To be considered a competent educator, there are almost 2000 strategies, concepts, and terms that you must know. However, since teachers wear so many hats, who has the time to learn them all? Don’t worry; we have you covered. In this series, we will discuss all the teaching and learning strategies, concepts, and terms that you need to know to be considered an effective educator. There are over 70 articles in this series, so pace yourself. We recommend reading one piece per weekday, which will allow you to complete the series in three to four months. We hope you enjoy it.

Click here to read all the articles in this series.

Inert Knowledge Learned information that has the potential to be applied in a wide variety of situations, but whose application is limited and often artificial.

Inferred Reality Analysis of a problem through meaning discovered in the context of other relevant information. It is a necessary cognitive skill in the development of children’s semantic aptitude.

Inflected Endings Word endings that are placed at the end of base words such as: -s, -es, -ed, or -ing.

Influence The belief that the actions of an individual influence the outcomes of the group and that the actions of the group influence the outcomes for the individual. One aspect of a sense of community.

Informal Assessment The use of naturally occurring events to assess a child’s development, particularly that of infants and toddlers. Information is gathered through observation, classroom tasks, or other naturally occurring events.

Informal Reading Inventory (IRI) An assessment method, in which students read a series of passages and answer questions, through which the teacher can observe students’ reading strategies, select relevant reading material, ascertain three student reading levels, and become informed about students’ strengths and weaknesses.

Informal Writing A type of writing in the drafting stage which occurs naturally in classroom activities that involve writing short responses to an open-ended question or writing journal entries.

Informant Someone who knows a student well and can give a teacher, caregiver or professional information about the student.

Information Literacy A transformational process first described by Abilock where the learner needs to find, understand, evaluate, and use information in various forms for their own personal gain. This can include personal, social, or global purposes.

Information Processing Refers to how the brain processes information by attending to stimuli and receiving, storing, and retrieving information.

Information-Processing Theory A form of cognitive theory that focuses on the mental processing, storing, and retrieval of knowledge.

Initial Credit These online courses are for students who want to “advance course progression” to take additional classes, students who have transferred to a new district and need to complete required courses or students who aren’t able to schedule certain courses during the regular school day. As the name suggests, these programs are not for students who have failed a class. Instead, this is a flexible

Initial Referral Conference Teachers and parents meet to voice concerns about a student’s learning progress and whether to refer the child for additional evaluation.

Initial-Letter Strategies Learning techniques which use the initial letters of specific items to change the item into a word or phrase that is easier to remember.

Initiative vs. Guilt At this stage (age three to six), because the motor and language skills of children are continuously maturing, they can become increasingly aggressive and vigorous in exploring their social and physical environments.

Inner Discipline Developed by Barbara Coloroso, inner discipline takes a longer route in correcting student misbehavior. As the name indicates, the goal here is to help students develop inner discipline. When students have self-discipline, they will have control and responsibility for their actions. Whether or not it’s a choice with a positive outcome, unless there is a threat to the student or others, teachers should let students make their own choices.

In-Person Interview Is a face-to-face interview with an interviewer or team of interviewers.

Inquiring Minds A small-group, inquiry-based research project in which students with similar interests in specific topics work together.

Inquiring Minds An inquiry-based research activity in which students, in small groups formed based on the topics they have selected, brainstorm three to five questions they intend to answer through their research. This provides direction throughout the activity.

Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) A project-oriented teaching method and constructive process in which students ask questions that lead to new understandings which, in turn, lead to new questions.

Inquiry-Based Writing A type of formal writing used for engaging in inquiry-based learning, creative thinking, and research in content areas.