The Highly Effective Classroom

 

 

Making a short description and identifying an effective classroom

 

 

Introduction

 

The video shows several classrooms that are engaged in implementing effective instructional strategies to achieve the students’ growth. In this classroom, following strategies are used to encourage high academic standards.

 

1.      Triggering Higher-order Thinking

2.      Generating Open-ended Responses

3.      Utilizing Problem Solving Skills

4.      Making Authentic Connections

 

The lessons are divided which offers learners choices and allow for peer group activities. The following tools that transform students into successful 21^st century thinkers are truly effective.

 

Student Activity List

The student activity list offers vivid direction of activities that the teachers are using in the classroom to boost a specific subject area. These activities are associated with authentic work that students accomplish once they are done with the activities. Of which there are three dissimilar forms;

1.      Required activities

2.      Choice activities

3.      Extension activities

 

a.   Required activities are designed for all students to complete. The activities cover important content material.

b.    Choice activities allow the student to choose different types of activities according to their preference.

c.    Extension activities enable students to the review content or go beyond the curriculum by challenging the students. It is given a suggested time-frame and an opportunity to work alone or in a group as well.

Following this style allows the teachers to face each student at his or her personal level and teachers can fulfill the needs of each student and help them very effectively.

 

Rubric

A reliable task statement is intended to be inspirational and create a desire for learning. The rubric is given at the beginning of the unit and contains all the requirements to complete the task. Therefore, students have a comprehension of how to achieve a certain grade. It is a climax of assessment that gives student ownership in his or her own grade. Included in the rubric is an advanced column that permits the students to go above and beyond grade level if he or she desires. The teacher uses the rubric to facilitate learning and to confer with the students regarding their progress to guide them with further instruction and resources to achieve their goals.

 Benchmark Lesson

To clear more, the Benchmark Lesson should be taken as an example here. Benchmark Lesson is very interesting. It is a whole class instruction that engages on a major concept which can be done anywhere from five to twenty minutes in length. It also covers the significant points of a new concept and the activities are constructed upon these important points. During the lesson taking the notes is the responsibility of all students. The lesson is covered on quizzes tests and it is an important task during the lesson.

Mini Lesson

This lesson is an opportunity for students to get teacher’s direction and instructions in a small group setting. Many lessons can take place for a variety of different reasons. This lesson can be used for correction however they are presented to the students in order to target specific needs. Teacher take advantage of this time and actually extend learning opportunities for specific students. Sometimes students are given the opportunity to sign up for optional mini lessons. And students are individually invited by the teacher on the performance.

 

Facilitation Grid

The facilitation grid is a tool used by teachers to keep track of student learning. It gathers assessment data across all student interaction and focuses on specific skills or concepts. The teacher uses this tool to gauge where students are in their learning process and uses it to modify planning and to provide student support in order to gather information for the facilitation grid. The teacher constantly moves around the room speaking with individual students or small groups. This is once the teacher asks the students probing questions to determine whether or not they are meeting their learning goals.

 

Resource Area

This is designed to give the students choice and accessibility by providing access to a variety of materials designed to guide their learning. One of the main goals of the resource area is to support the student’s independence and responsibility. Students do not have to wait for the teacher to set up an activity or wait for materials to be handed out as all the materials are accessible at all times to all students.

 

Tow pocket Folders

The students use the classroom folder to organize their classwork. The classroom folder has two pockets- one labeled work-in-progress and one labeled work completed. The teacher can use the classroom folder to check on a student’s progress when they are not in the class. The teacher may then leave feedback in the folder for the student to see during the next class period.

 

The Highly Effective Classroom

The goal of the highly effective classroom is to implement effective instructional practices to achieve greater student growth. This classroom methodology has impacted the students’ learning and encourage them to be problem solvers. This style of teaching makes students excited about learning their confidence levels of increase and they become responsible members of the classroom.

 

 Help Board

The help board provides a way for students to identify their instructional needs without interrupting the flow of the class. If a student is struggling on a specific topic or concept, he or she is encouraged to put his   or her name on the board to indicate a need for teacher assistance. The teacher will then use the information on the help board to guide student learning. Individual help small group mini lesson or whole class benchmarks are determined based on what is listed on the help forum.

 

Conclusion

 To sum up, the most important thing in the classroom is to make students interested in and understand the lessons. Therefore, using a variety of techniques help students to comprehend the lessons and inspire them to love what they are doing. A class that makes students love what they do is called an effective classroom.