Inglés para Educación: Vocabulario y Frases Esenciales

"scaffolding"

Temporary support provided to students to help them complete tasks they cannot yet do independently

"The teacher used scaffolding by providing sentence frames before asking students to write their own paragraphs."

"differentiated instruction"

An approach where teachers tailor their teaching methods and materials to meet the varying needs of individual students

"Through differentiated instruction, she offered advanced readers a challenging extension task while others completed the core activity."

"formative assessment"

Ongoing evaluation during a lesson used to monitor student learning and provide immediate feedback

"He used exit tickets as a formative assessment strategy to gauge whether students understood the concept before the next lesson."

"behaviour management plan"

A structured strategy that outlines expectations, rewards, and consequences to maintain a positive learning environment

"The school required every new teacher to submit a behaviour management plan during their first week of term."

"wait time"

The deliberate pause a teacher allows after asking a question before expecting a student response

"Research shows that increasing wait time to five seconds leads to longer and more thoughtful student answers."

"cold calling"

The practice of selecting a student to answer a question without asking for volunteers first

"She used cold calling to ensure all students stayed engaged rather than allowing the same hands to go up each time."

"think-pair-share"

A cooperative learning strategy where students think individually, discuss with a partner, and then share with the class

"The teacher used think-pair-share before the whole-class discussion to give quieter students confidence to contribute."

"on-task behaviour"

Student activity that is directly focused on the learning objective set by the teacher

"The observer noted that on-task behaviour improved significantly when the lesson included a hands-on activity."

"learning objective"

A specific, measurable statement describing what a student should know or be able to do by the end of a lesson

"The learning objective for the session was: "Students will be able to identify three causes of World War One.""

"scheme of work"

A long-term plan showing how a topic or subject will be taught across a term or academic year

"The head of department reviewed each teacher's scheme of work before the autumn term began."

"cross-curricular link"

A deliberate connection between the content of one subject and concepts or skills from another

"The geography teacher highlighted a cross-curricular link to maths when analysing population graphs."

"backward design"

A curriculum planning method that begins with the desired end result and works backward to plan instruction

"Using backward design, the team first agreed on the final assessment criteria before planning each individual lesson."

"scope and sequence"

A document that maps out the content and skills to be taught and the order in which they will be introduced

"The district issued a scope and sequence to ensure all schools covered the same topics at the same grade level."

"Bloom's taxonomy"

A hierarchical framework classifying cognitive learning objectives from lower-order recall to higher-order evaluation

"The lesson moved through Bloom's taxonomy from remembering key facts to evaluating the author's argument."

"pacing guide"

A document that breaks a curriculum into time segments to ensure all material is covered within an academic year

"The pacing guide indicated that teachers should complete the persuasive writing unit by end of November."

"vertical alignment"

The coordination of curriculum content across different grade levels to ensure logical progression of skills

"Vertical alignment meetings revealed a gap where fractions were not being reinforced between grades three and five."

"summative assessment"

An evaluation at the end of an instructional period to measure student achievement against a standard

"The end-of-term examination served as a summative assessment counting for 40% of the final grade."

"rubric"

A scoring guide that lists criteria and describes performance levels for each criterion

"Students received the rubric at the start of the project so they understood exactly how their work would be graded."

"peer assessment"

A process in which students evaluate each other's work using agreed criteria

"Peer assessment of the essays helped students identify common mistakes before submitting their final drafts."

"growth mindset feedback"

Feedback that focuses on effort, strategy, and progress rather than fixed ability or intelligence

"Her growth mindset feedback told students not what they got wrong but what they could try differently next time."

"standardised test"

A test administered and scored in a consistent manner across all test-takers to allow fair comparison

"The state-wide standardised test results were used to compare school performance across districts."

"portfolio assessment"

An evaluation method in which students collect samples of their work over time to demonstrate learning and growth

"The art department used portfolio assessment so students could show development across the entire academic year."

"benchmark assessment"

A periodic test used to measure student progress toward end-of-year standards

"The benchmark assessment in January revealed that a third of students needed additional support with reading comprehension."

"diagnostic assessment"

An evaluation conducted before instruction to determine students' prior knowledge and skill gaps

"The diagnostic assessment showed that half the class already understood fractions, allowing the teacher to skip two planned lessons."

"constructivism"

A theory that learners actively build their own understanding by connecting new information to prior knowledge

"Drawing on constructivism, the teacher began each unit with a brainstorming activity to surface what students already knew."

