Revolution Tools
Got this on Twitter this morning–Revolution Tools–and chuckled at the image…but then acknowledged in my mind how Twitter has indeed revolutionized my professional sharing and growing, and I began thinking of the revolution tools I now use in my classroom.
My learning space has changed dramatically since last year. I still have tables and chairs, but have added two futons, 6 beanbags, area rugs and scads of pillows (pillows which the kids, for the most part, don’t use, by the way.) What happens because of that change is not so different in my room–they’ve always worked together. My kids understand that learning is a social activity and I expect them to talk and work together most of the time. In fact, they also know that if they have a question, they should ask each other rather than me because they’ll get a different explanation and it might be a better one than I did for the class. But, this year, I’ve watched as the beanbags are the first seating choice they go for as they come in the door, and the groupings change regularly because of the kinds of seating available–so I see less clique-ishness and more openness to sitting with others.
Several years ago my classroom got iPods–and I love seeing kids use them as “Google in their pocket.” When I
My learning space has changed dramatically since last year. I still have tables and chairs, but have added two futons, 6 beanbags, area rugs and scads of pillows (pillows which the kids, for the most part, don’t use, by the way.) What happens because of that change is not so different in my room–they’ve always worked together. My kids understand that learning is a social activity and I expect them to talk and work together most of the time. In fact, they also know that if they have a question, they should ask each other rather than me because they’ll get a different explanation and it might be a better one than I did for the class. But, this year, I’ve watched as the beanbags are the first seating choice they go for as they come in the door, and the groupings change regularly because of the kinds of seating available–so I see less clique-ishness and more openness to sitting with others.
Several years ago my classroom got iPods–and I love seeing kids use them as “Google in their pocket.” When I