hands-on learning - Gtec Kids

Stix Discussion

The Stix Discussion (Stix 1999) is a discussion strategy that has four distinct viewpoints as well as an inner circle and an outer circle that equally participate in a discussion. This strategy is a modification of the inner-outer circle or fishbowl discussion. The students in the inner circle and the outer circle will change roles, so everyone gets an equal chance to participate. This strategy is appropriate for middle school through college-level classrooms.This strategy takes discussions to a more...

Inspiring Creativity: Think Outside the Bowl

With the resurgence of testing nationwide, many teachers report that they have to “cover the curriculum” rather than “uncover the curriculum.” With the Common Core Curriculum, parents express feeling exhausted from helping their children with increased homework to meet test expectations. Teachers are pushing to cover as much of the content necessary for their students to pass the state-level exams, sometimes given only 70% into the school year.So, it is not surprising that teachers see a change in their...

The A-ha Moment: Principals Using Coaching Techniques for Teacher Evaluation

With more and more schools turning to Charlotte Danielson’s framework, districts are requesting that principals train their staff in understanding her rubrics. The difference between the “proficient” and the “distinguished” columns is the presence of teacher-centered versus student-centered instruction. While this concept is clearly not new, her analysis and blueprint are greatly needed.In years past, teachers anxiously awaited the semi-yearly to yearly observations by their assistant principals or principals. Teachers often expressed that it was similar to driving in a...

Pinterest for Educators

The most popular bulletin board for pictures and photographs in social media today is Pinterest. It follows a scrapbook-styled interface designed for communicative sharing, the focal points of each company differ. Pinterest was primarily used for sharing favored material goods and inspired ideas; but now, it is also intended for dispersing educational tools and learning resources. Pinterest for educators helps to easily design online content and craft a set of lessons using this powerful image-based platform. They take a topic...

Role-Play in the Classroom with Delicious

Delicious (del.icio.us) is an online social bookmarking platform that stores and categorizes photos, videos, and articles that teachers can use to motivate and engage students. It is part of social media because teachers can see each other’s folders called “stacks” of information and share each other’s postings of links on the web. These links are usually of high quality because teachers have invested time in surfing the internet to make meaningful selections.Many teachers have used Delicious to share great links with...

COACHing Questions for Cooperative Group Work

For a complete guide to coaching, please see Teachers as Classroom Coaches by Andi Stix, Ed.D. and Frank Hrbek, published by ASCD..The objective of a teacher as coach is to elicit responses that reflect how well cooperative groups or a student is progressing. The questions should be open-ended, probing for as much detail and description as possible. This strategy...

Fraction Rings: Teaching Time, Decimals and Degrees

(c) 1993 Fraction Rings designed by Andi Stix were produced by Cuisenaire Company of America. This set of math manipulative rings are to be used with Fraction Circles. Order a set at: http://www.hand2mind.com/catalog/product?deptId=&prodId=020272&q=picture+grids Andi Stix is an educational consultant & coach who specializes in differentiation, interactive learning, writing across the curriculum, classroom coaching, and gifted education. For further information on her specialties or social media, please email her on the Contact page.

Heaping Pennies to Teach Group Cohesion

This experiment portrays the idea that group cohesion is stronger than the individual members who form the group.Essential Question: What is group cohesion? What is a team? Guiding Questions: For what reasons do people form groups (substitute teams for groups if you choose)? Generate a list of platforms used where people make connections to form groups. Describe in detail how groups are formed and made. Explain specifically what the group accomplishes. Describe the type of energy needed to fuel the existence of the group. In what...

Imagery Walk

The Imagery Walk is an exercise that allows students to visually bring content alive by utilizing their imaginations. It is based on meditative practices but allows for scenes in English Language Arts, historical periods in Social Studies, geometrical designs in mathematics, and procedures in science to be recreated. By implementing this strategy, students are more able to move the content from short-term to long-term memory, because they personally create and interact with the content area. Using a soft, gentle, soothing, and...

Carousel Brainstorming

The Carousel Brainstorming strategy is easy to implement. Each cooperative group walks up to an open-ended question posted on chart paper, discusses it, brainstorms answers or solutions, and writes down responses within a given amount of time. When the teacher “carousels” students, or rotates the groups to new locations, they repeat the exercise with a new question. This time students must read the responses from the previous group(s) before they begin to write down new ideas.MaterialsDifferent colored markersChart paperMasking tape (Tape chart...

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Stix Discussion

Inspiring Creativity: Think Outside the Bowl

The A-ha Moment: Principals Using Coaching Techniques for Teacher Evaluation

Pinterest for Educators

Role-Play in the Classroom with Delicious

COACHing Questions for Cooperative Group Work

Fraction Rings: Teaching Time, Decimals and Degrees

Heaping Pennies to Teach Group Cohesion

Imagery Walk

Carousel Brainstorming

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