective. To improve teaching, we need to move away from appraisal and toward a true professional learning community. Read Article

• Making History an Adventure

  After teaching high-school history for nearly three decades, the author learns about multiple intelligences theory. It radically transforms the way he thinks about history, and the success he has in teaching World and U.S. History. Here, the author shares his personal history with MI and also shares a sample World History project that engaged students like never before. Read Article

• Metacognition and Its Importance in the Thinking Process

  Thinking is critical to learning, but it is often a mystery to students. To complicate matters, thinking isn’t one thing. There are different types of thinking. Metacognition, thinking about thinking, makes very abstract processes concrete for students. Pioneering educator Dr. Frank Lyman shares his thoughts and his work on helping students understand the basic mind actions to become more “thoughtful” and successful thinkers. Read Article

• My Teachers Attended Training: Now What?

  Carol was a former principal who had her teachers trained in Kagan, and was then faced with the question: Now what? She found her answer. Now, as a Kagan Trainer, Carol has visited with hundreds of schools and has encountered leaders with the same question. This is Carol's Top 5 List for advice of what to do next to sustain school implementation. Read Article

• My Wheels Are Spinning

  In this email exchange, Amy and Vern ruminate on the delicate balance between novelty and predictability. They find Kagan Structures create novel learning opportunities, but the structured interactions are predictable sequences that provide guiderails to learning for special needs and neurotypical kids alike. Read Article

• New Water on the Beans; CL On Ice

  On the Atlantic coast of Canada last month, Laurie Kagan and Christi Brown trained 2,300 people watching a JumboTron screen in a Newfoundland hockey stadium. Host Derrick Moore explains how and why he turned to Kagan Professional Development for his province's largest professional development event ever. In a sidebar, Christi regales us with her eyewitness account of Laurie's triumph on the ice. Read Article

• Opinion Sages

  Ohio 9th-grade English teacher Bob Henderson has developed a new structure, called Opinion Sages. He based it on Dr. Spencer Kagan's Circle the Sage structure, and consulted with Dr. Kagan to shape its six steps and two variations. This new structure is especially good for getting shy students to speak up. Read Article

• Optimal Hydration

  Will putting a bottle of water on every kid's desk dramatically drive up test scores? Eric Jensen, a leader in the field of brain-compatible learning, says probably not, but Jensen clues us into to some interesting facts and studies supporting the importance of optimal hydration levels for learning. Read Article

• People Hunt for Vocabulary Review

  Here's a variation of a longtime favorite structure for reviewing vocabulary. Learn a fun and fresh approach to teaching any new ESL or content-area vocabulary words. Read Article

• Preventing Bullying

  Bullying exists in school. The question is: What are educators going to do about it? The answer is: Get proactive! Instead of responding to bullying after it happens, we need an approach that prevents it altogether—or at least dramatically reduces the incidences of bullying. That’s where Kagan comes in. Kagan is not an anti-bullying curriculum, yet Kagan dramatically reduces bullying by creating positive peer relations and helping students develop socially appropriate interaction skills. Read Article

• Primary Management Tips for Kagan Success

  With a few management tips, you can have your little ones rocking Kagan Structures too! Melissa shares some of her favorite tips from her new book. Read Article

• Quick Online Test Reveals MI Thinking Style?

  Should you use MI self-assessments? Dr. Tracey introduces an engaging website from the British Broadcasting Corporation that offers a 'quick and dirty' assessment of Gardner's Multiple Intelligences plus Sisk & Torrance's Spiritual Intelligence. He includes Dr. Spencer Kagan's warning about inauthentic assessment, plus hints for using the BBC material to communicate with students, parents and other stakeholders. Read Article

• Quiet Signal for High School

  Does the Quiet Signal work with high school students? Two Kagan Trainers, Dr. Vern Minor and Dan Kuzma share some ideas and adaptations that have worked well for them and many other high school teachers. Read Article

• Raising Smarter Children Creating an Enriched Learning Environment

  Raising Smarter Children Creating an Enriched Learning Environment Read Article

• Reducing At-Risk Students with Kagan

  Athenian Academy of Technology and the Arts dramatically reduced ALL four "At Risk" factors for students dropping out of high school. See how Athenian reduced absences, suspensions, and core course failures. At the same time these at-risk factors were making a sharp decline, Athenian made huge improvements in students learning as reflected by the test score data shown. Read Article

• Research on Kagan Structures in the United Arab Emirates

  An investigation of the impact of implementing Kagan's Cooperative Learning structures on the engagement and learning outcomes of upper primary students studying English as a foreign language. Read Article

