In our fall 2008 issue of Changing Schools, we wrote that “Everyday, educators across the country are finding new ways to improve student learning. Too often, though, their innovative ideas and approaches to teaching and learning remain isolated. As a result, as an enterprise, education fails to build on these everyday innovations.”
Knowing that educators across the country are continually finding new ways to improve student learning, we asked educators to share their “everday innovations” with us and others. As a result, we received—and continue to receive—several examples of ways that educators, are everyday, doing what they do a little better.
We’ve decided to post the innovations we collected into this section of our blog and encourage you to use this space to submit your “everyday innovations.”
An example of a teacher-developed innovation is the socalled ‘learning square’, in which as much as 4 classes, about 80 – 100 kids, work at indivudual and grouptasks all at once. Kids choose tasks from a week planner. At the end of the week alle tasks have to be completed. Kids look at and comment on eachothers effort and achivements. Teachers coach kids through the educational proces and give instructions if and when needed to induicudual or grpoups of children. In this educational setting motivation is way up and drop out is real low.
Using the docucam in my choral music room is helping make better use of my time. I have my sightreading materials in flipcharts on Inspire, and every day I just pull it up and we do sightsinging as part of our warmups. I don’t have to waste time handing out books or picking them up, or worry about them wearing out. The students can interact with the promethean board and write the solfege under the notes. It also keeps the students engaged as they get to write on the board.