Tag: new Teacher

Tips For Reaching Students With Autism

Teaching a student with autism can be a challenge. Their learning styles are often different from those of most other students, and it may even seem that they are taking no interest in the lessons. Usually, however, this is not the case, and the student is simply overwhelmed and needs lessons tailored to the way they learn. This article contains tips for reaching your autistic students and will help you understand their needs better. Before long, teaching a student with autism will be as easy as teaching a student who does not have autism.

 

Use Simple, Concrete Language

Due to the nature of autism, people with this condition do not always understand abstractions, idioms or figures of speech. They may take your words literally and attempt to do exactly what you said. This attempt on their part and your subsequent disappointment can be very frustrating. Simple, concrete language works better as there is no wording to confuse your student.

 

Put Tasks in Sequential Order

If what you are trying to teach is complex, put your tasks in sequential order. Some people with autism have difficulty recognizing the order in which things go, so it can be a help to give them the tasks in the order they need to be accomplished. Breaking down larger tasks into smaller chunks can also be a big help. This way, the student does not get confused or overwhelmed and can more effectively focus on their work.

 

Choices

Choices can be important to any child, but especially to a student with autism. However, too many choices can be confusing. If possible, give your students with autism only two or three choices. That way you do not overwhelm them. Further, do not leave choices open-ended. You are likely to get better results by asking the student whether they would rather read or draw than by asking them what they would like to do.

 

Avoid Distractions

Some students with autism can find colorful wall displays or noise to be distracting. If you are doing a task which requires concentration, allow your student with autism access to a quiet, distraction-free area. This minimization of distraction will help your students concentrate, and will make the task much easier for them.

 

Have a Clear Routine

Children with autism do best when there is a clear daily routine and clear expectations set for them. Avoid changing this routine. If your routine must change, then be sure to warn the child that there is a change in the routine so that they have time to prepare. Changes in routine can lead to anxiety for students with autism. This anxiety can then lead to outbursts and misbehaving.

 

Teaching a student with autism may seem daunting, but it does not have to be. With some preparation and patience and the tips listed above, there will be less frustration for both you and your student. They will have an easier time learning the material, and will not get nearly so anxious. The less anxious your student is, the fewer outbursts they will have and the more smoothly the school day will go. That is something

Making the Library a Space Children Want to Be

Libraries can play an important role in children’s lives. They are a safe place to spend time and discover the joy of reading.

Libraries are also spaces for community—places to play and discover, imagine and inspire, learn and study, and even take some much-needed quiet time.

But children won’t flock to the library just because it’s good for them—like any space for children, a library needs to be inviting, engaging and fun.

How can libraries rise to the challenge? Here are some tips to create library spaces that will have children excited to explore:

Organize the space into zones

Libraries are pretty big spaces, especially from a child’s perspective. To make them more inviting, break it into smaller “zones” of space focused around different functions and activities.

This can create the illusion of smaller spaces while introducing more variety, which will engage children better. Remember, cultivating the right environment within a library can be just as important as cultivating its collection—so be sure to give it the consideration and forethought to make the space useful and inviting.

Think interactive

For children, play time is a highly engaged learning opportunity. The more stimulating the activity is, the more their minds develop.

Help kids get the most out of their play by creating engaging, multi-sensory experiences for them. Look for ways to enhance play experiences within the library with ways to stimulate kids’ sense of sight, smell, touch and sound.

Design for many different needs

In addition to having several zoned spaces available with multi-sensory experiences, it’s also important for those spaces to meet a variety of needs. Children need spaces where it’s safe to be highly active as much as they need spaces for quiet time. They need spaces for interaction as much as they need spaces to be alone in. Create a variety of spaces that meet these varied needs for different age groups.

Consider making spaces flexible with furniture that is easy to move around, so kids can create their own spaces, too.

Get on their level

This tip applies both literally and figuratively.

On a practical level, a children’s section of the library should be accessible to children—that means keeping shelves lower so that kids can find and look at books on their own. It also means providing furniture and spaces that are made specifically for children of various age groups, so they are comfortable as they enjoy the library.

