By Rachelle Dene Poth

With the summer break approaching, educators and students alike could use some fresh ideas to keep the energy high and finish the year strong. I have found that the end of the school year is a great time to try some new activities and tools and use it as an opportunity to try things that may have been on a list somewhere, but that you did not have the chance to do. Why not try some different methods and different tools to help students to review in preparation for final exams, create a project or before moving on to the next level of a course. Also, depending on the course taught, some of these ideas can be carried into the summer, as a way to avoid the “summer slide.” As a Spanish teacher, students who continue to the next level will be in my class. I like to provide some options for them to stay connected with the content over the summer, but having choices is important.

There are many options for getting students more engaged in learning, some rely on tech tools and others are simple hands-on activities that have the students deciding how to use the materials to learn. Regardless of the content area or level taught, technology can open up new possibilities that might just be the catalyst to spark curiosity in students or to help to engage them more in learning, and then their own motivation can take over.  I decided to try some different strategies, tools, student developed ideas, and more importantly, to step aside more in the classroom and let the students lead.

5 Ideas for Engaging Students

Here are five different ways that I found to bring about positive changes in the classroom, engage students more in learning, and also build relationships within our classroom. Students are excited to come to class and when the bell rings, there are some sounds of disappointment. It took a little time to work through some of the logistics, which is why having a backup plan is always a good idea. Hopefully, you will be able to try a few of these and push through strong until the end of the year!

1. Games and Music: Earlier this year, I started to use more music and games in the classroom. With these, the students became more involved in creating their own games and also writing some songs, to use as mnemonic devices. Why not create a grid of categories and letters of the alphabet, and place students into small groups, and have them brainstorm ideas to fit into each category. Think of the topics you cover, and create categories and assign rows of letters. Once students complete their grid, or after a period of time has elapsed, have each group share. It can be a fun way to review, to build relationships with peers, and will give the teacher an opportunity to interact more with the students and assess the needs of the class. Another idea is to have students create a song, using course related vocabulary, and to the music of a randomly selected song. It can be a really authentic way for them to create, have fun and remember the content in a more meaningful way. For my class, the most popular song was “Despacito” and students did a great job!
2. Learning Stations: Try creating stations in your classroom by randomly dividing students into small groups, and have a different activity ready for each station. I like to mix the tech tools with traditional tools, so students can do some hands-on creating as well as interact with tools which will provide immediate feedback. Some ideas are to have a station where students make flashcards or other visual which can be used as a resource, complete a worksheet or other written activity,  use dry erase boards and come up with a way to practice. For a few tech ideas, try setting up some iPads and giving students a game of Quizizz or Kahoot to play, or watch an interactive lesson using EDPuzzle or Playposit.  Each of these tech tools can be student-paced and will provide that valuable feedback for students and teachers, and they are also fun ways to practice the content. Using stations in class leads to more opportunities for student interaction and for the teacher to work directly with each group and each student.
3. New Tech tools: Why not take the last couple of weeks of school as an opportunity to try out some of the newer tech tools or revisit some of the popular tech tools that may have some updates. In my classroom, I try to learn as much as I can about new tools, but I am eager to have my students try them in class and to give me feedback on what they think. Here are a few of the most recent tools we have tried. Each tool makes it easy to get started either by having a library of ready-made games or by integrating with a tool like Quizlet, where study sets can be used to create a game. Quizalize, GimKit, and Flipquiz. Each of these are game-based learning tools, and offer a new and exciting way to practice the course material, and also to help students continue to build peer relationships in the classroom.
4. Augmented and Virtual Reality: There is a lot of talk today about the benefit of using augmented and virtual reality tools in the classroom. There are so many different tools to choose from,  but I will recommend three tools to check out that can create more immersive learning experiences. Students can create using MetaverseApp, CoSpacesEDUand also creating or joining lessons in Nearpod. Students are very creative and offering them a chance to design an augmented or virtual reality experience, in which they include the content material and also create additional learning resources for the classroom is so beneficial. Again, there are samples available in the library for each of these tools and creating with them is something that the students catch on to rather quickly. If you are looking for a different way to do a project, and to engage students more, then trying some AR/VR might be the way to go. Using Nearpod as a way to have students work through an interactive lesson, and then adding in 3D objects or Virtual Field Trips, will really help students to better experience what they are studying. The next step would be to have the students create their own Nearpod lesson for class, multi-media, all in one tool.
5. Podcast, Video Responses and More! Ever thought about having students create a podcast to discuss a topic, perhaps interview a “special guest”, maybe someone who takes on the role of a famous person being studied, or shares their thoughts about something covered in the class. It could be a good experience for students to practice interviewing someone, or even doing their own podcast, as a way to build some confidence and have fun while doing so. Maybe use Flipgrid and have students post responses to a question of the week, or have each student post a question for the classmates to respond to. It can be a different way to engage all students in a discussion, promote student voice and implement a new tech tool in the classroom.. There are many uses for Flipgrid and Recap in the classroom, and a lot of ways that teachers can have students share their learning in these formats.

In trying one or all of these activities, students have an opportunity to be more active in the classroom, work together, build relationships, collaborate and engage in more authentic learning experiences. If you need some ideas or would like to see some student examples, let me know. The best part of trying new things in the classroom is learning right along with the students, and sometimes, they learn before you. And this is one of the best parts!