A wonderful guest speaker recently came to our class: Joanna Lake, a middle-school teacher who has also taught primary grades. She likely could have led any of our pedagogy courses, since she is such a great educator, but her message that morning focused on using technology to support relationship-building with students. Joanna shared some excellent teaching tips, as well as her own infectious enthusiasm for student-centered learning.
Here are some useful suggestions that I jotted down during her engaging presentation:
- Mood scales: Students choose the number of the picture that best conveys how they are feeling. The teacher can also link the mood scale to curricular content.
- A class-created bulletin board, a class-curated art board
- Let the students design the classroom layout.
- In general, step back: let the students take some control.
- Feel-good Fridays: write each other nice notes on the board. Low risk option: direct, easy questions: “What is your favourite …?”
- Memes, jokes, drawing space on quizzes
- Routines for predictability: daily agenda, joke of the day, class playlist
- Check in with students: mood scales, thumbs, post-it notes
- Do a student survey at the beginning of the year. What type of learning works best for them?
- For visual learners: info-graphics, visual prompts
- Whole-class visual schedule: go over it at the beginning of the day
- Morning slide: date, message, announcements, reminders
- Afternoon: do not start until everyone is ready.
- Assessment as learning: self-assessment, feedback, reflection
- Each assignment: show model for at least two levels of proficiency. Comment on things that were well done, things that need improvement. Ask the students, “Where would you put them on the proficiency scale? Why?”
- Use anchor charts to show thinking.
- Co-create rubrics: set learning intentions, brainstorm criteria, show models (ask, “What did you notice about this …?”), set criteria, compare emerging/developing models with proficient models, design assessment.
- Flip Grid
- Write a letter to the students’ parents for your practicum.
- Sandwich writing
- Use mentor texts, especially in primary grades.
- There is more buy-in when assignments are creative.
- Never talk over the students. Use a tone bell. Thank the ones who are quiet for being ready to learn.
