MzTeachuh is a resource blog providing educational links for professional development, timely articles for special needs, ed tech and STEM, as well as interesting and amusing posts in the Fine Arts and the Humanities.
Showing posts with label joyful classroom. Show all posts
Showing posts with label joyful classroom. Show all posts
Emotional Safety: Students require a welcoming environment where the teachers are happy to see them each day. The procedures and activities are kind, non-threatening and available for acceptance and success.
Curiosity and Acceptance: Students have the ability to question, imagine, and use flexible thinking. When comfortable to experiment and find answers for themselves, they develop productive struggle in a positive experience.
Play and Creativity:
When you integrate games, role-play, arts and movement the brain triggers a chemical boost that increases motivation, attention, and perseverance.
Social Connection; When students feel secure with social interactions through shared tasks and play with peers, and also confident to interact with adults then there is a positive emotional environment. Students feel confident to enjoy their school day.
Identity and Relevance:
When classroom activities and lessons connect to students' experiences and real-world experiences, learners feel validated and the group may share familiarity.
And don't forget...
Humor: Students love to expect a joke on the board and waiting for the punchline, the cheesier the better. Puppets for the younger kids. And don't neglect the 'teachable moment' of something surprising for a laugh, even if it is a little embarrassing for the teacher.
We educators need to climb to the top of Bloom's Taxonomy, too. And here are some current thought-provoking articles to goad us into solutions for our kids. Check out these excellent blogs and websites, too. Mzteachuh isn't the only great one out there, you know. ;)
1. Mind/Shift
In his words, “Creativity is not an option, it’s an absolute necessity.”
Sir Ken Robinson: Fostering Creativity in Education is Not an Option
But there’s “zero correlation between the best ideas and the best talkers.”
2. Edutopia
We need to "listen" to children by observing and thinking about how we
can guide -- but not dictate -- their learning. We can be partners in
creating a joyful experience for each child, each and every day.
Believing in students is not simply telling them that you believe in
them. These words matter only if they are true and if you demonstrate
them by your actions. There is no way to fake it, because kids have
built in crap detectors (a phrase taken from Neil Postman, and Charles
Weingartner, in Teaching As a Subversive Activity), and they can tell if you don't mean it. Here are some ways to express it.
Believing in Students: The Power to Make a Difference
3. Special Needs Survey Daily News and Information for the Special Needs Community
I
propose that all of our kids get an annual mental health assessment
starting from the early years to the teen years and then also maybe
every year following.
Do We Really Care About the Mental Health of Our Teens?
However, the male teacher is a dying breed. After
reading several articles on the matter, I’ve learned many have come to
the conclusion that this dilemma stems from one’s that, again, you
should be obvious-decreasing lack of public respect for the position, societal factors, increased (and even unfair) demands, and, of course, money.
Raising Boys’ Achievement Involves More Male Teachers
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