To have a joy-fueled classroom you need to be able to work in partnership with the students you teach. In order to do this you need to know who they are as individuals. What attributes does each student bring into your room each lesson? What do they have to contribute to the learning landscape?
This year I started at a new school. To begin with, I knew nothing about the kids in my classes, so in an attempt to get to know them better I asked them to tell me who they were via paper dolls (for my drama kids) and messenger doves (for my RE kids). They were asked to tell me why they chose drama, what their strengths and weaknesses were, how they learnt best, words to describe themselves and interesting facts. I know so much about my kids now and their expressions of self are plastered over my classroom walls. I love these paper beings!
In addition to this creative task, my students were each asked to complete an online Multiple Intelligence Quiz so that I could find out what type of learner they are. It gives me a great indication of both their strengths and weaknesses in the classroom. I use the Birmingham Grid for Learning's Multiple Intelligence Quiz. Try it out. I can guarantee you will be surprised by some of the results.
This year I started at a new school. To begin with, I knew nothing about the kids in my classes, so in an attempt to get to know them better I asked them to tell me who they were via paper dolls (for my drama kids) and messenger doves (for my RE kids). They were asked to tell me why they chose drama, what their strengths and weaknesses were, how they learnt best, words to describe themselves and interesting facts. I know so much about my kids now and their expressions of self are plastered over my classroom walls. I love these paper beings!
In addition to this creative task, my students were each asked to complete an online Multiple Intelligence Quiz so that I could find out what type of learner they are. It gives me a great indication of both their strengths and weaknesses in the classroom. I use the Birmingham Grid for Learning's Multiple Intelligence Quiz. Try it out. I can guarantee you will be surprised by some of the results.
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