In this blog, Kayla Dornfeld talks about the study of a comfortable, flexible learning environment for students. Having more flexible comfortable seatings keeps everyone happy, egaged and relaxed in their workspace. She gave options of how to do a classroom redesign on a budget which in return, improves classroom management.
From this blog, I learned the following:
Flexible seating in a classroom does more than provide comfortability to students, research has also proven health benefits such as, improving metabolism, increased motivation, improving core strength and many more benefits.
While improving your classroom to these unique seating options can be pricy, Dornfeld gave options how to do so on a budget.
Other articles are provided as a tool to use when convincing administrators to allow this flexible seating.
In the future, I plan to resort back to this article to gain ideas on how to improve my classroom with this type of flexibility.
In this podcast, Ted Neitzke talked about how to make all kids, specifically students feel noticed and supported. He focused in on programs to be intentional and empower the students.
From this podcast, I learned the following:
To be better in supporting others around us, we have to find a way to know what to look for and how to support those needs.
Supportive leaders reflect empathy and compassion.
Ted Neitzke set up a program called the "Guardian Angel Program." As a principal, Ted met with each student and found out which staff member they trusted the most. He then reached out to that specific staff member and had the staff check in on the student. It was intentional and made students feel cared for.
In the future, I plan to implement a program similar to this in my class room. It may not be reaching out to every staff member on campus but any way I am able to make my studnets feel cared for while being intentional with them.
In this webinar, Rachel Langenhorst shared multiple technology tools to upgrade a classroom. She shared tools that focused and improved classroom management,gamefied learning, interactive tools, assessment tools, and content area tools. Rachel shared websites that helped engage technology in the classroom.
From this Webinar, I learned the following:
There are so many websites that help teachers manage their classrooms and make students more engaged.
One way to engage learners is to bring out the natural competitor in a student by educational games. There are so many websites to increase gamefied learning in the classroom.
Not only does technology help improve the students, it also helps improve teachers and the way a classroom is run.
In the future, I will resort back to these websites and technology tips to improve my classroom managements and make my students more engaged overall by using technology.
Through this Edutopia blog I learned ways to engage students with disabilities in the classroom. Jennifer Sullivan wrote on how to design classrooms to help students with disabilities participate fully and naturally in inclusive learning environments.
From this blog, I learned the following:
Assistive technology is anything used to improve the capabilities of a student with disabilities. Many teachers use tools that function as AT even though they may not know they are.
Using closed captions in videos is a prime example of using AT skills in the classroom. Graphic organizers and visual timer are also AT skills used often even when teachers may not realize that it is helping a student who may be affected by different disabilities.
A variety of seating options helps classrooms to be more inclusive learning environments.
In the future, I will use the examples in this blog to help my classroom be the most functional and inclusive environment I can make it for my students.
As technology skyrockets, so does social media. One of the most growing social media webites is Twitter. Currently in the education world, educators are using Twitter to share their most useful tips and tricks with other educators.
From researchingTwitter, I learned the following:
Twitter is being used by educators to learn and grow in their school.
Schools are reaching out with their community through social media sites like Twitter for community engagement.
Teachers are able to personalize their twitter accounts to their classroom in order to engage with parents and possibly students over social media.
In the future, although my students will not be old enough to use social media, I will use social media to enage with the community around me and share my classroom experience so others can learn from me while I also learn from others.
One social media site that is also skyrocketing is Youtube. Youtube is used in the classroom to help students learn material from other teachers who may put lessons or informational videos on youtube.
From researching Youtube, I learned the following:
Youtube is used by educators to learn new ways to present topics to their class.
In learning new ways to use youtube in the classroom, youtube gives teachers the ability to grow and learn from other teachers who put videos on youtube.
During the times of virtual learning, teachers were able to record their lessons and put them on youtube for students to access for free.
In the future, I will use Youtube to engage my students more in the classroom through interactive videos for both learning and entertainment.