• Safety in the Classroom and Beyond

  In their search to build the perfect workplace teams, Google conducted research to identify what makes work teams successful. Safety, empathy, and equality were found to be key ingredients. It’s no mistake these are also key ingredients to teamwork in the Kagan classroom. The workplace is increasingly placing a premium on teamwork skills—the very skills students acquire in the cooperative classroom. Read Article

• Santa Elena Primary – Blazing a New Trail in Education

  Vice Principal Debby Reneau has been a driving force behind transforming her school using Kagan Structures. Debby shares her story and her hopes of spreading the good word throughout Belize. Read Article

• Sauceda Middle School Student Survey

  “Out of the mouth of babes” is an idiom that means the young can be wise. Hear from the mouths of these middle school students why they like Kagan. Gain insight into what structures students like and what they have to say about working in teams with others. Read Article

• Secondary School Education and Cooperative Learning: A Perfect Match

  High school students often tell us "School is boring." They question, "When are we ever going to use this stuff?" Veteran high school administrator Daren Harris found Kagan Cooperative Learning to be the antidote to these problems for his teachers and students. With Kagan, school was more interactive and with that interaction came the development of social skills and communication skills—the very stuff every student needs in the real world. Read Article

• Seeing is Belize-ing: The Introduction of Kagan In Belize

  Belize's Minister of Education shares his thoughts on Kagan Cooperative Learning after observing Kagan Structures in action. Read Article

• Singapore School Implements Kagan's Cooperative Learning Strategies

  Each summer for the past several years, Kagan has been working with the Singapore Teachers Union to train Singapore teachers Kagan Structures. Many Singapore schools have adopted Kagan and have success implementing Kagan in their schools. This article describes Springfield Secondary School's journey with Kagan: their training; why they got started with Kagan; and the benefits for students and teachers. Read Article

• Singapore Schools Escalate Commitment to Kagan Structures

  For nearly a decade, Kagan has worked closely with the Singapore Teachers' Union. Kagan Structures are changing the way many Singapore teachers are teaching and students are learning. Two schools step up their commitment to Kagan Structures and make Kagan a pivotal part of their professional development and efforts to create a school-wide culture of caring and cooperation. Read Article

• Solo Worksheets

  Dr. Kagan argues for the replacement of traditional solo worksheets with interactive Kagan Structures to enhance student outcomes. He outlines thirteen benefits of this shift, including improved peer support and immediate feedback, and distinguishes between Solo Worksheet Work and Solo Project Work. Dr. Kagan introduces four Kagan Structures to replace solo worksheet work: RallyCoach, Sage-N-Scribe, DoOne–TellOne, and SeeOne–DoOne–TeachOne. The key advantage is that students receive immediate support and corrections from peers, making learning more engaging and effective. Read Article

• South Australia Primary Teacher of the Year

  Kagan Scholarship winner Kelly Rivett was awarded the South Australia Primary Teacher of the Year. She gives credit to Kagan for making a difference in her classroom. Watch the short video. Read Article

• Special Article 5 Don’t Be Charlie Brown’s Teacher

  In addition to being an administrator, Rose teaches college education courses. The advice she gives her student teachers is: Don’t be Charlie Brown's teacher: "Wha... Wha... Wha..." Rose has witnessed the positive effects Kagan has to offer and urges teachers, for the sake of the children, to engage students. Read Article

• Spencer Kagan on Cheers, Celebration and Praise

  The Kagan classroom is rich with cheers, celebrations, and praise. But what's the difference? Dr. Kagan distinguishes between these ways to elicit positive emotions in the classroom and offers insights about timing. Read Article

• Sponge Ideas

  Soak up spare class time with a meaningful sponge activity. Sponges are a terrific management tool for the cooperative class in which teams finish at different rates. The next time you hear a team ask, "Teacher, we're done, what do we do next?" you'll have plenty of great sponge ideas you can draw from. Read Article

• Storytelling

  Storytelling is a powerful, time-honored teaching tool that creates long-lasting memories. Read how Dan, a Nationally Certified Kagan Trainer and all-around good guy, transformed his European history lessons into stories that created memories that lasted for decades. Use storytelling to make your content memorable too! Read Article

• Structures Ensure More Learning for All

  Mr. Heinrichs compares the difference between using unstructured group work and using RoundTable. Gain interesting insights about the difference of two different approaches to teaching and why Greg and his class agree why structures are superior to group work. Read Article

• Student Perceptions of Kagan Cooperative Learning Structures

  Do students prefer working in teams or independently? Do they think they learn more using structures or working independently? According to this action research project, it's not even close! 95% of students report Kagan Structures provide more opportunity to learn. Read Article

• Students Work Together with Kagan Structures

  See pictures of some favorite Kagan Strutures in action in Ms. Smithhisler's 5th grade math and science classes. With structures such as Quiz-Quiz-Trade and Fan-N-Pick that have students work together in pairs and teams, students are fully engaged and enjoy the learning process. Read Article

• Success in a Large District: One Administrator, One Teacher, One Student at a Time!

