Throughout the years, teachers have used music in instruction, such as the ABC song, to teach the alphabet, and “The Hokey Pokey,” to teach body parts and directions. As one of Howard Gardner’s multiple intelligence areas, music is a great tool to use to teach social studies. The pattern and rhythm of songs encourage memory, movement, and creativity with students. Music is a part of children's daily life and therefore a connection to real-world learning.
As the end of the first semester during COVID-19 approaches, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on how the experience has gone and what I can do going forward to make the school year a better experience for the students and myself.
Keeping students at the secondary level engaged in the virtual environment is difficult. Sitting in front of a computer anywhere between four to eight hours a day can be draining and taxing on a student’s mental health and overall brain power, but you can make virtual learning fun!
Teaching online is a unique experience for everyone—teachers, students, and parents alike. Some students are thriving in the online environment, and others are struggling. For our English language learners (ELLs), this new medium can provide even greater challenges to accessing the curriculum, but sound teaching practices will help them (and you) get through this successfully.
November is Native American Heritage Month, or, as it is commonly referred to, American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month.
America was built on democracy, a set of rules that governs the people in a state or country. Most elementary classrooms can follow this same doctrine by establishing rules and polices that guide and govern activities in that classroom.
Bells end and begin our classes. In the past, teachers rang hand-held bells to start the school day. The Liberty Bell may be the icon that students know from history, but there are many ways to use bells in the teaching of social studies. Explore with your students how the sound of bells is present in our daily life and in the past.
The move to remote learning has thrown students and educators into a whole new world. To help students, educators must understand potential roadblocks and challenges; then they must come up with creative solutions. To help with that, here are five ways to make distance learning effective for students.
Collective memory, or social memory, is how a group of people remember and forget the past. Individuals and societies base self-understanding and decision-making on past experiences. However, how accurately do we really remember? What do we choose to forget? What is the impact of false or incorrect memories?
As we stand on the precipice of change. We must address several pertinent issues that relate to the Black Lives Matter movement. Change is inevitable, and if things are to be different, a level of respect must be developed between all parties. How do we address these issues? What must we do to ensure students move progressively toward making systemic change?
