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Addressing Real-Life Crises and Cultural Debate in Our Classroom
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via The Educator : November 29, 2023
It feels unfortunate and often depressing that the number of crises across our world seem to be at a high; Israel- Gaza, The Ukraine, gun-violence on our streets and in our schools and on and on. Our students, like all of us are both subjected and impacted by these events, which leave them scared, confused, or more often searching for answers.
Creating an Inviting Classroom Environment
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Middleweb : August 8, 2018
The first step to creating an inviting environment is to build a relationship with your students. Understanding who they are and responding to that in supportive ways helps you connect with them. This also teaches students that you respect who they are. Let’s look at three activities you can use to connect with students.
Five Aspects of Effective Student Goal Setting
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Share My Lesson : August 2, 2024
Goal-setting is both a way to empower students (when we set goals for them) and for them to demonstrate ownership (when they set and track their own goals). When students set goals, they also view scaffolding as a series of steps to help them achieve their goals. There are five aspects to effective goals.
Five Helpful Student Engagement Strategies
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Share My Lesson : October 22, 2019
It’s important to begin your lessons in a more complex way. Too often, we simply state the objective for the day, and jump into the lesson. I find there are two challenges with this. First, it's not engaging for students. Additionally, it doesn’t build ownership. Let’s look at several options for increasing the complexity of your lesson starters.
Five Keys to Motivating Struggling Learners
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Middleweb : June 20, 2017
The first key to motivating struggling learners is to build a positive relationship with each student. This is likely a priority for you and your teachers. I regularly see schools focusing on the caring aspect of school, and we should remember it truly is foundational to learning.
Five Rules of Student Engagement
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Middleweb : March 19, 2014
What exactly is student engagement? I recently read a comment from a teacher on an Internet discussion board. He said that his students seemed to be bored, and after talking with them, he realized that they were tired of just sitting and listening. He said they wanted to be more involved in their learning.
Five Strategies to Create a Positive Classroom Environment
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Share My Lesson : February 21, 2024
Do you want to create a more positive classroom environment? Here are five strategies you can use to help you and your students alike.
Five Ways to Strengthen Student Resilience
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Middleweb : April 11, 2017
The topic of resilience is quite popular in today’s educational circles. We know that helping students tap into or develop resilience is critical to students learning at high levels. In this article, we’ll look at five things teachers can do to encourage resilience.
Four Myths of Motivating Students
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Share My Lesson : February 24, 2019
Motivating students, especially those who seem to constantly cause trouble, can be difficult. There are four myths about motivation that, when dispelled, can help us better understand how to motivate students.
Four Ways to Increase Student Engagement in Review Games
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Share My Lesson : January 16, 2020
Whenever I needed to review content with my students, I used review games to add interest and variety. One popular game is Jeopardy, and my students enjoyed using that format of creating questions to match my answers about a topic. In retrospect, I realize there were times the game was not that engaging because some students chose not to participate, except to listen.
Guiding Your Students for Independent Work with Guide-O-Ramas
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Share My Lesson : September 30, 2020
Students often need assistance with reading text. A guide-o-rama helps the students navigate an assigned text, providing support so they can read and learn at more rigorous levels. Used by students as they read, a guide-o-rama is different from a regular outline or study guide in that it takes students by the hand and walks them through the text. It’s the next best thing to actually sitting down with a student and reading the text with them.
Helping Students Pursue Dreams of Success
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Middleweb : February 28, 2017
Ronita, one of my former students, generally struggled in class. One day, after much hard work and studying, she made an A on a project. I was so proud of her but was stunned at her response. First, she said she was “lucky.” After I assured her that wasn’t true, she thanked me for “giving” her an A.
Helping Students Track Their Own Progress
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Middleweb : February 28, 2017
When I’m too busy, I often realize that I have switched my focus from quality to quantity and have mistaken movement for achievement. Have you ever done that in your classroom?
It is an important part of the learning process to pause and reflect on what we have done and how we have done it — or in a classroom, what we have learned and how we have learned it.
Put Some Bang! at the Beginning of Lessons
By Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Middleweb : October 3, 2018
How we start out lessons in our classrooms makes a huge difference in the learning that takes place during the remaining minutes of instruction.
There are three keys to launching effective lessons. These are steps most of us have been taught, but in the daily rush to plan we may sometimes let one or more of them slip by.
Six Characteristics of Effective Praise
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Middleweb : December 6, 2015
Most teachers regularly use praise in their classrooms. However, students can interpret praise positively or negatively. Let’s look at six characteristics of effective praise, using a simple acronym:
Struggling Students, Deal with the Cause not the Effect
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Share My Lesson : September 26, 2023
It’s not just about discipline. Get ideas for determining why some students are struggling.
The Secrets to Higher Student Engagement
by Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via The Educator : December 2, 2022
Academic discourse, which is part of what John Hattie terms as classroom discussion, is when the student discussion uses academic vocabulary and student talk is focused on content and connecting that content to other learning concepts, which results in higher levels of learning,
Three Ways We Can Offer Students More Choice
By Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Middleweb : November 17, 2019
We can provide choices in several ways: in what they learn, how they learn, and how they demonstrate learning. First, despite an era of standards and accountability, students can be given choices in what they learn.
Two Steps for Teaching Grit and Resilience to Students
By Dr. Barbara Blackburn
Published via Share My Lesson : August 26, 2024
Barbara Blackburn shares practical strategies for teaching grit to help build resilience in students, including an emphasis on creating a supportive environment and fostering a growth mindset to encourage persistence in learning.
