My students are craving a “normal” classroom environment during Covid. Masks are hard. Social distancing is hard. School is just hard this year, right? Here’s how I’m keeping my students active in the classroom, while keeping my students safe.
I have a mix of in person classes and virtual. For my in person classes, I’ve used the following strategies successfully and my students have loved the “this feels like normal school” activities. I know every school has different protocols. We are expected to wear masks 100% of the time, use hand sanitizer often and clean off the desks after each class. We also have desk shields and are asked to social distance in our classes as much as possible. Full disclosure: I have a tiny classroom and have been given permission to pair up my desks.
Here are some ways to keep your students active that have worked for me this year:
- Class sets of readings in sheet protectors. I clean them off after each use.
- Gallery walks – These are perfect for social distancing! I just use the hallway outside my classroom and double the amount of readings/visuals so that students are spread out more than normal.
- Visual Summaries – my favorite strategy!
Students pair up (hand sanitizer and masks required). Student A reads a summary of the content, while student B sorts pictures according to the summary. When they finish, they put the reading away and retell the summary. If they get stuck, they pull out the summary for help.
It’s a great way to build background! Prior to Covid, I kept the same set of visuals all day (in baggies) to use with every class. Now I have students cut out their own visuals before the activity. I have these made for you on the following topics.
For early American History:
Jamestown, The 1st Great Awakening, Louisiana Purchase, War of 1812, Manifest Destiny/US Mexican War, Civil War Battles,
For the second half of US History:
Spanish American War, Origins of the Cold War. Kids love them!
- Flipgrid – Great way to see the faces of students and have them interact with classmates.
- Walk and talk – I’m really loving this active strategy this year! I use walk and talk to review or discuss an issue. By the way, I teach juniors who are really responsible and know my behavior expectations.
Here’s how I do it. I pose a topic to students in my classroom. Example: Problems of the Gilded Age. I pair students up (sometimes I let them pick a partner, sometimes I pick for them) and give them the following instructions: Stand up and take a walk (I give them the “allowed” areas of our building) for 5-10 minutes. As you walk, discuss the topic and be prepared to share when you return. We check the time and set the “be back” time and I let them go. You could also go outside for the walk.
Benefits of Walk and Talk? They get out of the classroom for a few minutes and get out from behind from the desk shields! When we return, we do a brain dump on our desktops using dry erase markers to review.
- Bingo and Jenga to review – I keep the Bingo boards and Jenga questions in sleeve protectors or laminate them. I just clean them off after each class.
All in all, I’m trying to keep my classroom as interactive as possible. Kids are kids. They want some sort of normalcy to their day. I’m doing my best to give that to them.
What are you doing to keep your classes active?
