One of the great mysteries of teaching a class like history, is how to get your students involved and interested in the material. Although the trend is towards “group work” which, in all honesty, tends to lead to “group-think”, there are other ways to get your students out of their chairs, and yourself away from… Continue reading →
Financially savvy kids are future leaders!
Les Raboteurs de Parquet (The Floor Scrapers), 1875, by Gustave Caillebotte (1848-1894) “This is one of the first paintings to feature the urban working class. It reintroduces the subject of the male...
Politics can be a lot to wrap your head around. These political infographics break down and simplify concepts so you can be more informed.
Ed. note: Much like AHTR, but non-art history specific, Purposeful Pedagogy is a grassroots peer-led group that actively supports pedagogical inquiry for higher education teachers. PP is specific…
45 minute class periods are short and there is much to learn. Check out these tips for structuring your 45 minute class period.
Here is a collection of eight class discussion techniques to structure classroom discussion and ensure all students' equal participation.
Make a game out of your classroom with gamification! This new trend is taking the education world by storm. Learn about it here.
The socratic questioning process as an infographic - I think this will be most useful #edchat #ukedchat #questioning
Need some help with your American History lessons? Take a peek at my lesson plans and ideas. These are my Constitution Lesson Plans for 8th Grade American History. My first year teaching I was dying to see other teachers' plan books, but most of them were either blank or didn't seem suitable for our students ("high-risk" with poor reading skills). After teaching American history to 8th graders for a few years, I've developed this webpage in the hopes that it can help first year teachers get an
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You’ve done your thesis plan. You’ve written for weeks. And weeks. But now, despite your very best planning, you find yourself at a point where that carefully thought out thesis road m…
If any one is a 3rd-5th teacher this past month and a half (depending on where you live/work) you have been doing what most of us....test pr...
Throughout my years teaching middle school, I have had the experience of seeing many "work refusals". These are the situations when kids, for a variety of reasons, just refuse to start the work you give them. They might shut down and rest their head on their desk or lash out in anger, shouting about
The Socratic style of discourse lends itself quite well to establishing critical thinkers due to the fact that Socrates believed that enabling students to think for themselves was more important than filling their heads with knowledge. With so much talk about the Common Core standards and truly increasing our student's argumentative powers and critical thinking skills, I decided to launch a Socratic Seminar style of instruction in my sixth grade classroom this week. Our Seminar The Text My approach began by engaging in a guided reading of a novel titled I Can't Believe I Have To Do This by Jan Alford. Throughout the course of the week we read the novel and discussed story events and critical vocabulary associated with the readings. The Questions Students were given a Socratic Seminar "Prep Sheet" at the beginning of the week. The sheet asked the students to do the following: #1. Summarize the assigned reading #2. Identify 3 compelling quotes or statements from the reading #3. Develop one Knowledge based question #4. Develop one Application style question #5. Develop one Synthesis style question Download at: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Socratic-Seminar-Packet The Set Up I then arranged my room in a double horseshoe configuration and assigned five students to be the inner circle. The inner circle students were slated to be the ones discussing and interacting. The outer circle of students were slated to observe and reflect and provide a 'backchannel'. The Discourse Relinquishing control was the MOST DIFFICULT thing!! Once the seminar began I truly had to force myself not to jump in and facilitate. Initially, it was truly awkward. Students nervously giggled and looked down at their papers. No one seemed willing to emerge as a leader. Once they realized that no one was coming to their rescue, the dialogue began and WOW. DID YOU KNOW?? A website called blockposters.com can take any .jpg or .gif image and turn it into a larger printable poster with overlapping edges for assembly?? Backchannel To occupy my outer circle, I distributed 5 ipads (1 for every 3 students) and allowed them to connect on todaysmeet.com. There they posted thoughts, questions, comments and even prompts to assist the inner circle. This back channel scrolled on the Smartboard throughout the seminar. (Admittedly, I didn't love the lack of grammar conventions demonstrated in the statements below.) Reflection/Assessment Without a doubt, we will do this again. Once the awkwardness ended, the dialog went FAR beyond what I've ever experienced with this novel. Students shared events that related DEEPLY to the characters, the character's choices and experiences. They also extrapolated character traits and applied them to new situations. As an assessment tool, each student completed an Exit Slip paragraph where they exercised their argumentative writing skills by completing a one paragraph reflection on the grade they deserved as a result of their participation in the seminar. Socratic discourse....making the kiddos use THEIR Smarticles!! All of my materials are available at: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Socratic-Seminar-Packet
My Outstanding Lesson: Check List #ukedchat #mlchat #sltchat #edchat
History and Benefits of Neuro-Linguistic Programming Infographic Neuro-Linguistic Programming (also known as NLP) has two main components to the change or “programming” that it tries to bring about. First is the neuro or the brain component and the second is the language component, which not only involves speech but also involves the five senses, gut […]
This new comic strip highlights the main causes of the First World War. This timely comic strip uses the MAIN acronym to help remember the causes of the First World War. MAIN stands for – Mil…
Executed well, student-centered instructional methods can disarm some of the more intimidating parts of academia.
I’ve been spending some serious amounts of time this summer leading conversations around the country focused on the integration of social studies and literacy. And for the last few years, I…
Let’s talk about the different “kinds” of DNA and how they can be used for genetic genealogy. It used to be simple. When this “industry” first started, in the year 2000, you could test two ki…
This poster is a guide for history taking. This is a PDF download, if you would like a physical printed copy, then please message my instagram page or contact me through etsy. *disclaimer - these guides are made to help you with your revision and should not replace clinical guidelines or inform clinical practice. I created Paramedic Notes to help with the sudden influx of students/ECAs/AAPs/Technicians/Student Paramedics that have bravely stepped up to help ambulance services over the pandemic. Many of the above have not had much chance to get accustomed with some of the basic skills that clinicians need. These notes are easy to read and easy to follow to ultimately make your confidence grow out on the road. Stay safe and good luck x
Medieval Japan Lapbook and Unit Study here at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus is fun. You'll love my other homeschool lapbooks.
On October 31, 1517 Martin Luther posted the 95 Theses on the Castle Church door in Wittenberg, Germany. Read the words that sparked the Reformation.
Are you thinking about holding a socratic seminar in your classroom? Or maybe your last whole class discussion didn't work out so well? Read on for why fishbowl discussions are the way to go and how to help students prepare for, participate in, and reflect on class discussions.
