Choice boards have been a hot topic in recent years, and whether you have dove in or not, here are a few tips for making choices boards purposefully and engaging for beginners and choice board lovers: Make it FUN and Engaging. Consisted a theme that the students will connect with. What standards do you want to cover? Keep it manageable and concise. Consider the modes that … [Read more...]
A Day in the Life of A Student
As an educator, have you ever stopped to wonder what it’s like on the other side of the screen? What is like to be in the shoes of a student in the year 2020-2021? We did and it changed our entire perspective on virtual learning. In the Fall of 2020, I and three of my JMU colleagues were student teachers placed at the same school in Virginia and much like everyone else we … [Read more...]
Global Collaboration in Rural Virginia
The words ‘global collaboration’ seem like a distant attainment for most of us educators. We think that concept is something someone else could do, but certainly not someone like ourselves. But, I’m here to tell you it is not an impossible task. Last week’s news story is proof positive! So, how did a teacher like me, a middle-aged teacher in rural Virginia, wind up … [Read more...]
Leveling Up Student Learning with a Global Inventors Course
This year, we tried something completely new at Oak Grove Elementary in Roanoke County. Fifth graders have just finished working with Global partners in Nicaragua, Argentina, and Honduras through a Global Inventors course run by Level Up Village--and what an adventure it was. In this course, students exchanged video messages with their partners and collaborated on designing … [Read more...]
