Genius Hour: Engagement Strategies for the Classroom

Hello All!

As I am conducting research on re-engaging students n my classroom, I think it is necessary to explore strategies for making learning fun and interactive. Students must not think of learning as a chore, students should be excited to go to school and see what they will be learning next!

I am getting a lot of ideas from Pinterest which I would like to utilize in my classroom to see how effective they will be when I use them! As I have not been placed in my school for placement yet, I will continue my research on what other teachers are suggesting.

Here are some ideas that I find are necessary for teachers when they are trying to create an enagaging learning environment for all of their students:

Authentic Learning
Find ways to have my students do work that has meaning beyond the classroom walls.

Inquiry
Investigation and discovery are some of the most powerful learning processes used in the classroom.

Collaboration
Provide students with opportunities to engage with each other, create together and look for solutions to real world problems.

Integrating the Arts
Integrating various curriculums into units is a great way to spark creativity and get students interested in subjects that they struggle with or are disinterested in.

Integrating Technology
Technology is a wonderful way to engage students in a productive, creative and collaborative way! It can also be used for differentiated learning!! (Definitely want to look further into this!)

Pinterest: Genius Hour Board

Hi Everyone,

Just wanted to show you my new board on Pinterest! There are so many awesome resources for the classroom that teachers are sharing on the Internet. I decided to create a board which I named, "Genius Hour" where I can pin resources and instructional strategies for motivating my students to learn in my classroom!

Check it out: https://www.pinterest.com/livsmiljanic/genius-hour/

Genius Hour Update!

How is everyone doing?

Today, I have learned how important my topic is to my success of becoming a teacher. Not only am I interested in learning about the strategies for effectively re-engaging students, it is my responsibility as a teacher to learn and make professional judgments on which strategies I want to use in my classroom. 

Reflecting on why I want to explore this topic, I have learned that the pursuit of learning is very important to me. In order to move forward with my Genius Hour, I would like to evaluate the techniques and strategies used my by associate teacher as well as online research. This is an opportunity to gain both theoretical information and practical experience. I believe this project will be a great addition to my professional development of becoming a teacher, and hopefully and good one!

Have a great night everybody, keep smiling:)

My Genius Hour Question

The Pursuit of Learning

As a future educator, I would like to explore how I can inspire students to learn after they have shut down academically?

One of the responsibilities of a teacher is to encourage students in the pursuit of learning, especially to encourage those students who have given up on school. We all have these students in our classrooms; most often they are the ones acting out, distracting their classmates. They are disengaged. How can can we re-engage these students before they fall farther behind their classmates?

My goals for this project are:

• to easily identify the students who have given up academically in my classroom?
• to discover strategies for effectively re-engaging these students
• and to create purposeful learning activities that will inspire all of my students to learn

I will measure my progress by recording what I have learned and hopefully having the opportunity to practice effective teaching in a classroom environment during my teaching block this semester.  

Let's start exploring!

Copyright Awareness

Let's Get Citing!

Teaching in a digital age provides us with opportunities to share or creative works, collaborating with one another, gaining new ideas and adapting them to suit your needs. Together, we can create amazing things! The Internet makes it possible to share our ideas on a global scale.

However, it is important to be aware of copyright laws. Remember, even the act inventing something (anything!) means that you own it. Copyright protects your work to ensure others do not use it without your permission. What would be most important to teach my students about copyright would be how to cite resources that are available to them. Therefore they learn what they are able to cite, how to cite it and in return, learn about the protection of their own ideas. Teaching students how to cite the right way is a skill that they can utilize throughout their school career, particularly into their post secondary education.

Happy citing everyone!

The Digital Classroom

Ribeiro, L. (2008, June 30). Children at school (Online Image). Retrieved from  https://www.flickr.com/photos/lupuca/8720604364/in/photolist-ehBnRE-9es4mr-5JUU5s-q3K1zE-99XWwh-99DbaH-99CMGB-4cPmgA-62Y6XP-8XHKbe-4xBfB5-qpA85n-dkYFci-4E2zcQ-4unjj-99DNn5-99GKB5-5ugLFE-hT9xeh-6wnx18-f7Nth-2RYxn-9k5FFA-8GmvbX-4Xtgen-9ayqsd-7Cj5Uu-bqVQtj-5JUU5j-nFobwz-dVhuAM-3mrXAe-8vBWcM-5JUU5y-8vBVVr-8vBW22-8vBWaH-u1Wos7-8vBVTe-dVkBcP-8vBW7x-7q5H1P-6MGCCn-o3wN4Z-88BL8U-5k2wrs-vhe14-6Wp8Nk-4XtgdT-7M6JDi

What will my classroom look like?

Perkins, D. P. ((2011, November 4). Back of 1st grade classroom, Jinego Elementary School (Online Image). Retrieved from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jinego_Elementary_School_1st_grade_classroom_back.jpg

Welcome to My Blog

Hello World!

First of all, I would like to welcome you to my blog! This is my year to transform from a student into a teacher. Thank you for joining me on this exciting journey of learning!

Genius Hour is an opportunity for students to discover and further explore their passions! It is a process that inspires students to learn...