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Top 5 Tools for Engagement

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Last week I wrote about engagement... I received an intriguing question after I posted last week's blog, "What are your favorite engagement strategies?" That got me thinking. I have a few go...

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5 Ways to Amplify the Voices of Our Introverts

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5 Ways to Amplify the Voices of Our Introverts

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My two cents

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As superheros go, Batman is mostly a regular guy. (You know, as regular as an orphaned, vengeful, reclusive, monomaniacal billionaire can be.) He just happens to carry a lot of useful stuff. This gives me hope as a teacher, and I consider these five items key components in my teaching utility belt.

Awesome Screenshot extension: Virtual grappling hook for grabbing screenshots. Crop 'em, annotate 'em, make demonstrations make sense.

Power Tools Google sheets add-on: Suite of tools that have potential to work mind control on spreadsheet cells. Lately, I'm a fan of the Data Random Generator. Pair that with a class roster and mix up groups of various sizes with the click of a button. Sometimes students choose with whom to work; other times I group intentionally; and yet other times we're jokers who roll the proverbial dice.

Giphy site: If pictures are worth a thousand words, what's the going rate for moving pictures? This collection of GIFs turns documents (hyper or otherwise) into -- pow! --fun Saturday morning cartoons, not to mention livening up Google forms, Tweets, or even e-mail.

Classroom Organizer site: For a class library, it's like Uber meets the Batmobile. More flexible and faster than circulating books via loose-leaf scribbles kept on a clipboard.

Diigo extension: When resource listicles fly around the Internet, this social bookmarking site plays Robin -- a worthy sidekick who has my organizing back.

Thanks, #sunchatbloggers, for the encouragement and writing inspiration. Which tools top your list for utility?

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Top Five - a #sunchatbloggers production

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As superheros go, Batman is mostly a regular guy. (You know, as regular as an orphaned, vengeful, reclusive, monomaniacal billionaire can be.) He just happens to carry a lot of useful stuff. This gives me hope as a teacher, and I consider these five items key components in my teaching utility belt.

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I belong to an inspiring and motivating group of educators called #sunchatbloggers. The other day a member of the group, Joanne Ireland, wrote about five strategies for student engagement, and we decided it would be fun to do a series of "five strategies" posts.

I'm obsessed with anything that allows teachers to give student's control of their own learning.Too often, the dialogue in classrooms seems to go from teacher-to-student and student-to-teacher, with the teacher remaining at the center of most discussions. Students listen to teachers for information and answer questions when asked, but tend to tune out when their peers are talking. Yet we all know that when they actively listen to one another, students learn so much more than when they listen only to teachers.

So I thought I'd share my top five strategies for helping students listen to and learn from each other:

1. Triad questioning method. In this technique, students build on each other's responses, which encourages them to pay attention to their peers' ideas. The teacher will ask a question, then call on a student to respond. Without reacting to the first student's response, the teacher then asks a second student if they agree or disagree with student #1 and why. After that, the teacher calls on a third student, asking them to add more information. Finally, the teacher goes back to the first student for a final comment or summary of what was discussed. This strategy makes students listen to one another and puts the teacher in the position of facilitating, rather than being the "sage on stage." It also allows teachers to call on shyer students for the second or third answer, since responding to an idea can be easier for these students than stating a first opinion.

2. Interactive walls. To craft an interactive wall, teachers start by putting primary documents, newspaper articles, essays, or student-made mini-lessons on their classroom walls. Students then look at the documents and post reflections or questions around them, often building on each other's comments or making connections between comments. The walls stay up and change constantly throughout the unit as students add to them when they're working independently in class. Students can refer to information on the walls in class discussions, debates, and written work. They learn from each other and their understanding deepens as they respond to their classmates' thoughts and questions.

3. Protocols for peer feedback.- This is a wonderful way to help students learn to critique each other's work. Using a protocol, three or four students examine another student's writing or project and give him or her feedback on it. Generally speaking, peer reviews don't seem to work very well in class, since some students don't really know how to give strong feedback or worry about offending their peers. But in this format, students build on each other's ideas, and every student that asks for feedback comes away with plenty of ideas to work with. At the same time, students listen to each other's feedback and slowly become stronger at critiquing work (both others' and their own).

4. Think-Pair-Share. This tried-and-true technique remains one of my favourites. Have students think individually about an answer to a teacher's question, then discuss their ideas with a peer before sharing with the class. This adds in wait time, which gives students time to reflect on their ideas, allowing them to give deeper answers and to build on one another's ideas. I'm going to cheat here and post a link to another educator's five techniques blog post: for more information, check out Elizabeth Mulvahill's5 Fun Alternatives to Think-Pair-Share.