But it also means thinking creatively to find fresh ways to engage young imaginations. Be playful and whimsical with how you decorate the walls, arrange the shelves and set up displays!

Start small

For libraries just starting to modify its space to better engage children, don’t worry about trying to do everything at once. Start small, and focus on the quality of experiences rather than how extensive they are.

As a starting place, consider identifying a need that could be addressed with the creation of a space zone, or an bring in a local expert for an activity.

Ten Teacher Appreciation Gift Ideas

When things get busy during the year, it can be easy to overlook what a fantastic job your child’s teacher is doing. Teachers put in much more time and effort than we might realize, often going above and beyond in order to give our kids a great education, so the end of the school year is a fantastic time to recognise this.

Help your child to honor their teacher with this fantastic list of simple, inexpensive gifts which are suitable for both male and female teachers. Some of these gifts can be made with a few simple materials which you may even find around the house, some require a small purchase and others simply require your time.

No matter which gift you choose, we are certain your child’s teacher will appreciate the time you took to say ‘thanks!’

 

1. A Smooth Year

Quick and easy, this small gift is the perfect last minute gift to show appreciation for your teacher! Simply purchase a nice, fragrance appropriate hand cream or body lotion and print off a simple tag with the saying “hope you have a smooth year!”

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For more instructions, go HERE

 

2. Color My World

Easy and inexpensive, this sharpie gift is both practical and fun! Teachers love when they are given gifts of stationary supplies that they would otherwise have to purchase so this small but cute gift will go down a treat. Have you child grab a pack of sharpies and a piece of paper and let them tell their teacher how much ‘color they bring’ to the world, or how ‘sharp’ they are!

If your child has more than one teacher that they want to give an appreciation gift to, you can buy a larger pack of sharpies and divide it up – it couldn’t be simpler!

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For more instructions, go HERE

 

3. Candy Collage

This collage is super fun to make and will bring a smile to any teacher’s face! Grab a range of candy bars which have words that you can incorporate into a story or a series of messages and glue them onto a large piece of paper. After the teacher has enjoyed it on the wall, he or she can raid it for snacks!

This collage is also fantastic for encouraging your children to put words into context and be creative!

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4.  Crayon Wreath

Beautiful as a classroom decoration, this crayon wreath is the perfect gift for a teacher of any age classroom. Simply purchase a packet of dollar store crayons and a basic wreath (or you can fashion one yourself out of paper mache or a pool noodle) and stick the crayons on the wreath at even intervals. To add an extra touch be sure to add a nice sign with your teacher’s name on it.

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For more instructions, go HERE

 

5. Nuts About Teachers

This one is super simple and can be picked up while you shop for your usual groceries. Simply have your kids draw or print a super cute sign about how ‘nuts’ they are about their teacher and attach it to a snack size bag of peanuts or other nut. These nuts will make the perfect morning tea for the teacher!

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For more instructions, go HERE

 

6. Orange You Glad?

With colds and flu’s rife in schools, teachers sure need their vitamin C! Make sure they get it with this fun and healthy gift that will brighten up their day! Simply bag up some oranges with a bright colored ribbon and print or draw a sign that reads “Orange you glad” it’s the holidays, the weekend (or whatever message you choose). Kids will love putting it together and teachers will love receiving it.

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For more instructions, go HERE

 

7. Beary Thankful

Adorable and tasty, you can’t lose with this super cute and easy gift. Simply package up some gummy bears and attach a card telling the teacher how ‘bear-y thankful’ your child is to have them as a teacher. Just make sure all the gummy bears end up in the bag bound for the teacher!

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For more instructions, go HERE

 

8. So Fortunate

No matter how old you are, cracking open a fortune cookie never stops being fun. Fortune cookies are super easy to find in stores so grab a box and attach a tag telling your child’s teacher how fortunate your child is to have them. This is one of the cheapest gift ideas and is a great idea if you need to give a gift to multiple teachers.

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For more instructions, go HERE

 

9. Fingerprint Tree

If you want your teacher appreciation gift to be super personal and almost free, then get this great printable and have your child or children place their fingerprints on it for the tree leaves. Your teacher will treasure the time and effort your children put into creating this beautiful piece of artwork, just for them.

