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Posts
Catalytic Questioning in The Classroom
A few days ago I was reading the Psychology Today article, "Use Catalytic Questioning to Solve Significant Problems" when I was suddenly hit by a eureka-serendipity-like moment. I was not searching for any teaching strategies, but instead for enjoyment when I realized that the brainstorming strategy the article provided could be applied in the classroom. Although the article was written with the business world in mind, I could clearly see that this could be an innovative and groundbreaking strategy for students to use in the classroom. If you've ever experienced students having difficulty forming questions, brainstorming, being innovative, being original, creating new ideas, then this could be the strategy for you. The article's author, Hal Gregersen, relates how he has used a "systematic approach" to brainstorming for the business world that has consistently proven to be reliable and to help team members create and innovate solutions to problems. As
Knowing Your Students' Learning Styles
The first days of school are, hands down, the most important part of the school year; it is in the first days that teachers establish positive expectations, establish their classroom management, train students on classroom procedures, build a positive rapport with students, engage students in group-building exercises, etc. If we don't take care of this foundation, our classroom structure can and will crumble right before our eyes. Before we can dive into the curriculum and carefully planned lessons, we need to spend some time taking care of the foundation and getting to know our learners; it seems painstaking and unimportant, but trust me, it will be the best gift you will give yourself and your students all year. You can think of what you do on the first days of school as "the gift that keeps on giving," so to speak. One of the very first pieces of information I want to extract from my students is who they are as learners. Truth is, and perhaps too often, our stu