Shalini Chauhan
If the child can’t learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn. To the world, we may be teachers but to our students we are heroes! This is the time to prove them right. We have changed the challenges to opportunities
Learning never stops! I believe whoever has stopped learning, whether at two or 60, is old.
Can you sit in front of the screen of a laptop or mobile phone and study continuously? NO! How can we expect the same from our students?
To make it interesting for my students, I started exploring new platforms. I was looking for tools to engage and involve my students during online classes and those that could manage with my spirit of learning. I introduced my kids to Flip grid, Jam board and Wakelet which helped encourage them to learn and develop communication skills. Doing so also contributed positively to their own learning. The participation and acceptance of my students to this new normal is remarkable.
I am sharing below some experiences of learning with online activities.
The tools and my learning
Jam board to teach graphs!
The interactive whiteboard supports all docs, sheets, slides, and images (including GIFs) from a Google Drive cloud account, making them easily accessible, editable and shareable on multiple pages over this platform. I was exploring an online tool which can support tessellation and transforming shapes as it is needed for graph papers. Then I found Jam board. There I created an online graph notebook for my kids. We used the combination of reflections, translations and rotations to transform a shape.
It worked in better collaboration. All of us worked together at the same time. In fact, the number of people who can join a ‘jam’ is unlimited. It presented a seamless and exciting way to plan and execute a project with a team collaboration environment.
Padlet Magic, for Times Table Bingo!
It is so much fun when Bingo is played on Padlet! Bingo is fun for all grades but when it has a connection with math concepts, fun changes into excitement along with amazing learning.
Adding more energy to learn TIMES TABLES and SHAPES, I created a bingo game.
Steps:
- A Bingo Ticket was shared individually on personal numbers on the previous day.
- A recorded message for creating the ticket on Padlet was shared via a Padlet Link.
How to play:
- Make a ticket on your screen after clicking on the shared link of Padlet.
- The ticket is ready. Keep it on the screen of Padlet.
- The teacher starts giving clues one by one eg: 6 x 9 5 x 8
- The student solves the clue and crosses the number in his/her ticket.
- The ticket with all the numbers crossed will be saved and uploaded first. The child who shouts BINGO will be announced as the winner.
Samples of shared Bingo tickets:
This game provides confidence and motivates them to learn Times Tables. You can see my Padlet here. Those who don’t have a Padlet account can play it live on paper. You can read my article on Math Bingo here.
Here is another Padlet on My favourite video on Fractions.
Video Call and WhatsApp for Debate
‘Don’t raise your voice, improve your argument.’ –
Debating is always fun. Students get to learn to structure their critical thinking and it helps improve their communication skills. I conducted an online debate which enhanced teamwork skills and collaboration. This activity helped students to improve their listening, note-taking skills and self-confidence.
Instructions were posted 4 days before the Debate day via our WhatsApp Group.
We used the video conferencing tool to have the session.
Debate motion: ‘Content areas are underpinned by problem-solving’
Ekansh Jain of Stage 9 shares his perspective. He also feels that debating has improved their critical thinking and reasoning abilities. Learners are taking ownership of their own learning.
Conclusion
Keeping these tips and tools in mind the next time you plan a lesson or activity, can help you inculcate a love for math amongst your students. Don’t be surprised if your class is suddenly looking forward to math time because you’ve successfully made learning more meaningful. With the right tools and creative thinking, we can make any lesson fun. The right tools always take the headache out of maths and most of the time make learning maths fun. You can read the experiences of my learners about Online Math learning on the Padlet here.
Thinking of a plan for returning to school or adjusting to the new normal?
Here’s a dedicated page to support all educators.
Check out the resources that we, along with Cambridge Assessment International Education, have made available at https://bit.ly/CambridgeReady
