Blog Entry #6

• What strategies does the teacher use to actively engage the students? How effective are these

           It's really hard to keep first graders attention focused on you. But this one teacher does a very good job at it! She talks in a certain way that she sounds excited. And that keeps the kids thinking that something really cool or exciting is going to happen. She also uses a reward system. When she needs a volunteer or a child to come help her with something, which ALL the kids want to help, she will say "whoever is learning the most!" or "whoever is behaving the best!" and they all straighten up and pay more attention to what is going on.
           She has learned how to incorporate a lot of hands-on learning. Kids get really fidgety and so every ten minutes or so she will have them hold something, draw a picture, or just do something to get them moving. Even if she doesn't have an activity planned for them to do, she will have them stand up and get their wiggles out. They will dance or take a walking lap around the classroom and then come back and be more focused on the lesson.
           This teacher does a really awesome job at incorporating different learning styles so that it doesn't get old or repetitive for kids. She asks lots of questions and has the class answer things together. She just does whatever she can to keep the kids on their toes, and it's awesome!