For a few weeks in the spring of 2016, nearly all the eighth grade students at a small public school affiliated with Columbia University agreed to stay late after school to study math. They were preparing for a critical test, the New York State’s Regents examination in algebra. Half of the kids came from families that lived below the poverty line in Harlem and upper Manhattan. They attended a selective middle school and were advanced…
At its core, active learning relies on a collaborative, student-centered approach. As Vanderbilt University professor Cynthia J. Brame explains, “active learning approaches also often embrace the use of cooperative learning groups, a constructivist-based practice that places particular emphasis on the contribution that social interaction can make.” One would think that students embrace such a model, but an unexpected complication of creating a learning environment around active methods is sometimes a show of student resistance. After…
March is Women’s History Month, and International Women’s Day on March 8 is also a part of the celebration each year. For educators and students, the month provides a wonderful opportunity to explore and dig deeper into women’s contributions, struggles, and triumphs throughout history. Celebrate the accomplishments women have made during the course of history with the following Women’s History Month activities. 1. Research and personal interview. Invite students to produce a podcast featuring an…
Leap Day, on February 29, has been a day of traditions, folklore and superstitions ever since they were first introduced by Julius Caesar over 2000 years ago. According to an old Irish legend, St Brighid struck a deal with St Patrick to allow women to propose to men – and not just the other way around – every four years. In Scotland, it used to be considered unlucky for someone to be born on leap…
President’s Day lessons are part of kids’ development of an overall understanding of the office of the presidency and why it’s so important. These lessons can lay the groundwork for their active involvement as citizens down the road, making them more inclined to see voting as a civic duty and an important part of their role as Americans. Learning about the presidents on President’s Day can also help kids understand the principles and values that…
Wherever we are, we’d all like to think our children’s classrooms and schools are intellectually active places, but what does that actually mean? What makes an effective learning environment? Please let us know your ideas in the comments and read on for ours. The students ask the questions—good questions The role of curiosity has been studied (and perhaps under-studied and under-appreciated), but suffice to say that if a learner enters any learning activity with little…
What are the latest emerging and popular trends and teaching ideas in education? As trends tend to do, they change by the year. Consider how quiet iPads in the classroom have been recently, especially considering three years ago they were going to replace teachers and were compared to magic. While mobile devices like the iPad can indeed parallel a kind of magic in the learning process, it obviously has to fit into a progressive and…
We usually think of technology as a progressive thing in education, but any technology dates itself immediately through its form. Electricity, the wheel, paper, the printing press, metalworking, mass transportation, masonry, and more are all forms of technology. Technology isn’t a ‘leading edge’ but a tool of human practice. On a day-to-day basis, human processes are based on prevailing local technology. That is, we usually use what’s available to us to express our collective humanity…
Many instructors have observed variability in students’ motivation to learn and grow. How can educators enable engagement, persistence, and improved performance in the classroom? Mindset science has uncovered actionable insights into the academic behaviors of students. What students believe about themselves and their capabilities tremendously influences their learning motivation, as beliefs are called mindsets when they filter how we make sense of the world and ourselves. Mindsets act on our choice of goals and goal-pursuit…
One of the most effective teaching strategies for teachers is an invitation to guest speakers to visit the classroom. Including other voices in the classroom invites different perspectives and shows that learning is a collaborative effort. It is important to remember, that inviting a guest speaker is not simply intended to give the teacher a break. Students have the opportunity to learn something new that interests them from a guest speaker. Students can also discover…