  "It has increased student achievement and improved student social skills." "The students reported they love Cooperative Learning." "Our students are visibly more engaged in lessons." These are some of the comments from participating schools in the district-wide Kagan training for Jersey City Schools. Learn about the training process. Hear the encouraging results. Read Article

• Summer Teacher Training – Kagan Structures

  Kristi is an educational columnist for the Porterville Recorder in central California. She shares her impressions and takeaways from a Kagan summer training with hundreds local teachers. Read Article

• Sustained Implementation with Cooperative Pillars

  Everyone knows about the faddish nature of education. Things come and go. It's the nature of change in the process of improvement. There's a problem, though, when good things go. Catalina Ventura School shares their approach to keeping Kagan Structures in place with "pillars". Read Article

• Tara—The Power of Multiple Intelligences

  Why did you become a teacher? If you're like most teachers I know, you became a teacher to make a difference in students' lives. Read this inspirational story about how Dan did just that – he made a profound difference in the life of one of his students. And it stemmed from the simplest change in the way he taught his American Studies class. Read Article

• Teacher of the Year

  Why was Ms. Andrews selected the Teacher of the Year for Sweetwater County School District #1 in Rock Springs, Wyoming? Brittany feels her use of Kagan Cooperative Learning and co-teaching were what set her apart. Learn about her successes over the years using Kagan with her students. Hear her inspirational philosophy about teaching and making an impact on the life of every student that enters her classroom. Read Article

• Teaching Kids About MI

  Judy shares why it is helpful to teach kids about multiple intelligences. She also shares her new book, All Kinds of Ways to Be Smart!—designed exactly for that purpose. Read Article

• Teambuilding with Kagan Structures—A Hockey Success Story

  Canadian hockey team assistant coach describes how he used Kagan teambuilding structures to transform a group of 17 to 21-year-olds into a lean, mean 13-game-winning-streak hockey team. Read Article

• Ten Years Later

  Before his career in educational leadership at Kagan, Dr. Vern Minor was a superintendent at Hesston USD for 12 years. During his tenure, the district embraced Kagan Cooperative Learning and went from good to great. Ten years later, despite a complete turnover in administration, the district is still going strong with Kagan. How did they become great, and more importantly, how did they institutionalize change? Vern reflects on his return home. Read Article

• The Blueberry Story

  Public schools need to change! They are archaic selecting and sorting mechanisms designed for the Industrial Age! They are out of step with the needs of our information-based society. As educators, we could learn some lessons from the business world. Or can we? Read Article

• The Brain Gang

  As her final project for Kagan's Multiple Intelligences Graduate course, Julie created a wonderful book about a group of students, the Brain Gang, who each in their own way contribute to the creation of their tree clubhouse. Julie uses her word and art smarts to reinforce that people are smart in different ways and display their learning in different ways. We've turned her book into an online book that you can read and share with your class. Thanks for sharing Julie! Read Article

• The DNA of Good Teaching

  Dissatisfied with his results on teaching his high school biology students the concept of DNA, the author turned to Kagan for greater engagement, understanding, and retention. By using a few cooperative learning structures, students internalized the concepts of DNA like never before. Read Article

• The Effects of RoundTable Consensus on the Social and Task Engagement of Students with or at Risk of Disabilities

  This study investigates the effects of RoundTable Consensus on students identified with the highest and lowest social profiles in three upper-elementary classrooms. The study finds that RoundTable Consensus equalized participation patterns and was favored by all the students over unstructured group work. The researchers conclude, “The Kagan Structures can offer a safe, risk-free environment where students can develop their social skills, equally contribute in meaningful ways, and work toward a common goal.” Read Article

• The Essential 5: A Starting Point for Kagan Cooperative Learning

  Which 5 Kagan Structures would you consider indispensable? Gavin shares his top 5 favorites for creating engagement. If you're wondering where to begin with Kagan Structures, take a good look at The Essential 5. Read Article

• The Necessity of the Method and View of Cooperative Learning in the Hungarian School of the Millennium

  The Necessity of the Method and View of Cooperative Learning in the Hungarian School of the Millennium Read Article

• The Only Thing (and the new structure Whisper)

  This article should carry a warning label: "If you believe education should cultivate competition and obedience, this article can be hazardous to your cognitive scheme." Written as freely as the philosophy Chris espouses, this stream-of-consciousness takes you on a journey through Chris' educational experiences, his libertarian ideology, and his educational invention — a new cooperative structure called Whisper. Read Article

