Alternative to Powerpoint

Continuing where I left off yesterday.

We followed up by photocopying a single graphic organizer from each of our blocks. Our block 3 looked at an organizer from block 4 and vice versa.

I projected the graphic organizer on the smart board and also gave each student a copy of the same web.

We zoomed in and looked at some of the connections on the web.

Students were instructed to look for connections that stood out to them, as either making sense, or not.

When students identified a connection that they questioned or thought that they could explain, they raised their hand.

I wanted to emphasize the link between concepts. We had students articulate the word that could be placed on the line, linking the concepts.

Next time students complete a web we may have them write the linking words on the line connecting the concepts.

However, I also think there is something to be said for initially NOT having students placing the linking words on their webs, particularly if they are going to share with a partner.

If the linking words are initially omitted, the partner can then try to make sense of the connections, talking to the creator about them. These discussions are valuable. And, I think, are different, less meaningful, if the linking words are already written on the graphic organizer when it is shared for the first time.

Before turning the graphic organizers in to me, I would have students write the linking words on their webs. This makes assessing them easier. 

As an alternative to powerpoint notes, I highly recommend this approach. I also want to emphasize that there are a lot of permutations to this approach that I will explore in future posts.       

An alternative to a linear powerpoint presentation

I have just a few moments to blog, but I did something today that I think has some potential to encourage some of the behaviors we are looking for in our classrooms, especially active listening and making connections. As anyone who reads my posts knows, my students are responsible for knowing a lot of content. In my department, we work with each other creating common tests.  

In an attempt to avoid delivering content to students via powerpoint, which is so linear and, often, boring. I made a list of some topics that students will see on an upcoming assessment. 

As I discussed in yesterday's post, when teaching about the Russian Revolution, I try to activate students' prior knowledge about the French Revolution, to help them consider how that knowledge might help us, or in some cases hinder us, in our attempts to make sense of the Russian Revolution.

After giving students a brief overview of our next topic and making some references and connections to the French Revolution, I had them read the textbook intro of the Russian Rev for about 10 mins (This might  have been an ideal HW assignment, but assigning HW like this has certain issues as well). 

Some students struggled to complete even a few paragraphs in the assigned time. Most, however, managed to read enough to ask a few questions and to repeat some statements about what the text had to say about Russia before World War I. This was all we needed to get going.

 

As a group, we looked at the list of the terms that I had typed. I still had to direct students and discuss with them how different concepts were connected. We were all much more active and engaged! 

And, and this is what I was hoping for, many students knew enough or could use context clues to make connections. For example, spotting Nicholas' wife was easy (only female on the list!), but students could also tell me why she was likely from Germany, connecting to what they had previously learned about political marriages.

While working our way through the list (not in a linear way!), most students were engaged, recording brief notes on their list of terms and paying particular attention to how various items were linked. 

When finished, they had learned enough and had some notes, where they could quickly partner up and work on their graphic organizers.

It's important to emphasize that students made their graphic organizers AFTER we had a chance to talk about all of the items on the list. This, I think, forced them to step back and check how much they had learned. Though just a first step, they were beginning to process the content on a more meaningful level.  

There is a part II to this assignment that I will discuss tomorrow.

Note: It would have been nice if I had some images to pull up as we discussed some of the people and topics. I will do that next time. The pace was fairly fast and active: two features which are often missing from powerpoint slideshows.