Excellent Books about Education

I am currently reading "Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire" by Rafe Esquith. It is an inspiring book with a lot of good and practical ideas sprinkled throughout.

I am also still slowly digesting "The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher's Life" by Parker J. Palmer, also an excellent book about being a teacher and a good source for inspiration and encouragement, if less of a hands-on guide.

I know there are lots of other excellent books out there, and will add more as I come across them.

Thinking Hats

This strategy is used for collaborative problem solving.
methods:
1.assign groups of 5 students
2. withing each group, ask students to each consider a different perspective to a problem. In other words wear a "different hat."
1. describes what is known about the problem
2. gives feelings about the problem
3. tells what is not known about problem
4. thinks of any associations or images
5. lists ideas not related to the problem ( ie non-examples)

Inside Outside Circle

Set topic/ Set time limit for discussion1.
1. Assign students to position chairs in two circle, one inside the other, the inside one facing outwards and the outside circle facing inwards.
2. Assign topic to be discussed between partners
3. After 2 minutes inside circle shifts right and discussions start again with new partner

One Behind Game

Students copy actions of teacher following one behind. For instance: teacher hops up and down. Teacher changes action to touching toes and students copy by hopping up and down. Once teacher switches to a third action the students copy the second action. The students actions are always one behind the teacher. Teacher can use this game to move students from one activity to another or just to get students moving to refocus them.
Source: George Kelly

BINGO Card Activity Sheet

For P.E. exercies or other station-based activities, provide students with BINGO cards listing all of the different stations. Give them a sticker on the card when they have completed an activity.

Source: George Kelly

Avery Label Anecdotal Notes

Pre-print a sheet of "Avery Labels" (used for addresses - I think you can usually get a sheet with 30 or so) with the (code)names of students in your class. Write anecdotal notes on the labels and stick them in a file for the student as you complete them. When all of the labels are gone, you know you have made notes on each student in the class.

Group Formation Objects

Distribute some kind of object with various attributes to students (eg. toy dinosaurs of different species in different colours). Have students group themselves based on their objects without speaking. So, for example, all of the RED STEGOSAURUSES would have to find each other and make a group.

Source: Cathy Grunland