Many teachers, in fact probably most teachers, are always looking for ways to help students engage with the content being taught. Student engagement is perhaps the holy grail of teaching. Many teacher evaluation systems have it as a standard or indicator, which increases the motivation of teachers to locate that elusive cup. In researching creativity with my master's partner, Kristy Graber, we came across a nugget that might lead us to the holy land of student engagement.
Yes, I do mean the card game, UNO, and no, I don't intend for you to play UNO in your classroom instead of teaching your content. However, my high school students did figure out a way to leverage it within our activity. Here's how we did it.
As I prepare to introduce Frodo, Bilbo, Sam, (and the rest of the Hobbits) Gandalf, Legolas, and Aragorn to new students this year, a thought occurred to me. The Fellowship of the Ring is similar in structure to our schools. Here's how:
I introduced my dad in the first blog post, giving him credit for my boldness in trying new things with technology in my classroom, but that is not the main impact he has had on my development as an educator. One of the big things I learned from him was the never ceasing job of a teacher to make lessons bigger and better than the last time you taught them.
For those of you who are in 1:1 classrooms, you really need to check out Recap. I teach high school students, and my rural Missouri classroom is not 1:1 yet, so I have used it sparingly so far, but I see the power and possibilities it presents. Once I have an established way for students … Continue reading Let’s Recap That
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