Class Jobs in Live Classrooms to Create a Connected Classroom Culture

Class Jobs in Live Classrooms to Create a Connected Classroom Culture

It is 9:00 AM and the first virtual class of the day has started. Students begin to join some with video and some without and a few students talk to each other so several conversations are going at once while others are silent. The lesson begins and it feels to the teacher that they are the only one engaged in the lesson. It is quiet and at times silent when the teacher asks questions. How might we develop structures for all students to be active in their live online classroom?

Scaffolding Quadratics: 2 Things My 8th Graders Taught Me with Student Feedback

Scaffolding Quadratics: 2 Things My 8th Graders Taught Me with Student Feedback

We’re studying quadratics in my 8th grade class. Even the name can strike fear in the heart of the most competent adult. I didn’t want it to be that way for my math kids. I wrote a good lesson plan and then I let students help me modify it. Essentially, they “taught” me how to teach them better through the interaction and feedback we gave to each other during the learning process. We built the scaffold together.

Start with Why: The power of student-driven learning

Start with Why: The power of student-driven learning

Why do we have so many students who are frustrated and bored, just waiting to be challenged? We’ve made education about manipulation and hoops instead of inspiring our students to pursue learning that matters to them — learning that can help them make a difference in our communities and the world. By beginning with the Why questions, says teacher Shelley Wright, we can create powerful student-driven learning environments.

Passion Based Learning (PBL) in Primary: Making Up the Rules

Passion Based Learning (PBL) in Primary: Making Up the Rules

Science and health lend themselves easily to PBL (passion or project-based learning) in my mind. But I wasn’t sure how I was going to make it all work in a social studies unit about relationships, rules and responsibilities. I want this to be based on what the students are interested in. Yet there really is nothing about the words “relationships,” “rules” and “responsibilities” that has the ability to inspire passion in most six-year olds. But then I thought about our six Nintendo DS gaming devices.