Reteach and Enrich

When English Book in Georgia’s (EBG) Chief Executive Officer, Maia Gurgenidze, was asked about EBG’s extensive work with teachers, schools and other educational institutions in Georgia, here is what she said. “We at EBG believe that education always has a positive impact on people’s lives and we are committed to making a difference ourselves by promoting English language teaching in our country. Our main goal is to create the best educational environment for students throughout Georgia.

We’re passionate about our work, because it helps people understand, achieve and discover more. Inspired by our proud history, we look for 100% commitment to the quality and integrity of what we do. It’s the passion we have for our work that gives us purpose. It helps us to think independently and stand up for what we believe.

The teacher training and conferences we offer are central to the successful development of Georgian English language teachers. New methodology is developed every day world-wide and it is very important to spread these innovations to all of our teachers.

We look forward to revolutionizing English teaching in Georgia with you…”

So with that in mind, we would like to introduce you to a new teaching strategy developed in the United States by teachers at Mesquite Elementary School in Arizona state.

The system is called Reteach and Enrich (R&E), and it happens every day, school-wide, from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. During this period, teachers give students who are struggling with a concept extra time and attention, and students who have mastered the basics receive instruction that takes their learning to the next level. The system is based on a shared curriculum map, with objectives defined for every week of the school year. At the end of each week, teachers assess students on those objectives. Depending on the results, they assign students to either a reteach or an enrich session the following week. There is no stigma attached to going to reteach; almost every student has been assigned to it at some point. Students see it simply as an opportunity to learn something better than they did the first time.

Mesquite Elementary school uses these techniques for Mathematics but this technique can easily be altered for any school subject.