How Can Educators Create an Effective Connected Classroom?

A connected classroom is a smart-learning environment that is open to the outside world. With this approach, students get to learn from real-life situations and connect with other learners across the globe. With the widespread use of internet and web 2.0 technologies, creating connected classrooms has become much easier. Before we look at the web tools that you can use to open the classroom doors to a global audience, let us look at some of the academic advantages of adopting such an approach.

Connected classrooms can help students:

• Practice and learn a foreign language with native speakers of the tongue
• Discuss problems with other learners from far off locations
• Invite experts in a particular field to the virtual classroom and learn from them
• Expose themselves to other cultures and develop a more holistic global awareness
• Set up virtual trips to places of interest

Skype and Google Hangout are great tools to create a connected classroom. They stand out for a number of reasons:

• They are completely free to uset is easy to set them up and you do not need any in-depth technical knowledge to operate them
• They are web-based and don’t require software installation
• You can do both video and text chat on them 
• They offer group calling services
• Hangout videos and Skype calls can be recorded and shared with anybody
  Let us take a look at a practical way in which we can use Google Hangout and Skype to create a connected classroom

The Mystery Hangout/Skype

A Mystery Hangout/Skype is an educational classroom game where students from different parts of the country get to meet each other on Skype or through Hangout video and get to ask each other questions about each other's locations. The aim of this game is to help the students guess the location of their peers’ class. In the process, they get to practice a number of academic skills like web searching, speaking, note taking, writing and a lot more.

This activity is suitable for children of any age group and can also be used to teach subjects like geography, history, mathematics, languages and science.  There are various ways in which you can go about selecting the class to partner with. For instance, you can use the Hashtag #mysteryskype or go to this page to find out more about the different classes that are featured there. If you want to organize a Mystery hangout for your class, you can check Google Plus’ Mystery hangout Community. If you find a class that you want to connect with, get in touch with its teacher and set up a meeting. But before you get started with the Mystery Hangout/Skype class, make sure that your students are adequately prepared. Here are a few handy tips to get them ready for their first connected learning experience:

• Make sure that your students fact check the information that they are going to provide in their answers. They can use the internet to look up information on their geographical location, the population of the city they live in, the languages they speak, the historical monuments, their city’s economic mainstay and more. 

• If you want to connect with classes that are in a different time zone, you need to know the time differences between both the locations. You can use the following tools to overcome the problem:

• Online conversion 
• Meeting planner 
• World clock 

If you want your students to make the most of the time they spend connecting with their guest class, make sure that you assign each one of them a specific task to carry out. Some of the roles include – greeters (the students who will greet the guests when they connect), the questioner (students who pose the questions), note takers (students who are entrusted with taking detailed notes) and photographers (students who are entrusted with taking pictures during the call). If you want a more detailed web resource with a list of tasks that you can assign to your students, check out this page.

Why is it a Big Mistake to Label Kids?

By Anthony L. Hubbard

We have all been through high school. As a junior, we are sure you remember the fellow student in your class who was always glancing up at the clock. You might have caught yourself wondering – “Is he anxious to get to work?” “Does he want to go smoke a cigarette?” “Is he waiting to leave the classroom?” Would your perception change if you knew that the student was being assigned to an alternative school where students who were “at-risk” of not graduating were being sent? Would it change if you found out that he just got accepted into a prestigious college?

Look closely at the above example. Firstly, you are making an attribution about the student’s cause of behavior. Secondly, you are implicitly considering the characteristics of the person exhibiting the behavior. Thirdly, the descriptions that are provided about the student sets in motion a host of beliefs and stereotypes about the causes of the said behavior. This should give you a fair idea of the kind of negative impact that can be caused by labeling students as “at-risk”. 

Effects of an academic label on attributions

Attributions are made because they are convenient cues and the human brain is primed to follow the path of least cognitive stress. However, the subtle cascading effect of negative labeling is something that we should better acquaint ourselves with. Let us take an example. How many times have you found yourself in a situation where someone put you down unfairly and it just threw you off your rhythm for the rest of the day? We’d venture to guess that it has happened at least once in the last two months. Now imagine if that were to happen on a daily basis. Just think about what that would do to your morale? 