"zone of proximal development"

The gap between what a learner can do independently and what they can achieve with guidance

"The tutor selected tasks within the student's zone of proximal development to keep her challenged without becoming frustrated."

"metacognition"

The ability to think about and regulate one's own thinking and learning processes

"Students were asked to keep a learning journal to develop metacognition about their own study strategies."

"inquiry-based learning"

A student-centred approach where learners construct knowledge through questioning, investigation, and discovery

"The science class used inquiry-based learning, designing their own experiments to test a hypothesis about plant growth."

"direct instruction"

A structured, teacher-led approach that explicitly teaches skills and content through clear explanation and modelling

"For introducing a new grammar rule, the teacher opted for direct instruction to ensure accuracy before independent practice."

"cooperative learning"

An instructional approach where students work together in small groups to achieve shared learning goals

"Cooperative learning groups were assigned roles — facilitator, recorder, presenter — to ensure equal participation."

"retrieval practice"

A learning strategy that involves actively recalling information from memory to strengthen retention

"The teacher began every lesson with a ten-question quiz as a retrieval practice activity to consolidate prior learning."

"spaced repetition"

A technique that schedules review of material at increasing intervals to maximise long-term retention

"The vocabulary app used spaced repetition algorithms to show students words they had previously struggled with."

"individual education plan"

A personalised document outlining specific learning goals, support strategies, and accommodations for a student with identified needs

"The SENCO met with the parents to review and update their son's individual education plan before the spring term."

"reasonable adjustment"

A modification to teaching or assessment practice designed to remove barriers for a student with a disability or learning need

"Extra time in examinations is a common reasonable adjustment for students with dyslexia."

"English as an Additional Language"

A term used for students who speak a language other than English at home and are developing English language proficiency at school

"The school hired a specialist to support the growing number of pupils who spoke English as an Additional Language."

"sensory processing needs"

Challenges in registering and responding to sensory information that may affect a student's ability to learn in a standard classroom

"The teacher reduced visual clutter on the walls to accommodate students with sensory processing needs."

"universal design for learning"

A framework for designing lessons that are accessible to all students from the outset by offering multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression

"By applying universal design for learning, she provided content as text, audio, and visual diagrams so every learner could access it."

"co-teaching"

A model in which a general education teacher and a special education teacher jointly deliver instruction to a mixed class

"Co-teaching allowed the specialist to circulate and support students with additional needs while the lead teacher delivered the lesson."

"learning support assistant"

A school staff member who works alongside teachers to provide additional help to students who need extra support

"The learning support assistant sat with the student with autism to help him navigate the group activity."

"social-emotional learning"

The process through which students develop skills for managing emotions, building relationships, and making responsible decisions

"Social-emotional learning was embedded across the timetable, with a dedicated weekly circle-time session for each class."

"continuing professional development"

Ongoing training and learning activities that teachers undertake to maintain and improve their professional knowledge and skills

"The school funded continuing professional development courses for all staff who wanted to specialise in literacy intervention."

"lesson observation"

A formal or informal process in which a colleague or manager watches a lesson and provides feedback to the teacher

"The mentor conducted a lesson observation and noted that transitions between activities needed to be tighter."

"professional learning community"

A collaborative group of educators who meet regularly to share practice, analyse data, and improve student outcomes collectively

"The professional learning community agreed to try a common reading strategy and report back with results after six weeks."

"appraisal cycle"

The annual process of setting professional objectives, reviewing performance, and discussing career development with a line manager

"She used the appraisal cycle to set a goal of improving student attainment in writing by the following July."

"coaching conversation"

A structured professional dialogue in which a more experienced educator helps a colleague reflect on practice and identify solutions

"The instructional coach used open questions throughout the coaching conversation rather than giving direct advice."

"reflective practice"

The habit of critically examining one's own teaching to identify strengths, areas for improvement, and changes to implement

"She maintained a teaching journal as a tool for reflective practice, reviewing each week's lessons every Friday afternoon."

"evidence-informed teaching"

An approach where teachers use findings from educational research to make decisions about instruction and learning strategies

"Evidence-informed teaching led the department to replace learning styles activities with retrieval practice across all year groups."

"induction programme"

A structured support process for newly qualified teachers in their first year of teaching

"The induction programme paired every newly qualified teacher with a trained mentor for weekly observation and debrief sessions."