How to Teach Anything

1. Effective Teaching Facilitates the Brain's Natural Learning Processes

The most optimal path is the balanced one, with plenty of time to rest and integrate new material.

Respect brain limits. Effective teaching isn't about forcing information but working within the brain's natural capacities. The cognitive load theory highlights that our working memory is limited, capable of processing only a few new pieces of information at a time for short durations. Overloading it leads to inefficiency and prevents information from being committed to long-term memory.

Scaffolding learning. Just as a builder uses scaffolding to construct a complex structure, teachers should provide mental support by breaking down complex topics into smaller, manageable "baby steps." This incremental approach, often summarized as "I do, we do, you do," gradually transfers control from teacher to student, allowing them to build mastery progressively.

• I do: Teacher demonstrates and explains.
• We do: Teacher and student cooperate, with the teacher guiding.
• You do: Student practices independently.

Pedagogical approaches. Various teaching philosophies align with these principles, emphasizing different aspects of student engagement. Whether it's building on existing knowledge (constructivist), making learning practical (integrative), fostering teamwork (collaborative), or encouraging self-discovery (inquiry-based), the goal is to align the teaching method with how the brain naturally learns. The reflective approach ensures adaptability, constantly appraising what works best for the student and topic.

2. Always Map the Learning Landscape and Connect New Knowledge to Old

Good teachers have an advantage of perspective.

See the whole picture. A teacher's primary skill is not just knowing the subject, but seeing the entire "landscape" of knowledge and how its parts connect. This allows them to create a simplified, accurate "map" for students, prioritizing relevant information and guiding them through complex terrain. Without this clear vision, students can become lost, unmotivated, or develop misconceptions.

Connect to existing knowledge. Learning is most effective when new information is anchored to what a student already knows. Teachers should actively assess a student's current understanding through questions or concept mapping to identify gaps and build bridges between familiar and unfamiliar concepts. Problematizing existing beliefs can also pique curiosity and motivate deeper learning.

Concept mapping. Visual tools like concept maps are invaluable for organizing information and illustrating relationships between subunits. These maps help both teachers and students visualize hierarchies, sequences, and connections, making complex ideas more coherent. They serve as a dynamic tool for planning, learning, and assessing understanding, ensuring that isolated facts are integrated into a unified whole.

• Break down information into small chunks.
• Show connections and relationships between chunks.
• Ensure clarity and simplicity.
• Have a fixed endpoint in mind.
• Include what the student already knows.

3. Master Concepts by Explaining Simply and Using Analogies

If you can boil information or a topic down to two sentences in a way that a five-year-old would understand, you probably have a level of mastery over it.

The Feynman Technique. This powerful method, championed by physicist Richard Feynman, helps both teachers and students gauge true comprehension. It involves four steps: choosing a concept, explaining it in plain English (as if to a child), identifying blind spots where the explanation falters, and finally, using analogies to solidify understanding. This process ruthlessly exposes gaps in knowledge.

Uncover blind spots. The act of simplifying forces a deep re-examination of what one thinks they know versus what they actually understand. If an explanation is long, rambling, or relies on jargon, it signals a lack of mastery. This technique is a rapid way to identify areas needing further study, transforming vague understanding into concrete knowledge.

Leverage analogies. Analogies are fundamental to human thought, allowing us to connect new information to existing mental models. By comparing a new concept to something familiar, students can "construct" understanding. Teachers should use multiple analogies for complex topics, provide concrete examples, and ensure students understand the purpose of the analogy, not just the comparison itself.

• Use multiple analogies for the same topic.
• Constantly reaffirm learning with examples.
• Remember the purpose of the analogy.
• Reserve analogies for more difficult concepts.

4. Systematize Learning with Proven Study and Note-Taking Methods

When you keep explaining and simplifying to yourself and discover that you can’t, you’ve just discovered that you don’t know as much as you thought you did.

