Pacing and structuring lessons and activities

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One of the best ways to prevent management problems is by pacing and structuring lessons or activities as smoothly and continuously as possible. This goal depends on three major strategies:

• selecting tasks or activities at an appropriate level of difficulty for your students
• providing a moderate level of structure or clarity to students about what they are supposed to do, especially during transitions between activities
• keeping alert to the flow and interplay of behaviors for the class as a whole and for individuals within it.

Each strategy presents special challenges to teachers, but also opportunities for helping students to learn.