BUDDY UP

We can find ideas everywhere, and these are wonderful adaptable ones.  The following  are brain activation activities for the entire lesson, not exactly for activities.  Have a look at them and let me know how much you like them 😃  Attention getters, do nows, morning meetings, hugs, and high fives. These are often the ways teachers start their days. By now, you probably have your routines in place for how you start your day or class period. But sometimes it's good to mix it up. Or maybe you're looking for an exciting entrance to a specific lesson plan. Just like writers, teachers often need a hook! Whether you're mixing it up or just curious about what other teachers do, check out these five videos to see five different ways teachers start their lessons. 1. Start with a Video Everyone loves a good video, especially kids. Video can be a great way to pique interest or teach a simple concept before a lesson. In   Coding in the Algebra Classroom , high school teach...

  As discussed in the previous entry, warm-up activities need to be short and straight to the point and we need to plan a way of processing the information which receives focal attention during the activity. Another important aspect to consider for these activities is motivation.   One major theory was proposed by Ausubel (1968), who pointed out that all human beings are moved by six inner drives that construct motivation. These are described in H.D. Brown’s   "Principles of Language Learning and Teaching" (1997:169) ·          The need for exploration , for seeing “the other side of the mountain,” for probing the unknown ·          The need for manipulation , for operating –to use Skinner’s term- on the environment and causing change ·          The need for activity , for movement and exercise, both   mental and physical ; ·   ...

  No glasses at hand? LISTEN HERE Have you ever worked out without warming up first? If you do that, chances are your performance will not allow you to show the best of you. Believe it or not, the same happens in lessons.  Warm up activities are effective since they create a need for communication, they activate systemic and background knowledge, motivate and create expectations. They can be used to pre-teach new words and set the purpose for any presentation. They can be a fun way to lower stress levels and to connect with students. And best of all, these characteristics will make the lesson meaningful. Cognitively speaking, we set the learning machinery into motion. By creating effective warm-up activities, we make the brain start connecting and finding paths to find information. Memories stored in the long term memory are retrieved into the working memory. It is important to remember that our working memory provides temporary storage and manipulation of the information nece...