Stanford Teaching Commons: Activities to Boost Student Engagement

Group Of People At Their Graduation Rites

Today, while reading Sarah Rose Cavanagh’s article “How to Make Your Teaching More Engaging” — because hey, that’s something I need to do! — I followed one of the links which led me to these learning activities, posted in the Stanford Teaching Commons. Maybe you’ve used some, like Think-Pair-Share, maybe others you’ve never heard of. In my opinion, they are all worth checking out!

I believe that a large part of teaching is to inspire students. After all, we became teachers in part because we were inspired by other teachers. Also, we chose to teach our particular subject because there was something about it that made it stand out. Thus, it is our responsibility as teachers to make our classes engaging for our students.

See below for Activities to Boost Student Engagement, from the Stanford Teaching Commons:

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Case Method Teaching

Coached Problem Solving

Collaborative Learning

G+ Hangout sessions

Guided Discovery Problems

Just-in-Time Teaching

Online Forum Discussion

Problem-Based Learning

Project-Based Learning

Remote Labs

Retrieval Practice

Role-Playing

Send-a-problem

Team-Based Problem Solving

Think-Pair-Share

Handwashing Song

Because this song is AWESOME and INFORMATIVE, here it is, again. You might find yourself listening to it several times a day, or having it stuck in your head for as long as we’re dealing with the current situation. As they sing in the song,

“Together we shall beat the coronavirus.”

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#ghencovychallenge #handwashingmove #coronahanddance #VuDieuRuaTay 🌏 Because more international friends are coming to this post so I will change this to English for everyone: COVID-2019 disease is spreading, affecting people and social activities. Regular handwashing is considered a simple and effective method to protect the community from diseases (according to the World Health Organization). According to research by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), 78% of people say they wash their hands often but only 25% actually wash their hands after going to the toilet, 20% wash their hands before cooking. To spread the habit of washing your hands to prevent this disease, I invite you to take part in the #ghencovychallenge challenge with me. Game rules: You perform the dance of the song Ghen Co Vy with 6 hand washing movements as recommended by the World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health, based on the music song COVID-19 prevention – Jealousy, cooperation between Institute of Occupational and Environmental Health, musician Khac Hung, singer Min and singer Erik. Take this challenge or share the following epidemic prevention habits: 1. Wash your hands often with soap or an antiseptic solution. 2. Do not put hands on eyes, nose and mouth. 3. Regularly clean personal hygiene, hygiene of utensils, houses and surroundings. 4. Wear a mask to go to public places, on vehicles or when you are sick. 5. Self-awareness to improve health for themselves, the family and the community. 6. People with symptoms of COVID-19 have high fever, cough, shortness of breath, etc. or close contact with infected person / person suspected of COVID-19 and limit contact with other people and contact local health facilities. After completing the challenge, SHARE + TAG immediately 2 friends want to join this challenge. ✌ 🌐 for news reporters and press who want to use my video, please feel free to do so. 🌐 for people want to dance my choreography, please feel free to do so, it’s all yours 🌐 join hands to spread this extremely useful message! 😉 #handwashdance #handwashingdance

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Desmos Art Contest!

I’m excited about this contest, and plan to give my students an opportunity to submit. Desmos has helped me visualize equations better than I ever could before. It’s an excellent teaching tool and can also be used to make amazing art. And even animations, using sliders, and sounds, using the accessibility features. Maybe you could even make music with it. I look forward to seeing what students create. Deadline is April 10th, 2020!

Prizes listed on the website:

  • $500, $250, and $100 for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd
  • Desmos T-shirts for the winning student and their teacher
  • A Desmos-sponsored pizza party (or equivalent) for the entire class

Open to students ages 13-18 years old. Click here for more details:

https://blog.desmos.com/articles/art-contest-launch/