Melissa B
20 Easy Things You Can Do For A Smoother Running Classroom
contributed by Julie DeNeen and updated by TeachThought Staff
Reading over this article, gave me some great ideas to try, lifted my self-esteem for the ideas that I already have in place within my own classroom. I do believe though that some of these ideas are not manageable right now in the public school system because of the pandemic. One specific idea is the format of the learning area. With certain restrictions on what is allowed and what is not, setting up the format of a learning area is now in the hands of the district. I also think the pandemic has changed how an educator can decorate their learning space. One of the items to help make the classroom run smoother was limiting distractions in the classroom. Placing curtains or rugs may not be an option anymore. Having a personalized bin for students with tissues and band-aids is a great idea, it is not practical for me when I teach half of the student population (about 300 students).
One item I did find interesting and fun to try is roll call. The article suggested a sign-in sheet. During the pandemic, my colleague and I would have the students answer a check-in question of the day to take roll call. I would say that I do try to allow my students some choice or say in the activity or project that we are doing in class.
I believe that if I am using technology, even a wearable device, I could do a quick how do I feel about the day evaluation. Again, teaching during the pandemic, on the google form that was asked at the end of class, a question on how the class was, how did movement make you feel after doing the activity, did you give it your best effort, or that kind of question was asked.
Another item that I would like to try to add into my school year this coming year is a risk-reward procedure. I love the idea of students feeling safe to try, even if failing or getting it wrong. I am not sure how I would incorporate this thought into my learning area.
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Hi Melisa - I am also interested in the risk-reward procedure. I teach Spanish and find that many students are reluctant to take the risk of speaking Spanish in front of their peers, but they must practice speaking in order to improve, so it can become a vicious cycle. I wonder if wearables could be incorporated into this procedure in some way - could there be a way to track this somehow on a smartwatch? I think that could be really motivating for some students!
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