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F2F Instructional Strategies

In this discussion forum share what you have learned about face to face instructional strategies. What do you plan to implement into your classroom? What do you already do in your classroom that was covered in the lecture?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lisa Mele on May 1, 2011 at 7:41am

One of the F2F instructional strategies that I use in my class on a daily basis is Google Docs. My students complete a daily grammatical or vocabulary warm up on their iTouch using a Google Form that I have created and posted to my website. Their results are sent right to my Google Form and I can instantly know whether they understand the concept or not. I would love to use the iTouches in a "clicker" format. I have heard that there are apps to do that, but have not explored it yet. I would also love to incorporate screen casting more.

Permalink Reply by Allyson bush on May 1, 2011 at 10:59am

That sounds amazing!!!! I do a warm up in my Spanish class but its simply 5 questions on a powerpoint slide and they write it down. I would love to have it in a google form and get instant feedback. Unfortunately almost none of our kids have itouches so I'm not sure how I could get around that. But this is great! Nice use of technology :)

Permalink Reply by Kenzie Waller on May 1, 2011 at 5:54pm

This does sound like such a fun tool. I would guess this tool could be used in so many different ways. I love the instant feedback you get from students.

Permalink Reply by Chuck Commeret on May 1, 2011 at 7:55pm

Awesome idea! Google Forms is a great tool.

Permalink Reply by Christine Novak on March 4, 2012 at 1:28pm

What a great idea! I have never used Google Form before, but am a huge fan of Google Docs. I would love to try something like this in my classroom to get an idea of where students are. I have tried doing a thumbs up, thumbs down thing, but I always feel that students may be uncomfortable saying they don't understand. This would be a great way to see what and how much they understand! I will have to look into this!

Permalink Reply by Allyson bush on May 1, 2011 at 10:51am

Smartboards are a great interactive tool that can really engage students. However, I have found myself tied to the smartboard many times, teaching only in the front. A smartboard in conjunction with a wireless writing tablet gives you the freedom to move around the classroom. Not only does this allow the teacher to focus on more students it also helps with classroom management.

I really like the google forms and would like to use it more often for pretests in Spanish to see where all of the students are at coming into the class. This is very important to know in order for me to know where to start as well as, which students to focus on to make sure everyone is understanding.

Spanish is not just about memorizing the words, but its about being able to share a language with someone else and communicate in a different language. I really want to incorporate a wiki in my class so that I can have my students share their work with others be it other classmates, parents, or anyone else outside of the community who stumbles upon it. Spanish opens up new worlds and I want my students to see that first hand while using a wiki.

Finally, the one that I feel will be the hardest to implement, but possibly the most engaging is videotaping. Not only could students videotape their own work, but when we act out stories in class we could video tape them and play them again for the class or even for other classes. I believe the students would be excited to watch themselves and it would be a great way to review the Spanish again.

Permalink Reply by Chuck Commeret on May 1, 2011 at 7:58pm

Videotaping can be hard to implement at first, but once you figure out what works (and more importantly....what doesn't) you will be amazed by the results and the student engagement. You will have students choosing to stay in at breaks, come early to school, and leave late to finish up videos. It is worth the speed bumps. :)

Permalink Reply by Shannon Forsberg on May 1, 2011 at 2:25pm

I really like the idea of using blogs or discussion forums in my classroom so the discussion can continue outside my classroom walls. I often use Powerpoint as a lecture method, but have no experience with smart boards or document cameras. I would really like to use these technologies, but having a district that has little to no techonology, it is difficult.

I also like collaboration that can used in Google Docs and Wikispaces. I have polled my students recently while they were working on a group project that had very little time to work on in class. I rolled out a Wikispaces page for group members to collaborate, share ideas, make sure everyone knew their role for completing the project. Students loved the idea, and many utilized the pages so their group could successfuly complete their project. Once students who used the Wikispace page shared with other classmates about how much they enjoyed it and liked using it, everyone else was convinced and wanted me to create them more often for things talked about in class. This was very promising, that face to face instruction can be enhanced and continued outside classroom walls with technology.

Permalink Reply by David Hocker on May 1, 2011 at 9:08pm

I agree that collaboration on GoogleDocs and Wikispaces can be useful. That's a cool success story about how your students responded to the use of wikis. Have you used blogs or discussion forums in your classes? I am hoping to do so as a supplement to my PE classes next semester, but I'm a bit skeptical about how much success I will have getting kids to get online and do the discussions/blogs OUTSIDE of class. Any ideas?

Permalink Reply by Justine Koszela on May 1, 2011 at 5:14pm

I absolutely love Wiki spaces! And what a great way to get students introduced and involved in using one. Way to be creative!

Permalink Reply by Sara De Voogd on May 1, 2011 at 6:46pm

I agree, wikis (and wiki spaces in particular) have grown on me the more I've worked with them. Initially introduced through a group project, I heard and read the benefits for students presented by the group's research. Although hearing the advantages, I didn't actually understand the impact until I created and began using a wiki with my students. Wikispaces' platform is easy to use, edit, and share. I also discovered it's a great place to post files and activities (such as StAIRs) for students to access from anywhere with an internet connection.

Permalink Reply by Scott Hudson on May 1, 2011 at 5:22pm

I am a math teacher at an alternative high school, and I've found many options that have potential for my students. I've given my kids a link to a website I designed that includes a blog. I have links to videos, interactive websites and missing homework and notes. Wikis could be useful in a math class for the same reasons, as well. I've had some training on Smartboards and they seemed to make spice up instruction more than a regular board. The clickers often provided with the boards are great for formative assessments My daughter's school has projectors in every room and her teachers show videos and PowerPoints that she says makes the class more interesting.

Unfortunately, my school needs the most "alternatives" to traditional teaching has next to none. Heck, I have to buy calculators. I hope that will change soon.