Using an ACTIVboard to improve the social dynamic in a classroom

[Peter_Kent]

Hello All,

I placed this post up around 12 months ago and received no replies at that time, so I thought I would give it a go again.

Cheers

Peter

Once corresponding with a teacher about their use of IWBs she stated that:



“As it was a small class there was lots of prompting from the group, especially after a wrong choice. It also gave the teacher and I a chance to tackle a tendency to put each other down in this group, as it was much more fun to help each other by discussing the concepts rather than guessing answers, as they tended to do through lack of confidence.”



Does anyone else have any instances or insights as to how an ACTIVboard can contribute to an improved social dynamic within the classroom? In this regard I am hoping to look past the well documented enhancement in student engagement / enthusiasm, even though this is obviously important.



My hunch is that the quality of relationships within a classroom is often determined by the quality and effectiveness of communication and sharing between individuals.

If via an ACTIVboard we can aid students to more effectively express themselves and what they have to ‘say’, class members should have a deeper understanding of each other which should lead to more resilient relationships, or at least a slightly greater level of tolerance between the students.


Does anyone else have experiences around improving the social dynamic in a classroom using Activboards that can either confirm or deny this hunch?



If so do you have any Activboard usage 'tips' that assist in making your classroom a 'nicer' place to be.



Peter Kent



"the guts of teaching is simple - it is the relationships between a teacher and a group of students"

[caryn]

Hi Peter
I only got my activotes just before the end of term but I found they really engaged the children with each other. (7 year olds) After the initial yes/no questioning I started putting up more open ended ones - what would you do? How could you help? Is this fair? using a variety of images. We have been doing Circle Time for quite a few years but it was often hard to get the quieter children to give their opinions. With the activote they were more willing to share and when they saw that others had the same opinion they would expand on their answers. I felt it strengthened relationships within my room and those children who sometimes felt isolated from the "in group" were reconnised as being an important part of the classroom dynamic.
Any other ideas for expanding this next year would be great!

[J Boucke]

Peter ,

I design many of my flipcharts with "the student as teacher" in mind. While a student is doing the presentation I can be moving about the room "managing the class" and not be the "sage on the stage". In this case "the sage" is the student teacher for the day. One student in the room is in charge of selecting the rotating position of the teacher of the day. The student of the day knows how to randomly call on students for responses. My response here on the forum is limited, but the dynamic in the classroom has been wonderful. The Activboard has made a student centered room much more easy to achieve on a daily basis.

[psparkes]

Hi Peter,

I did a tutorial with you last year at IWBnet at St Bernadettes.

I am at a Catholic School in Sydney.

Like the last reply said, I am teaching my students to be the teacher. Having had a few prac teachers over the years, I am using the same encouragement to teach the students to be leaders and also the group to be respectful of this. My Year 9 group are excellent at it.

I must add another HUGE observation. The boys in my Science class are active learners. They are not passive, the technology appeals to them and they are actively involved because of the IWB. I have had to teach the girls to compete with them and jostle for front seats in the class.

Another important observation is the students are talking to their parents about lessons. The feedback at Parent/Teacher night is "I can't believe how much we talk about Science because of your teaching", and I reply "it's the IWB".[clap]

Thanks Peter.