Workshop for Teachers

Positive Behavior Management

On the 5th of June, Mrs Sejal Mody provided us a refreshing perspective to our learning journey, as she encouraged us to ‘create the buzz’ in our classrooms. For instance, introducing the class to different ‘voices’ was suggested. The Red Voice stood for ‘Do what you want’, the Blue voice implied ‘Silence’ and the Yellow voice meant ‘Activity’. Approaches to Teaching and Learning Skills (ATL) were elaborated upon, through delightful group activities and processes.

ATL approaches include, Project Based Learning (PBL) is an approach to teaching that focuses primarily on having students engage in explorations of real-world problems and challenges. Through these explorations, they develop their content knowledge, but also develop solutions to problems. This approach to teaching functions to engage students that may be disinterested in traditional content because it allows them to identify problems in their community or the world at large that they want to solve. It also provides teachers and students with opportunities to be creative. In schools that commit to project based learning, students can engage in a project, and learn all subjects as they complete their project. In this process, the teacher looks for ways to connect the subject to the project. In turn, students look to the teacher for content knowledge so they can complete their project.

Flipped Classroom

One of the most popular new approaches to teaching is the flipped classroom. Students watch lectures on video, and then return to school to engage in the exercises they would traditionally have for homework, and to ask questions based on the lecture they watched on their own at home. When students watch videos at home, they can stop and go and at their own pace, and take notes at their leisure. When they return to school, they can work in groups to discuss what they watched, and/or have their questions answered by the teacher. In this process, students create, collaborate and learn at their own pace, and apply what they have learned at home in the classroom.