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For more instructions, go HERE

 

10. Pencil, Pencil Holder

Yes, you read that one correctly! This pencil holder is quite literally…made from pencils! Cute and easy to make, your teacher will love how themed this pencil holder is and will give it pride of place on his or her desk.  Simply hot glue plain HB pencils around a clean, old aluminium food can and secure with a ribbon. If you want to go the extra mile, you can even fill the pencil tin with pens and pencils for your teacher to use, or fill with confectionery for those must-have-sugar moments!

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For more instructions, go HERE

Promoting Summer Reading

Reading is more than a great way to pass the time. It expands vocabulary, develops empathy, and improves analytical skills. Research has also shown that how much a child reads over the summer has a strong correlation to how much they retain from last year’s lessons—the more a child reads, the less of a “summer slide” they experience.

But how can teachers motivate students to read over the summer? Even if students love reading, not all are lucky enough to have tons of books in their home or a library within walking distance. And getting students to want to read can be a challenge itself.

Here are some tips to get students motivated to read on their own all summer long:

 

Introduce a Book Series
It’s great when a child loves any book, but series can be especially great for encouraging students to read more, beyond the one story. Each time they finish a book, there is a clear next step to keep them reading.

Let Students Borrow from the School
For some students, the biggest hurdle to reading is access to books. This is especially true for socioeconomically disadvantaged students who suffer most from “summer slide.” Simply providing access to books they can hold onto and read over the summer can be one of the best ways teachers can encourage students to read.

Start a Facebook Page or Blog
Highlight age-appropriate books students will enjoy, and get them to share what they’re reading, too. This can helps students find good stories to check out even when they’re out of school, and the social factor can help them keep it up over time.

Read Book Excerpts to the Class
Select exciting passages from age-appropriate books, and read them out loud to the class with dramatic flair to entice them. Leave the book out during free times later, and be ready to lend copies to interested students.

Model Good Reading Behaviors
During class quiet times, show students that you love to read by modeling the behavior for them—simply pick up a great book and read it where they can see you. Tell them how interesting it is, and how you can’t wait to read more later.

Encourage them to Read What they Love
All kinds of reading counts when it comes to stimulating the mind. Support student reading in all its forms, whether its novels, comics, magazines, or something else entirely.

Encourage All Opinions
Ask students whether or not they liked a book, and respect their answer—no one likes everything! Even better, ask them why they don’t like the book, and get them to engage their critical thinking and express their thoughts.

Promote a Summer Reading Challenge
Tell students about summer reading activities at the local library or other challenges like the Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge, and encourage them to participate.

Reward Good Habits
Before students leave for summer vacation, get them as prepared to read over the summer as possible. Then tell them if they can meet a designated reading goal and come show their progress in September, there will be a special reward for them. Some fun pencils or other small prizes can go a long way to incentivize and reinforce good reading habits!

 

Good Summer Reading Habits Start in Fall

A passion for reading doesn’t just appear in June when school lets out—it’s got to be fostered throughout the school year.

The more teachers work with their students to develop a habit of reading for fun in fall, winter, and spring, the more likely these students will be to seek out and take advantage of opportunities to read over the summer.

Reading: 20 Top Tips for Teachers

Reading is an important part of anyone’s life, and for a child, the ability to read can help send them to different worlds full of adventure, fun, and education.  Of course, we are not all born with a reading ability ingrained into our minds!  Children must be taught how to read, and whether they learn at a school, preschool, or at home with a parent or guardian teaching them, it is important to get them started on the road to reading in the way that works best for them.  Here are some ideas for teaching children to read, no matter what kind of learners they might be.

 

  • Start by reading to your child.

Read to children as often as possible even when they are still babies.

 

  • Have your child copy down letters.

Repetitive copying of letter shapes helps teach kids what the letters mean.

 

  • Ask your child to repeat letter sounds aloud.

Repetition can also be used to teach letter sounds.

 

  • Teach sight words, and ask your child to identify them.

Sight words, like a, an, the, to, and from, can be easy to recognize.  Teach them early, and ask kids to point them out in newspapers and magazines.

 

  • Put words into word families.

