Learning Never Stops

Central idea: Markets are organized to enable the exchange of goods and services. This is the big idea the students will learn by the end of the 4 short weeks ahead of us. How do we help them understand the role of money? The Barter trade is a good way to start. The students will be asked to bring an item that they want to barter. And then we let them loose. Chaos! The students were mingling, negotiating, persuading, assessing, planning and communicating! They clearly understood what double coincidence (during the trade) without me having to teach them anything!

I have just introduced literature circle in my classroom. I thought the kids were ready as they had been independently using reading strategies for sometime. It would be quite interesting to observe whether they were able to further their appreciation of books through literature circle discussions. After taking them through what literature circle was all about and having short mini lessons on each of the roles they were to have, I let them loose. From the videos, I could assess myself as a guide. I know :( I should talk a little less and listened more. It's good practice I think for teachers to record themselves and see where they are going wrong and what they did good. The questions we ask are so crucial. While listening, I was reflecting how I could ask better questions, pause a while longer... So at the risk of exposing myself...here goes. Excuse the quality of video. They are shot from my Android. I will try and post the other videos as soon as possible!

A good communicator is... knowledgeable charming animated uses hand,body gestures well to persuade the other person does not invade another person's space giggles politely when s/he does not agree :) Watch the video Teachers need to emphasize to their students what a good communicator looks like. I wish my teachers had in elementary school. Some things I had to learn really late in life. Broadly speaking, students need to understand that rules change when they communicate within small groups. Respect, eye contact, personal space,the ability to listen to another's point of view, and making "relevant" contributions.These could be put up on a chart as a visual reminder. Discuss with the students if they come from different cultures, what constitutes respect. A great way to bring internationalism into the classroom. Otherwise connect with another classroom through Skpe. With a larger audience in mind, they would need to throw their voice, hide their unea...