Activities and Technology in the Classroom By: Rhianna Mooney Arkansas State University Rhianna.mooney@smail.astate.edu Education Workshop April 4,2016

Students Today What are students in the classroom like today? Some are bored and tired of the same things everyday at school Some don’t enjoy school at all anymore Some don’t care to pay attention in the classroom What do students want in the classroom? Students don’t want any classwork or homework Students don’t want to have test Students don’t want to listen to a lecture during class Students don’t want to take notes Students WANT to just have fun

Teachers Today What are teachers like in the classroom today? Some are behind on grading papers Some enjoy giving busy work Some like their classroom quiet In order to keep their classroom quiet they make the students read the entire class or try to give them work that will last the entire period Some teachers like to talk all class and want their students to take notes Some teachers claim to want to have a discussion, but get frustrated when their students are too timid to answer discussion questions

Teachers Today Continued What do teachers want in their classrooms Teachers want order in their class Teachers want students to corporate in the classroom Teachers want their students to enjoy what they enjoy Teachers want to be able to teach their lessons the same way to each group of students without alter

How can we make it better? Activities: what other way to get everyone involved in the classrooms Yes this means there must be a little extra work done from the teachers, but why wouldn’t you want to enjoy your class everyday Students are looking for something fresh and fun, that is their new way of learning Students are tired of doing the same things in class everyday They want to have work that they don’t realize is work Their attention spans aren’t long enough to sit through lectures anymore

Too much activity…Distraction? Make every class count There is no reason that you are doing things in class without a purpose That will lead to distractions and bad habits Bad habits meaning the students will get use to doing pointless things and that will turn into the students having fun without learning the lesson or the goal of the class. There should not be activities done without prior discussion about the lesson Just having activities will lead to no educational learning, but students will learn as long as they see a purpose of the activity.

Types of activities There are many ways to engage your students with activities in the classroom. Science classes: Use tools for students to actually play with in class instead of talking about it Students would rather do an actual experiment or an entertaining project in class instead of reading the chapter and answering the questions at the end Math classes: Play more games to quiz the students on the concepts of the math lessons Students want to see progress in difficult subjects like this instead of seeing poor grades from quizzes and test This will also boost their confidence because they will notice that the homework and the notes in class are becoming easier prior to the test.

Types of activities continued Other subjects that mostly involve reading can also become engaging History: There are some interesting topics and debating on some of those topics while using facts from history is a great way to get students engaged and learn in the process English can also participate in debates English: The choice in books will determine how engage the students will be in the classroom. When students hear shakesphere they get discouraged and uninterested because they know how complex his work is, but if you present some genres such as high school drama or school drama, they will want to read and talk

Technology in the classroom Students seem to already be distracted with technology so why bring that into the classroom Students are addicted to their phones and social media, but letting them use the technology that is in the classroom will keep them off of their phones and engaged in class Let the students use the computers for research and let students use the SMARTboard to answer questions in class There are programs that students can use that will help students get engaged in the class too Create a social media page with your class to show that they can have a fun class and post fun things on their page.

Make it about the students The purpose of all of this is to make sure that the students are included in the class Teachers should not just be standing in front of students a talking to them about the subject Teachers should be talking with their students about a lesson Students should be involved and not feel like the teacher is someone to be afraid of Teachers should be able to understand and hear their students, listen to what they would like to do in the classroom Sometimes there will be conflict, but that does not mean that students don’t have great ideas

Make it about the students continued The classroom should not be about student and teacher, it should be about a group being guided by a person who has knowledge on the subject Teachers should strive to make their students comfortable and capable of being independent Teachers who are strict seem to spoon feed students because they have detailed and unnecessary instructions on all of their assignments. That cause students to lose their creativity and love for learning

Resources Here are a few website to help you find activities for the class Interactive Activities Engaging classroom games Education World