Advice, tips and tools from those who know best – you!

This month, we have some fantastic tips and tools to help you create an engaging and interactive classroom experience that you and your learners will love!

Daily Journaling

Take time to reflect honestly on your relationship with your learners. A challenging question to ask is, “Would my classroom be good enough for my child (or grandchild, niece, or nephew)?” Hopefully, the answer is “YES!”.

To reflect on this, start your day with twenty minutes of journaling, and ask yourself these questions:

• How can I ignite my learners’ curiosity and captivate their attention so they are fully immersed in the learning experience?
• What clues can I uncover from my class that inspire me to tailor my teaching to my learners’ unique needs and interests?
• In what ways can I challenge my learners’ critical thinking skills and encourage them to engage in deep, meaningful learning?
• How can I spark a sense of wonder and intrigue in my learners, so they are eager to explore and discover the significance of the information at hand?

After each month of journaling, go back and highlight the most creative sparks that emerged.

The Burning Question Box

Who says learning can’t be fun and exciting? Here’s an idea to ignite your learners’ curiosity – grab a plain old box and give it a funky makeover! Cover it in paint, stickers, or anything that catches your eye. Make it look like a cool and mysterious ballot box your learners will be itching to post their questions.

Get your learners to jot down their burning questions on paper and pop them into the box. Then, each week, appoint a team of curious minds (you could take turns as a class) to pick out the top three or five questions and stick them up on the wall. It’s their mission to find the answers to these questions before the box is opened again!

You can even link these questions to your upcoming lessons for the week or two ahead.

Try Reversing the Learning

Take the theory or concept you want to teach and turn it into a juicy mystery! It could be a grammar rule hiding in plain sight or a physics law in action. It could be a snapshot from history or a snapshot of a life cycle. Whatever it is, present it to your class and challenge them to be the super sleuths who crack the case by figuring out the who, why, how, or when. Let the investigation begin!

Let’s play a game!

Take a favourite board or team game and give it a fun twist by turning it into a quest or quiz for your learners. For example, you can play a 30-Seconds-style game where the learners create their own cards. But to do so, they have to know the answers, which means their revision is done while having fun playing the game!