5. for discussions . TitanPad
allows students to have online discussions that can be tracked and saved. For example, a teacher can share a document for students to read, then ask them a number of questions that serve as jumping-off points for discussion. The great thing about TitanPad is that many of our more introverted or quiet students really seem to find their voice when they can write, instead of having to speak up in class. Teachers can then look back on the discussion, take note of misconceptions or misunderstandings, and address them in future classes.

One thing to note is that these techniques will only work if teachers' questions are fairly deep and lead to good discussions. It's hard to use a strategy like triad questioning if there's only one simple, correct answer. But with strong questions and the use of these techniques, we teach students to take control of their own learning.

I'm sure there are oodles of other techniques out there to help students connect and learn from each other, and I'd love to hear them. Please share your favorites in the comments below!

For more educational top 5 tips check out these postss by other #sunchat bloggers or visit this padlet and click on the links:

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My Top 5 Strategies for Student-to-Student Interaction - The Teaching Experiment

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I belong to an inspiring and motivating group of educators called #sunchatbloggers. The other day a member of the group, Joanne Ireland, wrote about five strategies for student engagement, and we decided it would be fun to do a series of "five strategies" posts.

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My Top 5: Developing Confident and Independent Learners

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My Top 5: Developing Confident and Independent Learners

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#SunChatBloggers

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Mrs. McAlister and her Sunsational Sixth Graders

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I've been blessed to be part of a blogging group, the #SunChatBloggers, led by the motivating and talented @MsVenturino. We've given ourselves a challenge . . . write a blog post about your "Top 5", with the topic left purposefully open-ended. While choosing my specific topic, I reflected on what's important to me as a sixth grade teacher. My students are still in primary school, but next year they will move to junior high. My overarching goal for them is to become confident, independent learners. So what are my Top 5 go-tos for helping them get there? Let's see . . .

#GoogleClassroom We are a GAFE school and I've used A perfect pairing with Google Classroom are hyperdocs. During the summer, I read and was hooked immediately. The concept of hyperdocs is presenting a lesson or unit in a digital package. Students interact with text, images, videos, and even collaboration tools via hyperlinks. The teacher designs digital and face to face interactions with peers and content. The outcome is amazing! Learning is in the hands of students creating both independent and confident learners. If you're interested, the @EdTechTeam has classes that teach the mindset, creation, and implementation of hyperdocs. I'm currently in cohort 4. I love hyperdocs! Take a look at our One of my #EduHeros is @Catlin_Tucker. She was a guest speaker at our local tech conference, #TechDeMayo. Her Another #EduHero is @SMGaillard. His grassroots movement, #CelebrateMonday, spreads positivity throughout schools and Twitter worldwide. This year, our class has a #CelebrateMonday shoutout box. During the week, students write shoutouts to classmates and place them in the box. On Monday, a student reads the shoutouts to the class. We clap, congratulate, and celebrate each shoutout. The confidence that comes from this simple act of acknowledgement has been phenomenal. Personal relationships, growth mindset skills, and finding a voice are gaining momentum as the year is progressing. I love #CelebrateMonday! Take a look at our Sixth grade is transition year for students. Personal relationships are becoming more important, content is getting more challenging, and self-identity is at the forefront of our student's minds. Flexible seating has been an answer. In our classroom, students are free to choose where they sit and who they sit with, as long they can be successful. During the day, depending on the lesson, students may be working on The structures within our classrooms have a huge impact on our students and their learning. If we're intentional, we can create classrooms that foster both independence and confidence. It is with joy and awe that I watch my sixth graders prepare for junior high. As educators and parents, we raise our children to go off into the world both independent and confident.
Google Classroom for two years now. It's a hub of learning and communication all in one place. Students hone their independence skills as they read announcements, navigate task instructions, submit work, check grades, and communicate with myself and their peers. Students can access it in class, during after school tutoring, and even when they miss school. Confidence is gained as students create using docs, slides, and drawings. GC has been a game changer. I love Google Classroom! Take a look at our feed.

#HyperDocs
The Hyperdoc Handbook PokemonGo and Unity Day hyperdocs.

#StationRotation
presentation and blended learning book helped me take the plunge into technology and creating a learning environment that engaged students both face to face and digitally. My class and I implement Station Rotation every Monday as a launch into our week. We have 4 stations. One is a "100 Word Challenge" created on a Google slide, another is reading a close reading passage for the first time, another is collaborative research, and the fourth is a discussion station with me. Both independence and confidence are gained as students work both independently and collaboratively. I love Station Rotation! Take a look at a schedule and planner.

