Thoughts on Professional Learning: Strategizing with TBR: Level up your lesson planning

Strategizing with TBR: Level up your lesson planning

By Rebecca Sherry & Nadia Kader

Training From the Back of the Room (TBR) is an instructional methods workshop designed using cognitive learning theory to support professionals in tying instructional content to engaging activities. TBR has been incredibly popular in New Mexico adult education and is offered multiple times per year in two different formats; TBR In-Person and TBR Virtual Edition, for professionals who deliver content online. With this article, we intend to outline the cognitive psychology theories behind TBR design, what TBR strategies are, and how to choose the activities that accomplish what you want to in your practice.

TBR, originally designed for corporate workplace learning, utilizes cognitive learning techniques such as cognitive load theory and active learning to enhance short-term learning goals. Cognitive load theory refers to the different categories of working memory load that affect retention and memory. Intrinsic cognitive load is the “basic structure of the information that the learner needs to acquire for achieving learning goals” such as the instructional methodology (Sweller 2011). Extraneous cognitive load is the excess, wasted load that may impede learning (Sweller 2011) Germane cognitive load is the mental resources learners use to process the information that is relevant to learning (Sweller 2011). TBR breaks down extraneous cognitive load through the 4 C’s maps, the six brain-based principles, and their different types of engagement activities. Active learning refers to learners working on their own or in groups, as in, active participation with the content in order to learn (Berek 2026). There are different approaches to active learning such as social constructivist, where learners construct or add to their knowledge through social interaction, language, and culture (Kretchmar 2026). 

Additionally, the 4 C’s map maximizes chunking, which is an intrinsic strategy and also supports germane cognitive load. By organizing lesson plans into a 4 C’s map, practitioners can easily ‘chunk’ or group together different activities for memory retention. TBR addresses active learning through the TBR Toolbox of instructional strategies. This toolbox is consistently one of the most popular aspects of the TBR training for instructors. Many of these strategies are also gamified, which makes them highly engaging in the classroom.

If you have participated in a TBR training, you know that the toolbox is very extensive. So how do you match strategies to content? At Propel, we incorporate many TBR strategies into our presentations, and we have noticed that most of the strategies work well when you want learners to remember and understand new information. The Concrete Practice section of Training from the Back of the Room! 65 Ways to Step Aside and Let Them Learn (Bowman, 2009) also includes good examples to help students apply new skills and knowledge. But overall, fewer strategies support the higher levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy : analyze, evaluate, and create. This makes sense when you consider that TBR was originally designed for training sessions where there is a lot of new information to remember.

In adult education instruction, the higher levels of thinking and learning are key for student progress and success. The College and Career Readiness and English Language Proficiency Standards emphasize these higher levels, and our assessments (both placement and GED/HiSET) frequently require students to analyze and evaluate content. When your lesson objective addresses higher-level thinking, you may find some of these TBR strategies to be more helpful. Concept Maps (Bowman, 2009, 125-32) are very versatile and are well suited for analyzing and evaluating ideas. Asking students to incorporate evidence from the text directly on the concept map or connecting ideas from different sources adds complexity to your task. Jigsaw Activities (143-147) are also excellent for analyzing ideas in written texts. The Start-Up Activities (104-107) provide some questions and strategies for evaluating concepts. Although these are presented as lesson openers, they can be used throughout the class period.

Another way to make TBR more effective for higher-level tasks is to modify the activity instructions slightly. For example, a Jigsaw Activity where students learn about different approaches to a problem but then have to select and explain their best solution has now become an evaluating task. If their reading passages are about different parts of the problem and they have to design a solution where none has been offered, they are now creating. Learner-Created Concept Centers (156), Teach-Backs (178-180), Learner-Created Games (192-196), and Learning Logs (214) are all flexible strategies which can be modified for more rigorous thinking and learning. Other educators have compiled additional active learning strategies focused on higher-order thinking. Two sites to look at are Tolu’s Favorite Teaching Things and Project Zero Thinking Routines.

TBR offers useful templates and strategies to help learners better engage with your content and retain more new skills from instruction. The key to an effective TBR-structured class is to choose strategies intentionally so that they match your learning objectives. How have you used active learning strategies in your teaching? Feel free to share in the comments below. 

References
Berek, D. L. . M. (2026). Active learning. Salem Press Encyclopedia.

Bowman, S.L. (2009). Training from the back of the room! 65 ways to step aside and let them learn. Pfeiffer.

Kretchmar, J. (2026). Constructivism. Salem Press Encyclopedia.

Noah, T. (n.d.). Tolu’s favorite teaching things. https://www.tolunoah.com/favorite-teaching-things  

Project Zero. (n.d.). PZ thinking routines. https://pz.harvard.edu/thinking-routines 

Stearns Center for Teaching and Learning. (n.d.). Bloom’s taxonomy. https://stearnscenter.gmu.edu/knowledge-center/course-and-curriculum-redesign/blooms-taxonomy/ 

Sweller, J., Ayres, P., & Kalyuga, S. (2011). Cognitive load theory. Springer New York. 





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