Organizing and managing student events and activities can be intimidating, and keeping up with it all year can be overwhelming. Fortunately, there are many ways to organize the classroom. As a result, you can save time and improve efficiency and productivity in the classroom.
To make the classroom experience much more engaging for the students, you can attempt to organize classroom events and activities. As a result, the classroom converts itself into a venue where the students and teacher can interact with each other. Furthermore, that will also assist in improving the students’ learning curve as the students can learn the lessons in depth. That will make the classroom experience fruitful and worthwhile.
Let us discuss how to organize and manage student events and activities.
1. Use a scheduling software
To schedule the classes efficiently, you may use scheduling software. As a result, you can schedule courses seamlessly. That is because scheduling classes has always been a hassle. For instance, while scheduling classes, you may have to avoid any potential conflicts in the schedule. Events scheduling software like Picktime helps organize the classes and digitalizes the scheduling system. As a result, you can make changes instantly with just a button.
Furthermore, the software sends an automated reminder via email or SMS. That way, the students get informed of the class schedule. Meanwhile, you can also integrate popular video conferencing platforms such as Google meet or Zoom for online classes. You may use the same feature to inform the parents of the class schedule. As a result, the parents also know about the class schedule and monitor the progress at home. As a teacher, you also can use the software to organize any events and activities in the classroom.
2. Group tasks
You can assign group tasks to the students to make the learning process more joyful and engaging. You may assign tasks to students from varying backgrounds. As a result, they share their ideas with their fellow students instead of formulating them themselves. That will also help the student to gain a new perspective about the lesson they learn in the classroom.
3. Lesson planning
Lesson planning is essential in enhancing the student’s classroom learning experience of the students. Before you plan the lesson, you may begin by identifying the lesson’s learning objective. The learning objective outlines what the students will learn during the classroom session and how to use the knowledge gained. That is, instead of merely exposing the students to the lecture.
You can write down the learning objectives you want to achieve in the classroom secession. As a result, you can make lesson plans effortlessly.
4. Organize the classroom
If your classroom, for instance, is in disarray, you may not be able to think straight. Therefore, you have to organize the classroom, which can overwhelm you. To manage the classroom effectively, you can divide the classroom into different zones. Imagine the classroom and think about everything that belongs in the classroom area- for instance, the teacher’s desk, reading table, files, centers, classroom library, etc.
Here you can focus on organizing one area at a time. You can begin with the teacher’s desk at the classroom’s center. You can also create a space where you can quickly find anything you want and when you want them. Meanwhile, you must find a system that works for you when you feel overwhelmed and take a break.
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5. Enacting tasks
Thinking is an essential part of learning, and students often fall into the trap of overthinking. That can hamper their ability to engage in the classroom. That’s where enacting tasks are so practical. They can make the students think independently and engage in the learning process instead of falling into the trap of overthinking. For instance, you can attempt to begin the class with an impersonating task. You can also incorporate such tasks even during the lesson. As a result, you can drive the students to imagine how a historical event may have played out.
6. Introduce jigsaw puzzles
Learning and problem-solving are more like solving puzzles. Therefore, why should you refrain from introducing them in class?
You can give the students jigsaw puzzles and even group the students to solve the puzzle. Each student in the group solves different parts of the puzzle; then, the group comes together and solves the whole puzzle. Such an exercise will give the students a broader perspective on solving a problem. Furthermore, that brings them together to solve the issues interactively. The major success of solving the puzzle lies in keeping track of the moving parts. That assists in improving the focus of the students.
7. Encourage debates among students
The students tend to have an opinion about the lesson they are about to learn. There’s always another perspective to explore on the given issue at hand. Encouraging debate among students will help them explore other views of complex ideas. With opposing views, you can assign students to argue for and against them. The students express their ideas and offer justifications. Such an exercise will get the whole class involved. Furthermore, that will help them realize there is always more than one perspective, and some issues are just black and white.
8. Peer- review
Some students often excel in one area and fail in other areas or require some assistance. Peer- review and group study sessions can encourage students to help each other. That is also a great way to instill interactivity and teamwork in the classroom. For this approach to be successful, it needs to be structured.
9. Encourage students to review the lesson
You are a teacher, but you do not always have to teach. Quite the contrary, you can encourage the students to review the lesson. This results in a more interactive classroom. Furthermore, examining the lesson will stimulate the student to look at the lesson from a different perspective. That will help the students to study the lessons deeply. For this approach to be practical, as a teacher, you must develop a lesson plan, and so do the students. That will help the students to stay organized and learn the lesson deeply.