Ask children to organize words into families based on different structures, such as color words, sound words, and more.

 

  • Consider teaching phonics.

Phonics is sometimes a controversial subject, but many kids respond well to learning phonemes as they learn how to read.

 

  • Teach children how to sound out words.

Sounding it out can be a great way for a child to make a guess at a complicated new word.

 

  • Make letter arrangement puzzles.

Cut up simple words or the child’s name into individual letters, mix them up, and ask the child to reorganize them into the correct order.

 

  • Glue or sew letters.

Gluing or sewing around letters is a great way for kids to remember their shapes by touch.

 

  • Teach with simple clues or scavenger hunts.

 Write down easy to read clues and have kids read them to for “treasure” around the room.

 

  • Ask children to organize items into boxes by letter or sound.

A toy duck should go into the D box, and a pencil should go into the P box.  Teach kids word beginnings using this method.

 

  • Clap out syllables.

Syllables can be tricky, but if you make a game of clapping them out, they can be fun to learn.

 

  •  Focus on punctuation.

Slightly older kids can learn about punctuation marks and what they do to a sentence.

 

  • Spend a while on vowel sounds.

 Vowels are difficult, since they make a lot of different sounds.  Be sure to spend plenty of time focusing on them.

 

  • Read simple poetry to learn about rhymes.

Simple children’s poems are excellent ways to teach vowel sounds through rhyme.

 

  • Set a daily reading time.

Reading every day is a sure way to improve those skills!

 

  • Allow children to put together simple scrapbooks of their families, friends, or pets.

Cutting and pasting pictures and mementos into pages organized by name can help kids sort words by family member, emotion, and more.

 

  • Ask children to classify their favorite stories by type.

Older kids might benefit from sorting out their favorite stories as fantasies, school stories, and more.

 

  • Teach children how to write simple notes.

Small notes to and from friends or family are great reasons for any child to learn reading and writing both.

 

  • Utilize flash cards.

They may be a little outdated, but flash cards can still help some kids learn how to recognize words, letters, and sounds quickly.

 

 

When a child knows how to read, he or she is able to enjoy books, comics, and more without struggling.  With these methods for teaching children to read, you can easily help a child in your home or classroom.

20 Ways to Teach a Child To Read

Learning to read a major milestone and rite of passage for any child. And yet, one in four children in American grow up without becoming literate, according to DoSomething.org. Weak reading skills makes it harder for a child to succeed in school and work, and is even linked to greater risk for dropping out of school and incarceration.

As parents and teachers, we are eager to do all we can to support our children and give them a strong start in life with great reading skills. Here are 20 ways to get kids on the path to reading well—and loving it.

