Actively Engaging Students
I want this blog to be a fun and nonjudgemental environment for teachers, parents, family, and friends to post about a memorable learning experiences they may have had as a child starting from as early as Preschool all the way into 6th grade.
- The point of this blog is to collaborate with other individuals about meaningful and fun teaching activities, songs, tricks, strategies, or whatever it may be, that stuck with you throughout life that I could incorporate into a classroom of my own.
I know I have a few specific teachers and teaching methods that always seem to come to mind when I think about how I can actively engage my future students. Please share any thing you think I could take into the classroom to help create a fun learning environment for my students. The one rule is that it has to be applicable to the classroom setting for students in Elementary and Middle school (P-6).
When I was in 6th grade, my English teacher would come into the room when the bell rang and call on random students in a drill like manner. She would say, "tell me everything you know about a noun." She would then call on someone else and say "what else can you tell me about a noun." She would do this for verbs, adjectives, adverbs, etc. She did this everyday for about 5 minutes. She did it in a way that was fun and praised the correct answers. To this day when I hear noun, verb, etc..., I think of her drilling us on our language facts.
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DeleteDo you think this helped you learn the material more thoroughly? I know if it were me I would be much more likely to make sure I understood what a noun, verb, etc. was if I was going to have to explain it to the teacher and in front of peers!
ReplyDeleteYes, I still remember it to this day. She did it everyday and we knew it was coming.
DeleteThis post makes me think of a teacher my youngest son had in 4th grade. He was a drama major and everything they learned was either acted out or they played some kind of game. I remember the Alabama history lessons the best. He had them all dress up as the different tribes and present to each other the facts about their tribe. Mom's brought in different foods they ate and all the students were so interested in each others tribes. Students are children, they like to play, so why not follow that path and make it fun!
ReplyDeleteIt is so much fun when students are being actively engaged in the classroom! I really do believe that it helps students to transfer and retain the information better because they are so much more interested in what they are doing!
DeleteI walked into my sons classroom once and he had Jack upside down by one foot twirling him around. The teacher looked up at me and smiled and told me Jack was being his tornado! Science in actions and exactly what had everybody's attention.
DeleteI remember singing a lot of songs when I was young and I remember the parts of speech because of that. The school house rock is still on YouTube. I also love to sing the water cycle song. There is one song that you use you hands as you sing and it makes it so much more meaningful.
ReplyDeleteThat is so neat! I would love to integrate these types of songs into my teaching. I know that the students would love it.
DeleteElizabeth,
ReplyDeleteI still remember everyone of my elementary school teachers...everyone of them. I can call all of them by name. I think out of all my teachers, only two have passed away. Please remember that was 39 years ago! I've seen two of my first grade teachers within the last year. They look exactly the same as I remember them. When I started teaching, I had the honor of teaching with some of them at the school where I went as a student. As you can probably tell, my teachers made a huge impact on my life. They made me want to be a teacher. My hearts desire was to go back to my school and make a difference in the lives of children like they had done in mine. And guess what, I was able to do just that. I walked back through the halls and all the memories of my time there as a student and teach children, that I hope I had an impact on as well. The things I did as a student I tried to incorporate with my own students like singing, dancing, centers, play time, cooking experiences, field trips and many other activities.
I am with you on that one! I remember all of my elementary school teachers as well! What a treat it would be to be in your class! I think that "singing, dancing, centers, play time, cooking experiences, and field trips" are all great activities that get the students interested and excited to learn. A lot of times when a students is participating in these activities they don't even realize how much information they are learning. I always seemed to enjoy the teachers' classrooms the most when these activities were incorporated into our weekly plans at school. It just really makes the student believe that the teacher is so much more involved and interested in what she is teaching. I think that this rubs off on the kids as well. I had an exceptional science teacher in the 5th grade that also ran the garden club. You could really tell she loved what she was doing, and that she was genuinely interested in the information that she was teaching us.
DeleteAnd those things that your science teacher did, was, I'm most sure, what turned you on to wanting to be a teacher. The saying rings true here, "To teach is to touch a life forever." Everywhere I looked the author of this simple, but profound quote is anonymous. Wouldn't that be just like some teachers we both know, to only want to stand in the background and let his or her students shine?
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