At the beginning of the semester, my classmates and I were presented with a handful of books on professional learning. We were to decide individually which book we'd like to read, and then later in the semester present a summary of the book and how it could help other educators. As an elementary teacher who works daily with active students, it didn't take me long to decide on "The Interactive Class" by Joe and Kristin Merrill. The back of the book questioned, "Are you looking for ways to make teaching and learning more interactive in your classroom?" The obvious answer for me was "Yes!" I am always looking for better ways to engage my students in my lessons. I am also always on the lookout for better ways to integrate technology into my curriculum. This book was right up my alley and I am so glad I chose it.
Joe and Kristin Merrill take a topic, create an interactive classroom and lay out a practical and easy-to-follow plan to get you, your students, and their parents more ACTIVE in the classroom. We start with the Interactive Method for teachers. The graphic below was created by classmate and teammate Shania Moore.
Merrill (2020) reminds us about our journey to creating an interactive class, "It's a process- not a trip you make in a single leap." There will be things that work on the first try, things that take a few attempts, and things that don't work at all for you and your students. The authors hope that educators will work through sticky points and find the things that work best for them in their unique classrooms. An interactive class has several characteristics described by the book: It should be Flexible, Authentic, Colorful, and Engaging.
Another key to creating an interactive class is building relationships with your students. Cultivating these relationships, as Merrill (2020) states, "The most important relationship in a classroom is the one between the teacher and the students," is paramount to your students reaching their potential. The book lists three points a teacher needs to focus on when building relationships with students: Be Personal, Be Positive, and Be Proactive. I compiled information from the book into a chart with a quote and a few examples of how an educator can focus on the relationships within his or her classroom.
Alongside cultivating relationships with your students, you should also be making connections with your students' parents. Parent-to-educator relationships play a huge role in student success. According to the Annie E Casey Foundation (2022), "Children whose families are engaged in their education are more likely to: earn higher grades and score higher on tests, graduate from high school and college, develop self-confidence and motivation in the classroom, and have better social skills and classroom behavior." The graphic below was created by my classmate and teammate Julia Cummings, to show a few ways educators can reach out to parents to build those relationships throughout the year.
As an educator, connecting yourself with other educators is another way to help make your class interactive. The book gives numerous apps, programs, and websites that teachers can use. My team and I have created a Wakelet that has several useful websites and apps that we have researched and used ourselves. The graphic below gives our Top Four Apps/Websites for Educators but also contains a link to our shared Wakelet.
I look forward to using what I've learned from this book and my teammates in the coming weeks and years in my own classroom. I want my future students to be successful and their parents to be involved to ensure we are creating an environment and culture of success.
Resources:
Casey, A. E. (2022, December 14). Parent Involvement in Your Child’s Education. The Annie E. Casey Foundation. https://www.aecf.org/blog/parental-involvement-is-key-to-student-success-research-shows#:~:text=Children%20whose%20families%20are%20engaged,motivation%20in%20the%20classroom%3B%20and
Merrill, J., Merrill, K., & Miller, C. (2020). The interactive class: Using technology to make learning more relevant and engaging in the elementary class. ElevateBooksEdu.
It sounds like this book overlaps well with the book I read about in-class flipped instruction. Ramirez and Buitrago (2022) also advocate for student choice as a way to encourage students to take ownership of their learning and visualization of classroom rotations and stations to ensure that the lesson flows smoothly. I think implementing elements of flipped instruction in the class could help teachers who want to differentiate instruction in their interactive classrooms (Ivanytska, 2021).
ReplyDeleteIvanytska, N., Dovhan, L., Tymoshchuk, N., Osaulchyk, O., & Havryliuk, N. (2021). Assessment of flipped learning as an innovative method of teaching English: A case study. Arab World English Journal, 12(4), 476–486.
Ramirez, M.A. & Buitrago, C.R. (2022). In-class flip: A student-centered approach to differentiated learning. International Society for Technology in Education.
Zach, I enjoyed reading this book for our group project and I too mentioned this book in one of my blog posts. Pandolpho (2020) states, "One of the most powerful ways to impact achievement is to actively engage students in the life of the classroom." I truly enjoyed learning why it is important to have an interactive class, how to create an interactive class, and the importance of PLNs. Sheninger (2019) states that PLNs are communities of like-minded individuals with whom one exchanges information and engages in conversation (P. 144). I feel this book covered so much and truly learned from it. I did not enjoy presenting under a time limit. but enjoyed sharing with others.
ReplyDeletePandolpho, B. (2020, March 10). Simple Ways to Promote Student Voice in the Classroom. Simple Ways to Promote Student Voice in the Classroom | Edutopia
Sheninger, E. (2019, April). Digital Leadership: Changing Paradigms for Changing Times. Corwin.