In order to develop motivation and confidence in students, we must open the lesson by tapping into their schema. What is schema, anyway?

Schema provides the the basis by which someone relates to the events that he or she experiences. We like to think of schema as recalling prior knowledge from previously learned skills or concepts.

Most teachers do attempt to do this by presenting a practice word problem or basic skill. However, this traditional practice does not always show a student how use the power of recall to make connections to build on previously taught concepts. Rather it shuts them down.

We emphasize Success Starters rather than warm ups or do nows because the language itself is setting up an environment that can be meaningful and encouraging to lead to the daily lesson. These are delivered in a quick, engaging, and powerful approach to uplift the students in a positive way. They are Success Starters.