  1. Read out loud
    A child can benefit from reading together even as a newborn. In fact, the earlier you start, the better you can establish reading and a special time for bonding and relaxing fun. This association can set kids up for a lifetime of learning and imagination.
  1. Read to yourself
    Set a good example for children by modeling the behavior you wish them to emulate. When a child sees you reading, it shows that reading is an activity adults partake in and enjoy—and that s/he can enjoy it, too.
  1. Create a tactile experience
    Babies and young children learn by touching, feeling and even chewing. Let reading be a safe tactile experience by opting for baby-proofed books make of cloth or sturdy cardboard. Also, look for books that create many different feels for young kids to engage with, such as tufts of fur, crackly swatches, buttons that squeak and mirrors to look into.
  2. Use your surroundings
    Everywhere we go, there are examples of letters and words in action. No matter what stage of reading a child is at, you can use these real-life examples to help kids learn. Point out uses of this week’s new letters, or turn it into a game of “I Spy.”
  1. Explore the pictures
    While reading together, ask kids questions about the pictures. This encourages children to interact with the story and develop important critical thinking skills that make reading meaningful. Ask questions appropriate to their age and reading level.
  1. Introduce the letters
    Start with the letters in the child’s name, then move on to the most common letters like T, C, and M. Instructables recommends introducing two letters a week. Write each letter on a piece of paper together, talk about the letter’s name, and review the sounds the letter makes. Hold onto the written letters and review them together regularly.
  1. Point to the words
    As you read together, children will pick up the basics of what a book is—the cover and the pages, how the illustrations relate to the words, how to go from front to back. When you point to the words, you help them pick up the correlation between the letters on the page and the words that create the story.
  1. Sound it out
    Build on the alphabet by introducing phonetics. “Phonemes” are the small sounds of the English languages that words are built from. By learning these sounds, a child can begin to sound out words for him/herself. Sound out words together and break them into their pieces, then show how they come together to create a word.
  1. Teach sight words
    Being able to recognize sight words is a key milestone in reading fluency. “Sight words” are the common, short words of the English language that we come across all the time, but don’t necessarily follow the rules of phonics, such as “the” and “said.” By memorizing these words, children can blow past them in a book and focus on sounding out bigger words.
  1. Get to know word families
    If a child can recognize that the “-ain” found in “rain,” “train,” and “gain” are the same, they can begin to recognize these words more quickly in context. Being able to identify word families is a crucial step in understanding phonetics.
  1. Read predictable stories
    There is a category of books for children called “predictable stories,” which use predictable sentence structures and clear illustrations to help kids make informed guesses about the words on the page as they learn new words.
  1. Up the ante
    As children learn and grow, offer new, more challenging books to keep them learning and stimulated. This will make sure the child continues to learn new words and develop their critical thinking.
  2. Rhyme
    Stories with rhymes are another way to offer a child predictability in reading, while also reinforcing word families. In addition to this, rhymes are just plain fun, which helps keep the process enjoyable.
  1. Set a challenge
    As a child learns, keep pushing him/her to reach for the next step. You can do this by teaching him/her new words, get more complicated books, or ask more advanced questions.
  1. Let the child set the pace
    While it’s great to keep kids challenged, don’t push them. Every child has his/her own pace for learning to read. Pushing him/her will only make the experience stressful. To keep the challenge fun, turn reading into a game.
  1. Stay positive.
    When starting school, it can be discouraging for a child who is not as far along in reading as some of their classmates But if you stay positive, you can help the child stay positive, too.
  1. Keep lessons consistent
    Avoid confusing children by keeping reading lessons at home consistent with what they’re learning at school. Teachers can help by sending letters home about the methods you’re using in the classroom. Parents should pay attention to information from school.
  1. Talk about the plot
    Reading isn’t just about knowing the words on the page. It’s about the greater meaning the words create, too—the story. Help a child develop this important comprehension by talking about the plot with him/her.
  1. Respect a good guess
    A child uses a story’s context to inform his/her guesses as s/he reads. So if a child reads “I have soap to wash my hands,” when the sentence says “I have soap to clean my hands,” the child is showing s/he understands the meaning of what s/he is reading. Instead of just correcting the error, assure the child that s/he is close, and review the sentence again together.
  1. Schedule well
    The timing of reading sessions matters. Keep them short (about 10 minutes) and keep it positive—don’t start at a point when a child is upset, tired or hungry.

Reading sets kids up for success

Beginning to read is a milestone in the learning process, and the beginning of a wonderful lifelong habit. These 20 ways to just some examples of the many ways you can help children learn to read. Whatever you do, keep it fun and show them how enjoyable reading can be!

Shakespeare Made Fun

 

You’ve likely heard your students complain about Shakespeare before. Every teacher has. He is hard to read. His work is boring. His work is not easily relatable. As a teacher, you know these complaints are quite untrue except perhaps for the difficulty in reading Shakespeare’s English. But how do you share the joy of Shakespeare’s work with your students while still making it fun? This article will explore several Shakespeare-themed activities which you and your students can do, and at the end if they still do not like Shakespeare, at least they will be able to say they had fun and learned about this brilliant wordsmith anyhow.

 

All The World is a Stage

Set the stage. If you are going to study Hamlet, for example, turn off the classroom lights, and set LED tea lights on tables and desks throughout the classroom to give the feel of a dark, slightly spooky night. Be sure to set the tea lights somewhere where they are not a distraction to students. You could even create a night backdrop. If you are going to teach Romeo and Juliet, you could create a scene that looks like the iconic window. Use inexpensive props, and your classroom will look like a Shakespeare set in no time. As a bonus, students will realize something is different, and will likely pay more attention.

