Who doesn’t get a little bit excited about the fresh start of a new school year? The energy is magical as we wear our latest shoes, walk to our refreshed classrooms, and reunite with the kids who make our work magical. That said, you’re not alone if your new shoes don’t sparkle the same way, or that math class is challenging you daily. The initial buzz of a new school year can quickly fade as students settle into their routines. To maintain a vibrant and productive learning environment throughout the year, we can implement strategies to keep students “in it” and engaged in the hard work that makes true learning. Here are some effective approaches:
Personalized Learning:
Goal Setting and Reflection: Have your students set goals? Select a few foundational anchor assignments students have completed so far and have them return to these assignments and reflect on their performance. What did they do well? What do they want to do better? How does their performance track with how they felt about their performance last year?
Make Goals Visible: Once students have set goals, have them make a visible symbol or representation of their goal on a notecard. Allow them to hang this card anywhere they wish in the class. While this will require relinquishing some control, it can help model for students that their goals are important and that they are helping to build the classroom and classroom community throughout the year.
Differentiated Learning: In addition to this reflection, have students reflect on what different supports and activities interest them and help them grasp content.
Choice-based Learning: Allow students to choose how they practice or internalize content. This choice could be as simple as choosing the environment for their independent practice, role in a group project, or method of demonstrating mastery. For example in a group writing project, you might have a lead scribe, textual evidence expert, stylizer, and grammar editor, giving each student a unique lens through which to interact with content. If trying to master the Pythagorean Theorem, have students demonstrate their understanding through their own written blog, a performed skit, or poem.
Collaborative Learning:
Group Projects and Activities: Encourage students to work together on projects and activities. Group work can be structured and designed in a variety of ways. It is helpful to model what effective collaboration looks like. At the older grades, you can situate collaborative learning in contrast to cooperative or parallel learning to help students grasp how to truly and productively work together.
Peer Teaching: Have students teach each other concepts or skills. Rather than lecture-style notes to cover a historical period, why not assign students topics to cover and allow them to teach one another?!
Cooperative Learning Structures: Use proven cooperative learning structures like jigsaw or think-pair-share. This gets students up and moving and allows them to learn from one another and play an active role in the lesson flow.
Gamification:
Game-Based Learning: Incorporate game elements into lessons to make learning fun and engaging. These can be online games, like Blooket or Kahoot! or a good old-fashioned game of vocabulary charades. Games help students practice in a fun way and build camaraderie in your classroom community.
Point Systems and Rewards: Use point systems and rewards to motivate students. These points can be achieved through behavior or merit. Offer students a reward for earning points. These points can also be tied in as markers for their individual goals.
Friendly Competition: Create healthy competition among students or teams. Have a “we do” that students with practice in groups? Give them criteria and points for achieving each criterion. This will allow them a list of something to work for in competition with the other groups. This can help with both buy-in and agency.
Real World Connections
Authentic Learning Experiences: Connect classroom learning to real-world scenarios and problems. This can be done through short clips, podcasts, or news article exploration.
Field Trips and Guest Speakers: Bring the outside world into the classroom through field trips and guest speakers. These will make memorable experiences for your students that you can use for weeks to come!
Community Projects: Engage students in service projects that benefit their community. This is a great way to give students purpose and also build social skills.
By implementing these strategies, we as teachers can create a dynamic and engaging learning environment that keeps students motivated and excited about learning throughout the school year. The honeymoon phase might be over, but that doesn’t mean the learning is!
コメント