Blog Post #6

What strategies does the teacher use to actively engage the students? How effective are these?

I think that it's a teacher's mission to make sure the student gets the most out of learning, I think it's why someone goes into teaching (unless, it's for summers off, ha!). In the classroom it is important to keep students engaged and that includes engaging students in activities to let them expand their minds by experiencing what they are learning hands on, or incorporating the real world, and opening up communication.

The thing I loved about Mrs. C's class was how she engaged story time. Instead, of having the class sit in a circle as she read and passed around pictures, her class had made giant puppets earlier in the year and when it was "story time" she had a group of students come control the puppets as she told the story. The students would make the puppets react, have voices and even use other props to create the story. The other students in the class would give suggestions and also pass props the puppets could use. I loved this, it gave the students a chance to create and use their imagination with the story line instead of just listening and ultimately getting bored sitting on the floor.

I thought this method to be super effective, not once did I see a student lose interest in the story, or actions. I think in a traditional setting of "story time" students sitting on the floor as the teacher sits in the front reading, leads to boredom, which can easily lead to distractions, and touching and rough housing. I think Mrs. C did a great job making sure things were always lively and interesting in her classroom.