 

Playlists

As you study the sections of a Shakespeare play, make sure to ask your students their thoughts on the characters. Discuss the character’s motives and personalities so that your class gets to know the characters. Then ask them to do a 3-5 song playlist of their favorite characters. With each song choice, ask them to include a two-paragraph mini essay explaining why they chose the song they chose. If you wanted, you could even ask them to properly cite song lyrics. Your students will much more easily remember that Justin Bieber was Romeo than simply answering questions about who Romeo killed on a reading quiz.

 

Hamlet’s Father

If you are studying Hamlet, you could have a discussion of the various ways to create Hamlet’s father’s ghost. Have your students discuss various ways of creating the ghost, including puppets, bedsheets ghosts, and anything else your students think up. Then discuss how the ghost was created in Shakespeare’s time. Be sure to discuss what makes the ghost foreboding.

 

Perform a Mini Play

A full play would be difficult to perform in a small space, but you could perform one scene from the play you are studying. Assign each student a character part. If you have more students than characters, assign some to make sound effects, flash the lights to make lightning or raise and lower backdrops. This way, your students can feel as if they are part of the Shakespeare experience.

 

Your lessons on Shakespeare do not have to be boring! They can be fun, informative and memorable. With the above activities, you can teach your class Shakespeare in a way they will never forget. Also, these are just a few suggestions to get you started. Use your imagination and creativity, and you can probably come up with many more. Believe us, your students will thank you.

Teaching New Vocabulary Words

Learning vocabulary an important part of education and life at any age. In fact, several markers of success in life have been correlated to having a larger vocabulary. In addition to this, keeping your students at grade level standards for vocabulary comprehension is critical for passing standardized assessment like Common Core’s PARCC tests.

But it takes more than copying down a new word’s definition for students to gain a true command over new vocabulary words. To help students grow a deep understanding of words, use interactive methods that make your students interact with the words in many different ways.

Here are some examples of ways to stretch students’ thinking and comprehension for new vocabulary:

Offer an extensive class library
Seeing new vocabulary words in context helps students learn new words. Encourage this by maintaining a large library of books students can borrow that are appropriate but challenging for the students’ level.

Identify vocabulary in books the class is reading together
Have students skim each chapter before reading it and write out any words they don’t know and use their lists as a guide to create a vocabulary list for the class. Before reading the chapter in full, review the list and their definitions.

Get students to restate or explain each word in their own words
This can be as simple as having students pair up with whoever sits next to them to discuss, or write it on paper. What’s important is that each student takes ownership of each word by explaining it themselves.

Have students create a visual representation of each word

As a class activity, have students create their own pictures (or other symbolic representations) of the words on the vocabulary list. This helps students think about a word’s meaning and gain a deeper understanding.

Have students create analogies for each word
This exercise is another way to tap into students’ creativity and get them to think more critically about the meanings of words on their vocabulary list. By creating their own analogies, students must determine their own understanding of a word’s given definition.

Have students find synonyms and antonyms for each word
Much like creating analogies for vocabulary words, this exercise makes students use other words in their vocabulary to develop a stronger contextual sense of the word’s definition.

Have students create their own jingles for the words and definitions.
The repetition of these creative exercises will help students engage with the vocabulary words with many different parts of their mind. Even better, a jingle can double as a mnemonic device that students can use as a reminder for words later on.

Keep reviewing old vocabulary words with games.
Don’t let old vocabulary words disappear after the test. To make sure those words become a long-term part of students’ vocabulary (and that they’re fresh for the end-of-year assessment), create games to play as a class that will reinforce them all year. Need ideas? Here’s a good place to start.

When these many different interactive learning techniques are used together, students develop a strong command over new vocabulary words. Better yet, an ability to use and understand these words stretches far beyond the next test and throughout students’ lives.

Using YouTube in the Classroom

As technology becomes more integrated into education methods, utilizing YouTube in the classroom is a trend on the rise. Early studies testing its effectiveness are proving promising.

In high school classrooms in Detroit, a video-enabled flipped classroom program helped reduce the fail rate for freshmen English and math classes by more than half. Additionally, semester to semester, discipline cases dropped from 736 to 249.