The SQ3R Method. This structured reading and study technique helps students actively engage with texts and retain information. It involves five steps: Survey (overview), Question (formulate inquiries), Read (actively seek answers), Recite (restate in own words), and Review (reinforce memory). This method transforms passive reading into a dynamic learning process, building anticipation and ensuring deeper comprehension.

Bloom's Taxonomy. This framework outlines six sequential levels of understanding, from basic recall to advanced creation: Remember, Understand, Apply, Analyze, Evaluate, and Create. Teachers can use this taxonomy to design progressive challenges, ensuring students build expertise systematically. Each level requires mastery of the preceding one, preventing superficial learning and encouraging deep engagement with the material.

• Remember: Recalling facts.
• Understand: Interpreting meaning.
• Apply: Using procedures.
• Analyze: Breaking down components.
• Evaluate: Making judgments.
• Create: Producing something new.

Spaced Repetition and Cornell Notes. To combat forgetting, spaced repetition (distributed practice) advocates for frequent, short review sessions over extended periods, rather than "cramming." This allows the brain time to form neural connections and commit information to long-term memory. The Cornell Method of note-taking further enhances retention by structuring notes into three sections—Notes, Cues, and Summary—forcing students to distill, organize, and synthesize information actively.

5. Embrace Problem-Based Learning and Socratic Inquiry for Deeper Understanding

Through solving a problem or reaching for a goal, learning was made inevitable.

Problem-Based Learning (PBL). Instead of passively receiving information, PBL immerses students in a real-world problem that necessitates learning to solve. This approach fosters deep understanding, critical thinking, and self-motivation because students take ownership of the solution. By identifying what they know, what they need to know, and how to acquire that information, students engage in a holistic learning transfer process.

• Define the problem.
• Determine what is already known.
• List potential solutions and choose the most likely.
• Break steps into action items.
• Identify what is still needed and how to get it.

Socratic Method. Named after the ancient Greek philosopher, this method uses a series of probing questions to dissect assertions, uncover assumptions, and stimulate deeper insight. It's not adversarial but aims to clarify misunderstandings and reinforce knowledge by forcing students to explain their reasoning and logic. This process reveals blind spots and strengthens the foundation of understanding.

Types of Socratic questions:

• Clarification: "What exactly do you mean by that?"
• Probing assumptions: "Why do you think that is true?"
• Probing rationale: "What's the evidence for that?"
• Questioning viewpoints: "What other perspectives exist?"
• Probing implications: "What does this finding imply?"
• Questions about the question: "Why is this question important?"

By engaging in Socratic questioning, students move beyond rote memorization to a nuanced, three-dimensional understanding of concepts, capable of predicting and reasoning rather than just recalling facts.

6. Cultivate Critical Thinking and a Growth Mindset Towards Learning

Critical thinking doesn’t refer to something we are, but something we do.

Critical thinking as an approach. Critical thinking is an active process of questioning, analyzing, and evaluating information, rather than passively accepting it. It involves taking nothing for granted, challenging assumptions, and maintaining an open-minded, neutral perspective. Teachers should model this by inviting students to challenge ideas, including their own, fostering an environment where every thought must "earn its keep."

Growth mindset. This mindset views intelligence and abilities as malleable, capable of growth through effort and learning, rather than fixed traits. It encourages students to see mistakes and ignorance not as personal failures, but as essential steps in the learning process. Teachers can cultivate this by being comfortable with their own blind spots and demonstrating that revising beliefs in the face of new evidence is a sign of intelligence, not weakness.

Tolerating ambiguity. Critical thinking also involves the ability to tolerate uncertainty and complexity, refraining from forcing premature conclusions or attaching opinions and emotions to ideas. It's about acknowledging the messy reality of unresolved situations and being comfortable with "I don't know yet." This metacognitive skill allows students to stand outside their own mental models and objectively assess their effectiveness.

