I am currently taking a class on how to teach students in an online environment. The class is taught through a program called Moodle, which if you have been in college the last ten years, is like Blackboard, but free. Many public schools are now utilizing Moodle. It is a very easy to use and many of the same good teaching practices in the traditional classroom, hold true in the virtual classroom as well. One of the most important things I have learned in my teaching experience is that of community building. Students that feel safe and included perform so much better because they are more willing to take risks and help each other.
So start your year off right with fun community building activities and when students seem to be struggling to get along, pull some out throughout the school year as well.
Here are some activities to get you started:
Traditional Classroom
Sentence Circles - Split your students into groups of 5-6. Give each group a piece of sentence strip paper and a pencil. On your signal, the first person in the group writes one word on the strip and then passes it to the left. The second person then writes the second word of the sentence. The writing continues around the circle - with no talking! When the sentences are complete, the students share their creations with the class. Do this a few times and have them notice how their collective sentences improve each time around.
Trivia Card Shuffle - Come up with 5 questions that you would like your students to answer about themselves. Write them on the board for all to see. These questions can be about anything, ranging from "What is your favorite food?" to "What did you do this summer?" If it is later in the year, try questions that they might not know about each other like, "What was your favorite toy when you were a baby?"
Give each student an index card numbered 1-5 (or however many questions you are asking) and have them write their answers to the questions on it, in order. Also fill out a card about yourself. After a few minutes, collect the cards and redistribute them to the students, making sure no one gets their own card.
Have the students get up and mingle as they chat and try to figure out who wrote the cards they are holding. After they know who their person is, they sit down at their seat (remind students still standing that students at their seat may still be the one on their card). Continue until everyone has figured out who was on their cards. a variation on this game if you are not comfortable with students walking around is when you have time pull out a couple of cards and read them and have students guess who the card is about.
A Picture about Me -
Draw pictures that "describe" yourself. For instance, on my picture I would draw a guitar, a computer, lots of books, and more. Invites your students to guess from the drawings what your favorite interests might be. Then I give students drawing paper and ask them to tell about themselves -- using only pictures. Break into small cooperative groups, and tell each group describe about the people in the group based on their pictures.
Online Classroom
While building a community of online learners maybe a bit trickier, it can certainly be accomplished. If your online environment enables an avatar or personal picture encourage your students to choose a picture that represents them and their interests. Always allow time in the beginning of the course for some ungraded assignments that are focused around the individual learner so they can express themselves, but also get used to working in an online environment with which they might not be familiar. Build your assignments around discussions and encourage/require students to respond to each other with questions and their own insights. Also make sure you lay ground rules at the beginning of the course, such as appropriate responses and how to disagree with someone with out being offensive. Another idea is having students complete an online personality test and if they want to sharing with the class their personality. This might also help students learn more about themselves!
Have a fun and successful start!
So start your year off right with fun community building activities and when students seem to be struggling to get along, pull some out throughout the school year as well.
Here are some activities to get you started:
Traditional Classroom
Sentence Circles - Split your students into groups of 5-6. Give each group a piece of sentence strip paper and a pencil. On your signal, the first person in the group writes one word on the strip and then passes it to the left. The second person then writes the second word of the sentence. The writing continues around the circle - with no talking! When the sentences are complete, the students share their creations with the class. Do this a few times and have them notice how their collective sentences improve each time around.
Trivia Card Shuffle - Come up with 5 questions that you would like your students to answer about themselves. Write them on the board for all to see. These questions can be about anything, ranging from "What is your favorite food?" to "What did you do this summer?" If it is later in the year, try questions that they might not know about each other like, "What was your favorite toy when you were a baby?"
Give each student an index card numbered 1-5 (or however many questions you are asking) and have them write their answers to the questions on it, in order. Also fill out a card about yourself. After a few minutes, collect the cards and redistribute them to the students, making sure no one gets their own card.
Have the students get up and mingle as they chat and try to figure out who wrote the cards they are holding. After they know who their person is, they sit down at their seat (remind students still standing that students at their seat may still be the one on their card). Continue until everyone has figured out who was on their cards. a variation on this game if you are not comfortable with students walking around is when you have time pull out a couple of cards and read them and have students guess who the card is about.
A Picture about Me -
Draw pictures that "describe" yourself. For instance, on my picture I would draw a guitar, a computer, lots of books, and more. Invites your students to guess from the drawings what your favorite interests might be. Then I give students drawing paper and ask them to tell about themselves -- using only pictures. Break into small cooperative groups, and tell each group describe about the people in the group based on their pictures.
Online Classroom
While building a community of online learners maybe a bit trickier, it can certainly be accomplished. If your online environment enables an avatar or personal picture encourage your students to choose a picture that represents them and their interests. Always allow time in the beginning of the course for some ungraded assignments that are focused around the individual learner so they can express themselves, but also get used to working in an online environment with which they might not be familiar. Build your assignments around discussions and encourage/require students to respond to each other with questions and their own insights. Also make sure you lay ground rules at the beginning of the course, such as appropriate responses and how to disagree with someone with out being offensive. Another idea is having students complete an online personality test and if they want to sharing with the class their personality. This might also help students learn more about themselves!
Have a fun and successful start!
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