OUR Best Practices

Thank you for letting the class describe some of the great things we learned during our observation. Here are some of the practices we talked about...
Governance: Seating plan can be a very effective form of governing a classroom. How you arrange the seats is telling of you as a teacher and what you expect from the students. The little diagram we showed in class was very effective for a social studies class. The class was split in have facing each other, so there is a big isle in the middle of the room. With a simple turn of the head the students could see the whiteboard or projector. This seating plan worked well because students all faced one another (for the most part) and it allowed the teacher to have a more dynamic role. It facilitated discussion and debate. One other key governance practice was egalitarianism. For example, if the student was late they would have the choice to sing a song, do push-ups, or write a short essay and if the teacher was late they would would suffer the same consequence. These two items help to elucidate the role of the educator as a facilitator and not as a dictator.
Materials: Well perhaps it is a little boring but we all found the whiteboard to be a very effective material in the classroom. Although these smartboards that everyone got to see but us sound pretty darn amazing. For a socials class, picking relevant news clips to share during current events was effective. Perhaps these stories are not the most important on a global scale but it once again brings relevance to the students.
Activity/Strategy: It has been a theme throughout our best practices: relatability. Activities that students feel disconnected with are not very engaging and effective. We also found that a using a plurality of activities and learning methods was an effective way of making sure all learning styles were satisfied. Breaking up the class into a pre-lecture, activity, then watch a short movie and finishing with an activity stimulates many different senses and learning styles.
Questions/Concerns: Firstly, the use of wikipedia as a source for papers was allowed at one of the schools visited. Is this something that secondary institutions are going to give the ok or is it merely a personal preference? Lastly, the issue of touching, specifically hugging students. Is this at anytime appropriate?
Enjoy,
Cody, Kate, and Natalie