#CelebrateMonday
box.

#FlexibleSeating
stools, on the rug, at our wooden table either alone, or even outside with a friend, in a group, or with me. This flexibility leads to both confidence and independence as students make choices within the learning environment. I love flexible seating! Take a look at a blog I wrote.

​It's an honor to play even a small part in the journey.

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#Developing Confident and Independent learners: Top 5﻿

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I've been blessed to be part of a blogging group, the #SunChatBloggers, led by the motivating and talented @MsVenturino. We've given ourselves a challenge . . . write a blog post about your "Top 5", with the topic left purposefully open-ended. While choosing my specific topic, I reflected on what's important to me as a sixth grade teacher.

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My Top 5 Ingredients for an Engaging History Lesson

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My Top 5 Ingredients for an Engaging History Lesson

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Lessons, tips, and tricks for using games, music, technology, costumes, and pop culture to make History fun.

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Do tell: What are your top 5 "needs"? #imaginED

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Earlier this year I connected with other educators who like to blog. We came together over #sunchat, a Twitter-based Sunday morning chat. We called ourselves the #Sunchatbloggers! We provide each other with feedback and encouragement. Someone in the group suggested we all post on the same topic: our "Top 5". Some people will post about strategies, others activities, others technologies-I've decided to focus on "needs".

What are my 5 "essentials" for effective teaching?

After much reflection, I've identified my 5 teaching must-haves:

We know that the world works-quite literally-because of relationships. We also know that a primary-if not the primary-determinant of students' academic success has to do with the relationships they cultivate in the learning environment. When I teach I strive to nurture strong, positive interpersonal relationships. When I teach I also strive to nurture pedagogical relationships; these are emotional connections between my students and the knowledge they are learning. The flourishing of both of these kinds of relationships depends on trust. I can only get to know my students if they trust me. If my students trust in my intention to support their learning process, I can challenge them. I can encourage them to take risks in their learning. I aim to push my students outside of their "comfort zone"-a pedagogy of discomfort! My students need to know I have their best interests at heart if they are going to learn and enjoy new ideas, new ways of being, unfamiliar terrain etc. They need to see me modeling my support through flexibility and diversity in my teaching plans, assessment and evaluation practices.

Effective teaching and learning require the emotional engagement of my students and me. Emotion is the mind's rudder. Tie knowledge up with some human emotion and it becomes meaningful and memorable. So, in order to teach, I need -learning tools that engage my students' emotions and imaginations. I employ , tools of written language, and tools of philosophic and ironic understandings to connect my students' emotions and imaginations with the content of the curriculum. These tools forge pedagogical relationships based on wonder; they are long-lasting. My students are constantly engaging their imaginations in learning the content of the curriculum. (Learn more about Dr. Kieran Egan's Imaginative Education pedagogy here.)

I committed some educational blasphemy just now... did you notice? An important piece of the engagement piece is that it starts with me. I know, this isn't the currency in teacher talk- we must always start with the student, right? Well, I challenge that idea. Students know when their teachers are not engaged. If I want to create a learning context that maximizes my students' engagement-and learning-I must also be engaged in the subject matter. I need to find a source of emotional significance within the topic so I can create an imagination-focused context for my students. Whatever the topic-Quadrilateral equations in Math? Haiku poetry? Educational Change in Theory and Practice?* (*what I am currently teaching)-it is essential that I approach curriculum topics with affective alertness. I seek an emotional connection- what stirs my sense of wonder? In order to emotionally engage I need to have depth of knowledge in my subject matter-and a commitment to gaining this if need be.

I cannot disconnect effective teaching from effective (caring, constructive, formative) assessment. Ongoing assessment of my students is part of my daily teaching practice. I need to know what where my students "are": what they need, what they want, and what they can handle in order to make my pedagogical decisions. More "formal" assessment (though no less important for teaching) comes in the form of my feedback on their work. I believe my students will learn most if my feedback is ongoing, constructively critical, positive, rich, and timely. But I don't just assess my students-I ask that they provide me with feedback as well. My teaching "plans" need to be flexible to suit the needs and interests of my students. So I plan with flexibility and maximum space for diversity in mind and then I ask for feedback. I need to be able to adapt my plans mid-stream and, always, take summative student feedback and revise entire courses as needed. I need their feedback to be an effective teacher.

