This post is inspired by one that Kasey Bell, of ShakeUpLearning.com, posted earlier this year. I thought it would be nice to do one for our school. Everything on this list I can help you with! 1). Podcasts in the Classroom - There are thousands of hours of free educational content being pushed out to various podcast that can inspire, motivate, and entertain both us, as educators, and our students. Some of my favorites include Planet Money, Undone, and Grammar Girl. I have a blog post with a list for you to check out here.
2). Flipped Lesson - A flipped lesson is when you provide students with the responsibility of learning some of the material outside of the classroom. For instance, think of recording a mini-lesson and assigning it as homework. Then, when the students come to class, they will have the opportunity to jump into the learning activities or discussion of the topic. This allows you to spend your time conversing, formatively assessing, and working with students one on one to assure the correct level of understanding.
3). Discovery Education Materials - Did you know we have a subscription to Discovery Education? Discovery Education (formerly known as United Streaming) has thousands of hours of content aligned to lesson plans and standards to help you deliver incredible lessons? Looking for a sweet video to cement learning? Don't want to talk about the gold standard for 40 minutes? Look to Discovery Education to help you to find the resources and materials that you need to supplement your lessons.
4). Open Educational Resources - OERs are a growing tend in education. In fact, I have a Lunch & Learn coming up to help understand more about OERs. The purpose of OERs is to allow teachers to find content and lessons from others, adapt to meet their students' needs, and then re-share the lessons out. The idea is centered on teachers and companies create the materials that are free to use, and open to adjustment, for you to help support your student learning needs. OERs are great. Amazon is even getting into the OER game this year!
5). Infographics - An inforgraphic is a way of presenting materials in a fun, interactive poster. Sites like Piktochart offer the opportunity to create, customize, and share infographics. Dealing with stats or different thoughts, share an infographic. Have a grammar rule that you want the students to design a poster around, have them create an infographic. There are thousands of possibilities and many free sites to help you design and create them. Try them in your classroom.
6). Individualized Assignments in Google Classroom - Last week, I shared with the staff a recent update to Google Classroom that allows teachers to assign individualized or group assignments. Partnered with our assessment data in SchoolNet, we can easily prescribe individual assignments to support our students during ICE time. There is so much potential in this update! Let's use it!
7). Breakout EDU - Breakout EDU brings the escape room craze to your classroom. With hundreds of games created, there is bound to be something that you are working on this semester. We have one box in the school and can easily borrow a few more boxes from the Berrien RESA. If you want to do one, we can start planning today.
8). Active Learning Practice - Active Learning has the students fully engaged in their learning activities. Instead of passively receiving information, students are seeking to develop and understand the information on their terms. Practices like Project-Based Learning and Inquiry-Based Learning help to develop this style of learning in the classroom. We have some Lunch & Learns coming up about these.
9). Makerspaces - Makerspaces allow students to be creative and build something. It doesn't have to be fancy, but there are hundreds of options that allow students to explore and create their own learning opportunities. The Berrien RESA guys have 3D Printers, Drones, Ozobots, and Spheros that we can check out and learn. There are thousands of learning opportunities that support these items in the classroom. Let's make a plan to try some this year!
10). Creation Focused Projects - "Give a man a fish, and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he will eat for a lifetime." The famous saying implies the active learning. Have the students create learning opportunities for other students, and they will master the material. There is much to gain by allowing the students to get creative. Let's talk about it!
11). Media Literacy Education - Media literacy is one of the most important skills for students to be successful going forward. Our students need to learn how to distinguish between real and fake sources, evaluate the credibility of the resources, and synthesize the resource to cement their learning. We need to teach this across the curriculum. I am more than happy to come in and support and lead digital media literacy lessons in the classrooms.
12). Blogging - Blogging is something that has been around for a while. But allowing our students to create professional, school focused blogs can be powerful. Hey, not that comfortable yet? Use your Edlio website to create a class blog. Invite one student per day to write an announcement for the parents to check at the end. There is so much potential to get the students to share the word about what is happening. Be sure to tell your story!
13). The 4Cs - The 4Cs, creation, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking, are vital to a modern education. We must prepare our students with these essential skills for the modern economy. Let's come up with ways to bring the 4Cs to our classrooms!
14). Student Centered Education - Student Centered Education puts the students first. In our classrooms, let's assure that we are putting our students first and focusing on their learning. It starts with how we approach our lessons and how we communicate with our students.
15). Kinesthetic Learning - Let's get the students up and moving. Introduce brain breaks. Have them vote or express opinion with their feet. Get them moving around! You will find that they enjoy it, you enjoy it, and it is more fun!
16). Virtual Speakers - The internet isn't just for cat videos. Leverage the power of the internet to bring in experts. Working on weather in science? See if you can Skype or Hangout with a meteorologist. Reading a novel in Language Arts? Reach out and see if your students can interview them. Covering a traumatic period in history? I bet a historian would be willing to answer some questions. Students asking how people use math in daily lives? Find someone who is willing to meet with them and describe how. There are so many potential opportunities and people are generally willing to assist, especially for the future of our children!
17). Believe that Every Student Can Succeed - This should be a core belief of all that work with children. Everyday in 2017, remind yourself of this simple fact. Everyone can be successful. We must strive to work towards helping some believe in themselves or be the first person in their life that believes in them. This is John Hattie's number one determinant of academic success and it doesn't take money or extra time. Just let all students know you are there for them!
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