Strategies for Tasso-Success!
Make Tassomai work for your school
Here are some top tips from schools that are getting great results from Tassomai.
Success, to us, is when your students are actively engaging with Tassomai and you can see how much progress they are making. A big factor in achieving this success is making sure that Tassomai is properly implemented in school and everyone is on the same page with how you have chosen to run it.
We appreciate that every school is unique and so what works for another school might not work for you. That’s why we do not suggest a “one size fits all” approach when it comes to achieving success with Tassomai. Instead, we’ve collated several of our most successful schools’ strategies so that you can choose which of these you think will work best for you!
The main indicators of success include regularly monitoring Tassomai to set students' expectations from the start, getting buy-in from the parents, offering rewards and enforcing sanctions, and ensuring there is a "buzz" around school about Tassomai so students feel supported in their efforts.
There are several methods that our schools have used to achieve success, and below are just some of the ideas…
Supporting students from within school:
Hold an assembly on Tassomai communicating why the program is being used, how it will be monitored in school, and the benefits for students of using the program well. You can also show them this video so they get an idea of how and why Tassomai works.
Back this up with a science lesson dedicated to Tassomai to make sure students get set up correctly and know what they’re doing.
Offer time within school for students to complete their Tassomai - a lunchtime or a before / after school club. Some of our schools organise a lunchtime “Tassomai Party” where they buy food and drink and students can come along and complete their Tassomai. You could even offer rewards for attending, like tokens to skip the lunch queue or some house points.
Display posters / memes in classrooms and around school which encourage students to complete their Tassomai (we have a lot which we can send over to you and some are downloadable from the teacher hub!) or, better yet, set them the task of creating their own posters.
Pair up students who are performing well on Tassomai and students who are less-engaged and introduce peer-mentoring, providing challenge and value to both students (make sure they use the Understanding Grid to find out what topics they should focus on!).
Get parent buy-in:
Get parent buy-in and support in encouraging their child by sending letters home to let them know about Tassomai and how it will be used and monitored in school.
Organise a parents’ information evening to show them how Tassomai works and how it can help students.
Use the Teacher Dashboard during Parents’ Evening to show a students’ progress and performance.
Incentivise students with competitions and rewards:
Put up leaderboards (which you can find on the Teacher Hub) in the classroom / around school which display the top performing students based on a variety of metrics or the metrics you have chosen. Award prizes to top students in lessons or in assembly. Prizes typically range from chocolate to having their name entered into a prize draw to win a prom ticket or a Leavers hoodie.
Guarantee a prize (e.g. a prom ticket or a Leavers’ hoodie) for any student who makes it to 100% course completion.
Hold a pizza party / other fun event for any students who are on-track with their Tassomai at the end of each half-term (for having completed their Daily Goals every week or answering a certain number of questions).
Have an inter-class competition where the best performing class on Tassomai wins a prize at the end of the year. In a similar vein, award a prize / trophy to the top-using student at the end of the year.
Use sanctions to reinforce the importance of using Tassomai:
Arrange a lunchtime / after-school study club on a Friday for students who have not completed their Tassomai requirement by the end of the week so they can catch-up.
Sanction students for not achieving the measure you are monitoring on Tassomai each week in the same way you would sanction them for not completing their homework. E.g. a lunchtime / after-school detention.
Send a letter home to parents if their child is not completing their Tassomai.
Name students who aren't on target with their Tassomai at the beginning of a lesson and give them a 24 hour grace period to catch-up before giving them a sanction.
Your success is of the highest importance to us and we are always happy to answer any questions you may have about Tassomai or to offer any strategies to help you achieve the results you want. Feel free to contact us if you ever want to talk!