I believe love of learning stems from curiosity. It's the disposition we need as teachers. It's the disposition we want to see in our students. I believe the world is wonder-full. Our curricula is wonder-full. Topics that may seem on the surface to be "ordinary" are in fact richer-and more interesting-than we will ever fully understand. And here's the contradiction: educators want to support a love of learning in their students, and yet, many don't demonstrate a love-of-learning themselves. They look at knowledge as mundane, topics as boring, and they often teach things to students "because it's important to know this". Every topic can be seen in a light that shows it as unique. Every topic glimmers with wonder. (Yes, even "paragraph writing" or "punctuation".) Curiosity brings joy to my teaching.

Education matters. It's the vehicle through which human beings not only learn to adapt but learn to thrive. Education changes people, "norms", institutions-it is a means for social justice and a more ethical world. Effective teaching doesn't involve passive "hoping" for a better world; teaching is hope in action.

See what imagination-pedagogy looks like for K-postsecondary. Get weekly updates from imaginED!

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Earlier this year I connected with other educators who like to blog. We came together over #sunchat, a Twitter-based Sunday morning chat. We called ourselves the #Sunchatbloggers! We provide each other with feedback and encouragement. Someone in the group suggested we all post on the same topic: our "Top 5".

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Top 5 Non-Rehearsal Activities in an Instrumental Music Classroom

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Top 5 Non-Rehearsal Activities in an Instrumental Music Classroom

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Earlier this year, as I was just starting to blog, I connected with an amazing group of educators in the #sunchatbloggers group. As we have been inspired by each other's blogs, we decided to try a group topic of the "Top 5". So, without further ado, here are my Top 5 Non-Rehearsal Activities in an Instrumental Music Classroom!

Check out this padlet to view other #sunchatbloggers Top 5 Posts!

1. Have students blog (or write) reflectively

How often do we ask students to reflect on their learning? Blogging can be a great way to help them go deeper with class projects or practice logs. Another favorite of mine is having students reflect on a performance or recording of themselves. In writing about it, they are able to take a step back and look at the bigger picture of their learning. This can also open up opportunities for class discussions to take place through the comment section online - which evens the playing field for some quieter students who would not speak up as often!

Relates to: literacy, critical thinking, technology, communication skills, student collaboration, assessments

2. Get out and share!

One of the best things you can do for your program is to share the joy of music with others! My students participate in the Birthday Brigade to wish staff members a happy birthday. We also do String Caroling around the holiday season, where students stop into different classroom to play holiday tunes (this also doubles as a chamber ensemble experience for them). We also connect with younger students, playing mini-concerts to prepare for our evening concerts and putting on "instrument petting zoos" to give preschoolers and kindergartners some hands-on experience with the instruments.

Relates to: community, relevance, learning environment, students' strengths

3. Find & watch relevant YouTube videos!

YouTube, and various other video platforms, have changed the way people share media and provided a track to instant fame. Many modern musicians have built their fan bases largely from viral YouTube videos! Tap into that excitement, and show students videos that include their instrument in less traditional settings. I also have a tradition called "YouTube Fridays", where we watch a relevant YouTube video and students complete a brief listening assignment about it. This connects them to the world and lets them see the cool things they can do with their instruments,while also honing their listening skills!

Relates to: relevance, connectedness, differentiation, technology, critical thinking

4. Explore Online Music Tools

There are so many cloud-based programs that allow students to play around with different aspects of music. I have shown students these tools in class, and had them go home and send me a video later that night of something they made using these websites. There is also so much authentic learning that occurs as they try to recreate what they hear in their head on the screen! Some of my favorites are:

Relates to: technology, connectedness, relevance, differentiation, students' strengths, critical thinking, student collaboration, coding

5. Make an instrument!

As crazy as this sounds, allowing my students the chance to make an instrument has made a bit difference in how they take care of their instruments as well as their tone quality. When they understand the underlying mechanics, they are able to integrate this knowledge into their playing to create a better sound. We start by talking about the essential parts of their instrument (this TEDx Talk provides a great introduction), and then students design and build. I have made instruments with all sorts of materials, and it is always fascinating to see the different ways students construct things to achieve the same result!

Relates to: technology, content, connectedness, student collaboration, critical thinking, makerspaces, community, students' strengths

What non-rehearsal strategies do you employ in your classroom to engage students and connect music to other disciplines?

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#sunchatbloggers: Top 5 Non-Rehearsal Activities in an Instrumental Music Classroom

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Earlier this year, as I was just starting to blog, I connected with an amazing group of educators in the #sunchatbloggers group. As we have been inspired by each other's blogs, we decided to try a group topic of the "Top 5". So, without further ado, here are my Top 5 Non-Rehearsal Activities in an Instrumental Music Classroom!