Using digital polling systems is an engaging way to formatively assess student learning. Various online platforms allow teachers to create multiple-choice or open-ended questions to quickly gather student responses in real-time. This provides an opportunity for students to share their thinking and teachers to evaluate students’ learning.
Collaboration brings students together to share varying perspectives and knowledge. There are many techniques that help foster collaboration in the classroom including many strategies and various ed-tech tools. What are your favorite ways to encourage collaboration in your classroom?
Notice and Wonder allows students to brainstorm their ideas about a new concept or phenomenon without any expectation of initially solving the problem or producing an answer. This strategy enables to students to share their ideas with one another in an authentic context and creates meaning for them using their prior knowledge. Students engage in collaborative practices to share their ideas, build off one another’s responses, and embark on the learning journey with one another using their ideas as a starting point.
When developing curriculum, defining clear goals sets the target of what a content area aims to achieve and establishes coherence among the many moving parts and levels within it. The components of the curriculum specify benchmarks at each level that need to be met in order to achieve the overarching goal. Clear goals also help us reiterate the district’s mission and vision.
Building and maintaining a positive, supportive community in the classroom increases engagement, establishes respect among all participants, and provides a safe space for taking risks and trying new things. An element of building and maintaining that culture is being sure to take time to celebrate. From celebrating academic accomplishments and other victories in the lives of our students, there is always something to celebrate!
Just like exit tickets are a quick way to assess students’ learning at the end of a lesson, entry tickets quickly assess what students already know prior to a lesson. An entry ticket asks students to activate their prior knowledge relevant to that day’s lesson. This allows the teacher to quickly assess what students already know and make decisions on how to cater instruction. This also allows the teacher to address any misconceptions while introducing a topic.
