Many parents are not aware of term 'mix age classroom' or 'composite class' and they are curious to know it. But this concept is not new, as this method is being applied and adopted in many schools around the world, successfully.
'Earth House Alternative School' adopted this method as being a small school. Whenever teachers arranged a learning session or group work in multi age classroom, it was observed that there was a very friendly and warm learning atmosphere among children. Older children in particularly become "experts" and explaining things to the younger ones. So this kind of social interaction helps all students learn many more things as compared to a regular classroom. In mixed-age classes, older children have opportunities to practice leadership skills and pro-social behaviors, like helping and sharing. Development of social or emotional skills is possible at ease, in a mixed age classroom.
Multi-age classrooms or composite classes are classrooms with students from more than one grade level.
'Google Earth' is useful for many day-to-day and other purposes. This article is very useful for students or teachers who want to make use of this helpful online tool. Teachers can adopt Google Earth in the classroom for lesson planning, such as teaching students geographical themes (location, culture, characteristics, human interaction, and movement). Students can use Google Earth to explore topics like the progress of human civilization, the growth of cities, the impact of civilization on the natural environment, and the impact of natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina.
I am adopting brain gym exercises before starting my class and noticed that these simple body movements help students become more focused for the learning. Brain gym is most effective when used in the classroom as part of the learning process. These physical activities help the chemical and electrical processes which take place during mental and physical efforts.
Brain gym is the easiest and fastest way to shift students from scattered to focused, from confused to clear, and from tense to relaxed. A typical classroom experience lacks the quantity of movement required for healthy physiological development. Brain gym can be effective in changing attitudes and the classroom atmosphere;
To be successful, it is important
* that the teacher is confident with the Brain Gym exercises and has an understanding of underlying concepts on which Brain Gym is based;
* any initial resistance to using the exercises by students feeling embarrassed is recognised.
When to apply brain gym?
These and other brain training exercises are especially effective for children with learning difficulties. A good time to perform them is right before learning activities.
It seems your students are too lethargic and need a bit of revitalization to be ready for learning Or when you see they are too nervous and restless so that they can calm down... and you as well!
Centralization: These are mostly relaxation exercises which help to reestablish the neural networks between brain and body and, this way, facilitating the passage of electromagnetic flow through the body.
Brain buttons: One hand massages two spots below the clavicle while the other rests on the navel. The movements stimulates the carotid artery and this way enhances the blood flow to the brain.
It activates the brain for:
• reading skills
• memorization. Earth buttons: One hand fingers rest on the lower lip while the others stay on the pubic bone. While having the sensation of a better connection between the upper and lower parts of the body the students feels more stable and centered.
It improves:
• reading skills. Balance buttons:
These buttons reestablish balance in every dimension: left-right, above-under, behind-before. The student massages the spot where the skull is attached to the neck and, at the same time, the navel.
It improves the next learning skills:
• critical and decisional capacities
• spelling accurateness
• Maths calculations. Space buttons: One hand rests on the upper lip while the other lays on the back-bone.
It activates the brain for:
• relaxation and concentration
• eye-contact in communication with people
It improves these learning skills:
• focusing during a test
• reading
• motivation and interest. The thinking cap: This activity helps the student to focus attention on hearing. It also lessens tension in skull bones. The student gently pulls ears backwards and unrolls them with fingers. They start from the top of the ear, massage them delicately and end on the lobe.
It activates brain for:
• hearing one's voice
• short-term memory
• inner dialogue and thinking . Hook-ups: The exercise can be done while standing, sitting or lying down. Students cross the left ankle on the right one. Then they intertwine fingers and bring them near the chest. They close their eyes, breathe deeply for a few minutes and relax. Then students free hands and legs and finger tips touch gently while they keep on breathing deeply.
Hook-ups help:
• mind and body relaxation The energetic yawn : Don't get angry at your students if they yawn during English classrooms! Not now that you know that scientific research has proved yawing to be a perfect exercise which brings oxygen to the brain and so enhances learning performances!
Integrating technology in classroom is only possible when teachers are well trained to adopt tech ideas and well informed about technology integrating techniques. 'Web Tech Vision' was an educational technology company offering Tools for TEKS:Integrating Technology in the Classroom'. Company is owned by Wesley Fryer who is still engaged in sharing information for
This website is now maintained for K-16 educators interested in the effective use of technology in the classroom.
Go to archive page directly to select the pages or tutorials you are interested in.