Behavioral psychologists have a term called the Pygmalion effect, which refers to a phenomenon where higher expectations lead to an increase in performance. The more we expect from our kids, the more motivated they are to live up to the expectation. SO, it is always for the better to call them out on their strengths instead of admonishing them for their weaknesses. Worse still, if we categorize children by their family’s income bracket, ethnicity or special education needs, then we are making the assumption that the child has a deficit. How would you feel if you were called an ‘at-risk’ educator because you failed to reach out to a kid?

Labeling faux pas educators should strive to avoid

• Never discuss children in front of other children or parents. They listen to and understand a lot more than we realize.

• Comment on their behavior, not on their character. For instance, it is always better to say “Lisa, you have put a lot of hard work into your art project” instead of saying “Lisa, you are a great artist”. 
• Never use labeling as a motivational or a behavioral tool. You cannot motivate an overweight kid to exercise by calling him fat. Similarly, you cannot get them to perform better by calling them stupid. 

• Encourage kids to explore all kinds of activities. They should never be limited in their opportunities just because it does not fit our ideas of what their weaknesses or strengths are. 

What are educators missing out on?

If we want our mental health and education systems, which should be operating in collaboration, to better serve our diverse and multicultural youth population, we must make sure that they are adapted to be culturally responsive, strength-based and youth-centered. 

A lot of the time, educators fail to take into account that most kids from underprivileged urban areas beat some really great odds to show up to school. From lack of parental support to growing up in tough neighborhoods without enough money, they go through a lot every single day of their lives. They must be encouraged for braving their daily ordeals instead of being put down for not living up to the standardized set of rules and behavior. Labeling them as delinquents, at-risk or hopeless is not doing anybody any good. It does not give us or the student a better understanding of the situation.

You need to put yourself in the shoes of those kids. For them, the microaggressions they face in the classroom is not very different from what they have to face in their daily interactions. It creates a hostile and invalidating climate in the school campus, perpetuates the stereotype threat, assails their mental health and affects the problem solving abilities and the academic productivity of the kids. 

How can we reduce instances of microaggressions in the classroom?

Racial ignoring and racial spotlighting are two of the most common instances of racial microaggressions. Racial ignoring is when students of color do not receive any recognition or acknowledgment by the white students or teachers. Racial spotlighting is when these same students frequently find themselves being the object of uninvited attention, like when they are asked to give their opinion on racial matters just because they are a part of that racial group. It happens more often than most teachers would like to let on. 

To make a difference, educators need to be more self-aware of their own conduct in the class. As long as the microaggressions remain invisible, hidden, unspoken and excused as an innocent slight, people will continue to demean, insult, alienate and oppress the marginalized groups. It is up on the educators to make sure that they take every step to recognize and address instances of microaggressions when they see them. 

Back to the One Room School House

What We Can Learn From the One Room School House in Today's Educational System

Modern schooling is all about efficiency, and what better way to drive efficiency in a classroom setting than group students based on their skill levels (or age) and employs a set teaching solution that can be utilized year after year, right? While this may look good on paper, the varied learning capabilities of students and the general academic results say otherwise. Now if you looked at the other corner, you will find an entirely different classroom setting, one where students of different age groups and learning capabilities are encouraged to learn under one roof. Yes, we're talking about the classic One Room School house setting. The One Room School house seems almost as if a fable today, but their perks over the traditional classroom remain just as relevant. In fact, there are many lessons that we can pick up from the classic schooling module, let's take a look at some of them.

Challenging the teachers and students

The problem with a traditional classroom and syllabus is that educators are confined to a specialized teaching formula which is repeated year after year. Now unless an educator makes the effort to periodically reinvent their teaching methods and material, alongside stay updated with the latest advancements, they fall into the same teaching pattern that is neither exciting nor challenging.  In a One Room School, educators are constantly challenging themselves to come up with new teaching methodologies that can be comprehended by students with varied learning styles and skills. The educators are expected to keep students of beginner and expert level engaged whether it is through activities or other collaborative settings in the classroom. This makes the teaching role far more satisfying than in a traditional setting.