7. Ignite and Sustain Motivation Through Strategic Engagement and Gamification

Unless a student is motivated to learn, they won’t learn.

Understanding motivation. Student motivation is paramount, as intelligence and material value are irrelevant without it. Expectancy theory suggests motivation stems from a student's assessment of effort, the likelihood of a desired outcome, and the perceived value of that outcome. Teachers must align learning goals with students' intrinsic values and build clear expectations of positive, fair, and predictable rewards for their efforts.

The trick of gamification. Leveraging principles from the gaming industry, gamification introduces elements like step-wise progress, clear narratives, player control, immediate feedback, and collaboration into learning. This makes learning enjoyable and engaging, transforming tasks into "quests" or "missions" where students earn "XP" or "unlock levels." Gamification can significantly boost extrinsic motivation and engagement.

• Step-wise progress and clear levels.
• Engaging narrative and characters.
• Student control and decision-making.
• Immediate feedback on actions.
• Collaborative elements and teamwork.

Intrinsic vs. extrinsic motivation. While gamification excels at boosting engagement, teachers must be mindful of its reliance on extrinsic motivation. The ideal scenario is to kindle a genuine, intrinsic love for the subject that persists beyond game mechanics. This requires understanding individual student personalities and ensuring that gamified elements don't detract from their natural curiosity or lead to a focus on rewards over genuine learning.

8. Foster Academic Buoyancy and Embrace Productive Failure

People who don’t give up when they’re faced with learning challenges are said to have academic buoyancy.

Academic buoyancy. This refers to a student's ability to overcome learning challenges and adapt to stressful situations. It's a learned set of skills, not an innate trait, comprising five "Cs": composure (managing anxiety), confidence (belief in one's ability), coordination (effective planning), commitment (passion and persistence), and control (ownership over learning). Cultivating these traits is more crucial than any specific learning technique.

Productive failure. Research suggests that allowing students to struggle and "flounder" with problems before receiving instruction can lead to deeper understanding than immediate guidance. This "hidden efficacy" in failure forces students to explore, generate ideas, and understand the root structure of problems. When they eventually receive instruction, they are better prepared to integrate that knowledge effectively.

• Choose problems that challenge but don't frustrate.
• Give learners a chance to explain their processes.
• Allow learners to compare good and bad solutions.

Embracing discomfort. Learning inherently involves moments of mental discomfort, confusion, and even defeat. Teachers should help students anticipate and plan for frustration, reframing failure as a blueprint for next steps and a valuable source of information. This mindset, akin to resilience, encourages risk-taking and persistence, ultimately leading to greater rewards and a more profound understanding.

9. Provide Purposeful, Actionable, and Empathetic Feedback

Feedback is information on how we are doing relative to our goal.

The essence of feedback. Feedback is a conversation that informs students about the outcome of their actions relative to a goal, enabling them to adjust and improve. It's not merely praise or criticism, but purposeful information intended to support, guide, and encourage. Effective feedback is an art, focusing on how it's delivered rather than just the words themselves.

Characteristics of quality feedback:

• Respectful: Delivered with dignity, focusing on performance, not personal attributes.
• Timely: Given as close to the event as possible, often and in small doses.
• Specific: Clearly states what's working, what needs improvement, and concrete steps for remedy.
• "Sandwich" method: Compliment, correction, compliment, to cushion the message.
• Descriptive, not evaluative: Explains why something is effective or needs change, fostering internal motivation.
• Impersonal: Focuses on actions and skills, avoiding personal judgments or emotional reactions.
• Varied: Delivered verbally, in writing, or through non-verbal cues, tailored to the student.

Actionable and empowering. Good feedback is actionable, prompting students to incorporate suggestions and make meaningful changes. It helps students internalize their own ability to self-evaluate and adjust, fostering a growth mindset. By linking feedback to future opportunities for improvement, teachers empower students to take ownership of their learning journey and celebrate their progress.

Last updated: January 11, 2026