Educators, Start The Year Off Right!
It’s that time of year. The days are getting shorter as educators are preparing their classrooms, and their lesson plans, for a new crop of students. With a new academic year comes the opportunity to step out of your own comfort zone and dabble with some new teaching strategies that may help maximize engagement and propel your students forward. Here are a few tips that may help spark your creativity.
Think. Different. – We all know that memorizing facts and regurgitating outdated information does very little to help prepare students for the highly competitive globalized job market. So, what are some alternative teaching strategies that can help students reach their full potential? This article on critical thinking concepts can help educators restructure their in-class curriculum to make it more collaborative and exploratory. Self-directed learning programs can also have a phenomenal impact on students and make learning more engaging and relevant.
Get Them Moving – During No Barriers Youth Expeditions we embrace any teachable moment and those moments often happen in a rickshaw, while hiking the Inca Trail, or reflecting after a day of service. When you’re not globetrotting, getting students up and out of their desks, even when they’re in the classroom, gets the brain synapses firing. Visit www.fluidstance.com and www.moving-minds.com for some creative solutions and read this Edutopia article with ideas on how to design your classroom.
Embrace The Present Moment – Mindfulness is a buzzword that has spread across our culture from yoga classes, to wellness experts, to corporate ideology, and education is no different. Introducing mindfulness activities in the classroom can help build empathy, compassion, and create a less stressful learning environment. No Barriers Youth Expedition Leaders often introduce meditation to students especially on expeditions to Buddhist cultures like Nepal and Cambodia. Find more resources at www.mindfulschools.org.
Get Global – Bring the world to your classroom! Students get excited about global issues when they meet and interact with peers from another country. Using a service like www.epals.com can help jumpstart your program. You can also invite passionate speakers into the classroom like Peace Corps alumni through the World Wise Schools program. Pairing in-class global collaboration and curriculum with a co-created No Barriers Youth Expedition is a phenomenal way to inspire students to make an impact in their local and global communities.
Visit the No Barriers Youth destinations page to learn where you can bring classroom learning to life in a global setting!August 9, 2017