Student Interaction.

  As teachers we are having to look at changing the type of lessons we use in class.  If you watch students outside of class, they are usually sitting down, against a wall, playing some sort of games.  It might be a mideaval protect a town type game, one of the angry bird manifestations, or something like Zombies vs Plants. 

A game in which they are active.  They are not listening to a lecture. They are not filling out a worksheet.  They are not passive.

They are thinking about strategy.  They are active.  They are working towards a goal.  Unfortunately, most of us do not teach in a way that capitalizes on their abilities.  I started google classroom the final quarter of school but I hadn't figured out how to make things more interactive than using digitized worksheets.

Unfortunately, most of the interactive activities I found on the internet are all basically the same.  It involves printed material a student reads in order to fill out a worksheet.  More of the same passive style work but students need something more.  A few activities require the use of manipulatives but it still requires filling out a worksheet.

This summer, I'm taking several different classes.  One is designed to create interactive lessons with videos, activities, and fewer read in order to fill out the worksheet activities.  The others are so I can use Google Suite for Education and create a classroom that is more student centered than teacher centered.

In addition, I'm reading books and getting ideas such as creating trailers to tease students with the next topic just like movie trailers tease the population into wanting to see the movies.  Another book is helping me think about incorporating gaming into the classroom but not just using badges.  Setting the unit up as a Mission Impossible experience with a mission so they feel as if they are in charge.

So many ideas from so many different books.  I am realistic enough to know, I cannot implement everything I've learned but I can choose a few ideas and implement them at the beginning of school. Add a couple more ideas each quarter, through the year.  The next year, add a few more.  I hope the ideas I implement will help students take ownership of their learning so I do less and let them do more.  Will it work?  I don't know.

Let me know what you think.  I'd love to hear.