creating engaging classrooms

  My first post-PGCE school used to gift books on education to teachers (a great policy, one I try to continue). One day, Matt Butler handed this to me. I read it cover to cover and in typical try-to-run-before-you-can-walk enthusiasm (yep, I was one of those NQTs) I tried to institute nearly everything in it. Of course that didn't work. However, some ideas did stick and distilled down to become a core part of my classroom practice. The importance of the plenary. How vital it is to show students WHY they need to learn what you want them to. The way personal relationship can be catalysts for (re)engaging students' interests and passions.  Every couple of years I would re-read it, photocopy chapters to give to student teachers or NQTs I was mentoring. Much of the advice and ideas are timeless and, even when they have become such an ordinary part of classroom teaching that they seem obvious, it was always refreshing (in every sense of the word) to explore again the rationale beh...

 Obviously, you know how to play Bingo. So, how to use it to engage your students? Well, I like it for when I either a) have to show a longer video or b) have to read a long text with the class. Playing Bingo thus motivates them to pay attention and scaffolds them to identify key information. It's really no different than giving them a list of questions to answer, except that: 1. You are making a game of it and 2. By creating different Bingo cards you can actually increase the number of questions you can ask. There's loads of variations here: you could have students create their own cards or make them for them; you could have them listen for facts, quotations or types; the possibilities and combinations are endless. Just don't forget to reward the winners...

For my first post, the ultimate time-efficient reading game: Beep! It's super simple. As you read a text out loud to the class, you make deliberate mistakes e.g. you say Calcium Oxide instead of Calcium Carbonate; you swap Chile for China; you muddle etre and avoir . The students must follow along in their own copies and shout "Beep!" if/when they spot the mistake. Keep a score (you can also deduct points for premature beeping). Any one student who dominates (e.g. that sole native speaker in a class of language learners), make them the scorer or even get them to take over the reading and mistake making. This works on many levels: for a start, it's fun in way that reading a large chunk of text often isn't. However, in order to play students must read along with you. How often do we suspect/know that half the class has drifted off while you read aloud, even if you get the students to take turns? Beep gets them reading word for word! Finally, you can of cours...