Often, students are enthusiastic about the idea of learning, but a dull, time-tested learning curriculum that does not match with their learning style may douse their enthusiasm. When the teaching style is more in line with their aptitude and different from the usual one-fits-all solution, the students are in a better place to grasp it, which no doubt bears better results as well.

In short, the One Room School approach is interesting and fruitful for both the educator and the student.

Encouraging individual learning

A One Room School House has individualized lesson plans for each student. This can go a long way in nurturing independent learning capabilities. In a traditional classroom, boundaries and benchmarks get in the way of the students' learning curve. Benchmarks on what students are expected to achieve may deter slow-learners from reaching their full potential, as there is a constant pressure from these expectations which takes the focus off the primary goal of education- to learn. Students who are able to adapt to a traditional curriculum do not look beyond what is being taught and constrict their learning view. In One Room School Houses, students are always pushing boundaries on what else can be learned. They are not judged based on how they fare with respect to their peers and equals, and instead know that there is always scope for growth and to learn more. This hits the nail on what education should be achieving in the first place.

A holistic learning approach

The thought of a heterogeneous-level classroom may seem slightly ill-planned and chaotic at first glance, but given the right approach, it can make learning a holistic experience for students. For instance, say you have students of different learning capabilities in a music class. Managing students with different learning skills and styles may seem somewhat of a difficult task, but once you have individualized lesson plans in place it gets simpler. The key is to also have a collaborative approach while teaching. So how do you bring a collaborative approach in such a diverse setting? You could try bringing in the high-level students to improvise and play on the spot, while the mid-level students watch them and try to pick up the chords that are being played.

You can then have the mid-level students try and play the same under the guidance of the high-level students. This also helps reinforce the basics in the high-level students, while they teach the mid-level ones. The beginner-level students can try getting the basic chords right, as the mid-level students tell them about the same. This is exactly how students with different learning skills collaborate under a One Room School House setting, making the learning experience far more interesting than otherwise.

Creating a School Environment that Supports Collaborative Lesson Planning Amongst Teachers

By Anthony L. Hubbard

As adults, we all have varying interests. Some of us like might like learning about history, while others might enjoy their fair share of sports. We also enjoy the freedom to choose what we are passionate about. We are motivated to seek out subjects that are in line with our interests and passions. If they do not sync up with our interest, we tend to give up on them, unless there is some reward for us at the end.

However, it isn't a feature that is unique only to adults. Children also have varying interests. A good teacher tries to motivate children or students by catering to these interests. Unfortunately, the traditional education system fails at this and it is up to teachers to create a school environment that addresses these requirements. It can be done through Collaborative Lesson Planning.

What is Collaborative Lesson Planning?

Collaborative Lesson Planning helps teachers create a learning structure wherein students are encouraged to work together to solve problems or work on purpose-driven projects. Here, students are encouraged to engage in discussions with each other or even work with students from other schools. The students are individually assessed on their work and also on their performance in groups. Collaborative Lesson Planning inculcates the spirit of team work among students.

The team-driven learning environment helps students share their strengths and discover their individual weaknesses. They also develop other skills such as socialization, conflict resolution, and healthy competition.

Creating an environment of Collaborative Lesson Planning

To encourage Collaborative Lesson Planning, the school environment must be overhauled. It can be done by following these basic steps:

·       Creating trust: Teachers must learn to trust each other and be willing to share their methods. It can be achieved by encouraging teachers to attend teaching sessions conducted by other teachers. It provides them an idea of what kind of dynamics they share with their students and between themselves.

·       Idea sharing: Encourage teachers to generate ideas, no matter how simple they might be. Push them to come up with different methods through which learning goals can be achieved.

·       Testing ideas: The effectiveness of an idea cannot be known until it is tested. Motivate teachers to test out their learning plans and also to accept feedback.

·       Keep it simple: Teachers must incorporate simple ideas into their projects and tasks. Projects or tasks that are complex will only make students ask more questions, instead of arriving at solutions. It may even prevent them from learning anything.

·       Involve students: Students are the obvious target audience here, so it is necessary to involve them from the beginning. Their feedback can be valuable in terms of developing a proper collaborative lesson plan.

·       Use available materials: Use materials that are easily available. Do not create projects that rely much on specialized materials, as sourcing them can be a hassle. A school should have most of the necessary items available at all times.