• The Rigor/Relevance Framework

  Whether you've heard the educational buzzwords, "Rigor and Relevance" and want to learn what it is or are implementing this framework as a school and want to know where Kagan fits in—this article is for you. The article recommends Kagan Structures to make learning more rigorous and more relevant for students. Read Article

• The “P” and “I” of PIES: Powerful Principles for Success

  Dr. Kagan shares insights to positive interdependence and individual accountability— two powerful cooperative learning principles. Learn how to maximize student learning by providing the right amount of pressure to perform coupled with peer support. Read Article

• Think-Pair-Share: The Student Response Paradigm

  Think-Pair-Share is a powerful and flexible strategy that works well to replace the conventional class discussion and question and answer session. Armed solely with this instructional strategy and its many possibilities, teachers have the potential to profoundly change the way students learn and how they feel about learning. Frank shares his influential invention and his hopes for creating an educational paradigm shift where student interaction is the norm. Read Article

• Think-Pair-Show: A New Structure for Teaching Vocabulary and ESL

  Two creative teachers share their experiences using Kagan Structures to teach ESL and social studies in South Korea. They serendipitously invent a new structure dubbed Think-Pair-Show, a cooperative strategy for students to "show" their understanding of new vocabulary. Read Article

• Thoughts on Gifted Students and Cooperative Learning

  Is cooperative learning good for the gifted? Jackie shares her wisdom on cooperative learning and gifted students. Cooperative learning helps with social skill development, promotes classmate acceptance and liking, encourages pro-academic norms, and is just more fun. Read Article

• Top 10 Things to Know about Kagan Coaching

  Whether you have a Kagan Coach coming to observe your class, or you just want to learn more about Kagan’s Coaching model, this article has the top 10 most helpful things to know. Read Article

• Top Ideas for Using Learning Chips

  Maximize the effectiveness of your new Learning Chips with these great ideas for use. You'll find team structures, pair structures, and whole-class structures to add variety to exploring the learning topic with Learning Chips. Read Article

• Total Engagement Made Easy

  Listen as Dr. Kagan explains why brains learn best when they are engaged. Dr. Kagan explains why our brains open up to learning when there is the safety of working in a group. He also shares how having oxygenated blood nourishing the brain helps us to learn better and how emotion and verbalization is a signal to the brain to remember things. Read Article

• Transforming High School Learning

  See pictures of some favorite Kagan Strutures in action in Ms. Smithhisler's 5th grade math and science classes. With structures such as Quiz-Quiz-Trade and Fan-N-Pick that have students work together in pairs and teams, students are fully engaged and enjoy the learning process. Read Article

• Two Threads Unite Kagan Practitioners

  Hear firsthand from educators like yourself how they are using and succeeding with Kagan Structures. From this collection of comments, we've identified two commonalities for educators. See if these two themes hold true for you too! Read Article

• Using Cooperative Structures in the Writing Classroom

  Writing is a solitary endeavor, right? Perhaps, but peer interaction through the stages of the writing process can dramatically improve students’ writing skills as well as their finished written products. Melanie shares some Kagan Structures to use at each stage of the writing process. Read Article

• Using Music in the Classroom—The Sound Health Series in the Schools

  Can music in the classroom make a difference? You bet it can! This informative article will tune you into some interesting studies on music in the classroom, and turn you on to a hot series of CDs to boost your class' sound health—The Sound Health Series. Read Article

• Why Kagan?

  Teachers sometimes ask Melissa why she is so passionate about Kagan Cooperative Learning. This is why! Read Article

• Win-Win Discipline

  Win-Win Discipline Read Article

• Win-Win Discipline and the Sharing Debacle

  After reading the book, Win-Win Discipline and receiving training in this powerful new approach to discipline, the author — a teacher and trainer — finds his view of classroom disruptions, and even everyday real-world conflicts forever changed for the better. Read Article

• Winners of Outstanding Teamwork

  Four years ago, Central Park Elementary was at risk for academic failure. Ms. Powers shares the powerful impact Kagan had on her students and school, leading to a special recognition. Read Article

• Witnessing Kagan in Action at Independent Day School—Corbett Campus

  Each year IDS welcomes educators from the U.S. and abroad to witness Kagan structures in action in conjunction with a Kagan workshop. Read about this exciting event and how IDS-CC has been successful with Kagan Cooperative Learning. Read Article

• You Will See Results!

  After the first quarter, 38% of Mrs. Hensley's 5th grade science was not passing. Something had to change. Mrs. Hensley started implementing RoundRobin, Fan-N-Pick, and Quiz-Quiz-Trade. The percentage of failing students dropped like the apple from Newton's tree. Take a look at her impressive results. Read Article