Used well, it’s clear that video can be a powerful educational tool. And it’s gaining traction, too—Education-oriented video channel TedEd has over a million subscribers.

How can you tap into this trend and enhance your students’ learning experience with YouTube? Here are some tips.

  • Create YouTube playlists as resources for the lessons.
  • Record class lessons and post them on YouTube for to access for on-demand review.
  • Keep videos short—no more than 10 minutes long—and opt for high-energy videos that will engage.
  • Use videos to bring a lesson to life: Watch a poet recite her own work, pull a segment of a play based on a book you’re reading, or show a reenactment of a moment in history.
  • Bring in a guest lecturer by showing filmed addresses from experts in fields you’re studying in class.
  • Every student’s learning pace is a little different. For students who take more time, sharing relevant videos for review can help students get the extra support they need. For students who are ahead of the pack, look for videos that can take lessons to the next level, keeping advanced students engaged.
  • Take advantage of education-oriented video tools like TeacherTube, TedEd, and YouTube for Schools to ensure quality educational content.
  • Don’t use video to replace lessons, only to supplement them.
  • The Internet, YouTube included, is full of all kinds of content, some extremely questionable for a classroom. Always watch videos all the way to the end before showing them to students, and never let students surf video content on their own.

A Powerful Educational Tool

When used wisely, YouTube can be a powerful tool to enhance students’ learning process. Early studies indicate significant improvements in performance and even in-class behavior when videos are used to enhance lessons. With some mindful application, you can tap into this potential to enrich your students’ education.

Using Devices in Elementary Years

When you think of children in the classroom, it is likely that your mind turns to studious heads bent low over notebooks, textbooks and worksheet handouts. It is likely you think of children turning in handwritten assignments, and if they are very young, learning to read and write like you did as a child. It is unlikely, however, that you think of those same children leaning over tablets and computers, playing educational games and sending in assignments that are typed, but this very picture is becoming a reality in a lot of classrooms around the country. Tablets and computers in the classroom offer some very distinct advantages to the elementary school student beyond just the novelty of using a computer in class. Electronic devices such as computers and tablets really are the way forward. Keep reading to learn why this is.

 

Interactivity

Web 2.0 technologies in the classroom are quite interactive. They allow students to write, publish and edit which are important workforce skills. Students are also encouraged to collaborate with other learners who may have different learning styles. This builds teamwork skills, as well as helping students become effective communicators with a wide variety of other students in classrooms across the country. This exercise also encourages problem-solving as students may have to work around such issues as language barriers and accessibility needs of others they come into contact with. Furthermore, this increased interactivity allows students to have an authentic learning experience in a way that is difficult to reproduce in physical space.

 

Accommodating Differentiated Learning

Not all students learn in the same manner. Computers and tablets in the classroom can help every student, based on learning style. Education no longer has to be simply a matter of writing and memorizing facts. Students can be shown how things happen, and in some cases they can actually have a chance to do things hands-on, even virtually. Also, for those students who have English as a second language, or those with learning disabilities there are podcasts and vodcasts, which allow students to have the content read aloud to them, and also to go back and study content which they have previously had difficulty with at any time.

 

The STEM Subjects and Digital Literacy

STEM is an acronym that stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. These skills are all very important if a student plans on entering the job market later in life. It is important to start teaching children these necessary tasks even in the early elementary years. Furthermore, an increase in digital literacy early on means that children, by the time they are ready to find a job, will already be  familiar with computers and tablets, and will not have to take classes on basic computer use before seeking that first job or college education, as many college classes also have a computer component.

 

Learning early use of computers is overall an important skillset for students, and what better place to learn than in the classroom? Computer-aided curricula allow students to become better problem solvers. They also learn to more effectively manage as team players, to anticipate and work with the needs of others, and to positively collaborate with children who may be quite different than themselves. Further, technology in the classroom allows for the lesson materials to be tailored to a child’s individual learning style. Computer-aided lessons also allow for a hands-on experience and incorporation of the STEM subjects into the curriculum. Therefore, having computers in the classroom really is the way to proceed.