* 'Tools and techniques' covers all the topics which a teacher may need to learn for technology integration ie: Basics, Sample Lessons, Locating Websites, Multimedia, Print Publication, Creating Websites, Data Management, Computer Classroom, Administrative Resources, Intellectual Property, Good Websites, Internet Safety, Other Tech Tools, Handhelds in the Classroom, 1 to 1 Computing etc.
'"Moving at the speed of creativity" is Wesley Fryer's blog. He uses this site to digitally document his own journey of learning and collaborate with other educators and lifelong learners around the globe.
The blog focuses primarily on issues related to engaged learning, web 2.0 technologies, digital storytelling, educational leadership, literacy, blended learning, creativity, appropriate uses of educational technologies, digital citizenship, and educational transformation.
For creative teaching and learning, storytelling can be an effective tool. It is about enabling children and young people to become good listeners, storytellers and story-makers. Most of us will agree that learning is more fun when stories are part of training. You would realize that story telling is an effective way to strengthen motivation, memory, inclusion and build community.
Storytelling is such a multi-purpose tool that it can be used with children and young people at all levels, from nursery to S6. From the youngest age, babies and toddlers enjoy listening to voices, exploring the sounds and patterns of language and communicating through eye-to-eye contact with parents and carers.
Storytelling is as old as mankind. It comes from man's need to communicate and connect.The oldest recorded storytelling (35,000 years old) was found in paintings on a cave wall in France. Storytellers of old entertained, shaped religions as well as whole cultures, and passed along the wisdom of the time. In short, they were teachers.
Digital storytelling expands on traditional storytelling by combining the art and lessons of story with a wide range of modern multimedia tools. This powerful combination excites the interest of the student and feeds the creativity of their souls.
Mario Rinvolucri explores a range of story telling techniques that he uses in the classroom and gives some insights into why these techniques are effective.
Link to the post: Story telling: the language teacher's oldest technique
* Read the post 'How to Use Story maps When Learning Both Oral and Written Stories' at: 'Creative Keys.net'
If you sign up for their FREE eclectic e-newsletter, "Portfolio Potpourri", you would get the "10 Tips of Ways to Develop Your Personal and Professional STYLE."
One of my colleagues asked me to provide links to the site which can help educators integrate Information technology in classroom. This post is written to compile the tips and useful links for all teachers/educators who are new to this topic or want to get in touch with best resources around the net. I hope that this post would help you.
* 'Free Technology for teachers' offers free technology resources and how teachers can use them also ideas for technology integration i education.
* David Andrade is the tech guy behind this awesome blog 'Educational Technology Guy' where you can find the information on topics like as: educational technology, educational theory, educational pedagogy, as well as exploring free educational technology resources, ways to integrate technology into the classroom, professional development, project based learning, and tips and resources for new teachers.
It seems very easy to say that we are good in surfing the net or know a lot about 'internet' world. But being an internet surfer and user for more than 6 years, I feel that I am still an infant at the world wide web. There is a lot to learn at it and most important thing is that you need to learn the effective use of it. Now internet has opened doors for students and parents as well. Teachers can easily learn the effective use of internet for their schools or classrooms.
'Internet for classrooms' is created to offer free internet resouces to use in classroom. It is used by teachers, parents and students of all ages. internet4classrooms.com has a huge collection of educational links: free worksheet sites, free software, interactive activities and much more. They answer requests for help, concerns, or anything you want to write about.
They also offer online tutorials for teachers to help them integrate technology in classrooms.
Many educational institutions or teachers are aware of the power and affects of "Blogging" for educational purposes but they don't know where to start. I hope that this article would help the students or teachers interested for use of blogging in classroom.
Blogs for Learning, is an online resource about instructional blogging. The site provides students and instructors with information and resources about the technical and pedagogical aspects of blogging in the classroom.
Blogs for Learning was originally conceived by Dr. Ethan Watrall and Dr. Nicole Ellison as a robust online resource designed for students and instructors who are interested in the theory and practice of blogging within an educational setting.
The goal of Blogs for Learning is to provide information and resources as to the technical, legal, and pedagogical aspects of blogging in the classroom. The design of the Blogs for Learning site was carefully conceived to be elegant, highly standards compliant and very forward thinking.
Blogs for Learning was created with the generous support from the College of Communication Arts and Sciences and the Department of Telecommunications, Information Studies, and Media at Michigan State University.
Articles section contains very useful articles which can be downloaded easily either for reading or printing. Few titles are:
- Student Blogging - What You Should Know
- Blogging for Large Classes
- Using Blogs in a College Classroom: What's Authenticity Got To Do With It?
* There are many tutorials which are in a flash presentation format, so you just have to sit, relax, watch the videos and learn about "Blogging". (Section is not working for the time being, but hope that it would be updated soon)
