With Labor Day weekend behind us, we may feel a twinge of longing for the summer that has passed. If we’re feeling the pull back to carefree summer, chances are – our students are feeling the same way! Here is a fun way to bring a little summer into your classroom, while integrating an effective review technique. All you need is a beach ball (quick, they’re on sale right now!) and a permanent marker.

1. Brainstorm a list of common review questions you might ask in your classroom. Here are some examples: What happened? What is the main idea? How would you explain this concept to a younger student? Summarize this into 3 key words.
2. Now brainstorm a list of sentence stems that would cause a student to recall important information, or clarify questions. Here are some examples: The most important point from today’s lesson was…. I would like more clarification on …. I feel most comfortable with the concept about….Let’s review one more time the section about….
3. Once you have a good list of review questions and sentence stems, blow up your beach ball. Use you permanent marker to write these questions and stems randomly around the ball.

Introduce the beach ball review to your students. When it is time for an energizer, or at the end of class, pull out the ball, and toss to a student. The student is to respond to the question or stem that is closest to their pointer finger on their right hand. After responding, the student can toss the ball to another student. For a variation, have students stand in a circle to catch the ball.

You can create multiple beach ball review tools for different units, or you can create one general review ball which can be used throughout the year. Students will enjoy this fun twist to learning!

Working with an internationally recognized company recently, I found myself in a conversation about innovation. “We want to create a culture of innovation” they said. “We want to tap into the great resources we have in our employees, and generate ideas to solve problems creatively from within.” As the conversation continued I found myself making a direct correlation between the workplace and the classroom. I’d love to create a culture of innovation in my classroom. I’d love to tap into the great resources I have in my students. I’d love to generate ideas to solve problems that seem overwhelming – and maybe my students have some solutions. It seems so simple, but why hadn’t I thought of it before? In reality, I’ve limited my students by not giving them the opportunity to be innovators!

So where do we begin, if we want to create a culture of innovation in our classroom? How do we empower our students to be problem solvers, while tapping into their creativity and experience?

First, we must ask the question, what valuable insights do my students bring? Technological knowledge (iPods, smart phones, video games, social networking), teenage perspective, the view from the desk day-in and day-out, exposure to a variety of teachers and teaching styles…that’s just the beginning of my list. Can this insight be valuable to solving challenges in my classroom? Absolutely! Maybe it’s time we just asked for their input!

HMW’s – A way to generate ideas. IDEO,  a design and innovation consulting firm, introduces the idea of “How Might We” questions to start the brainstorming process. Present students with the stem, “How might we…” and let students complete the sentence, regarding improvements to their education environment. HMW’s might sound something like this: How might we make class time more fun? How might we minimize homework, without losing learning time? How might we connect our text book to real life? How might we learn about real-world experiences in class? How might we bring in more music during class time? Let students generate HMW’s, or provide a few general HMW’s to start student thinking.

These thought provoking questions can prompt student brainstorming. Set aside time in class for students to brainstorm ideas (quantity is better than quality at this point), and create a wall where students can continually add their ideas. When you’ve generated an abundance of ideas, let students vote on the HMW’s and responses they feel most strongly about. Have students flesh out the practical implementation steps, and look at the ramification of implementation.

Use this approach as a chance to show students that you value their input, while training them to be innovative thinkers.

The beginning of a new year is upon us. Course outlines are printed, textbooks are waiting to be checked out, and you may find yourself wondering, “How will I hook them this year?” Getting our students to connect with the content, and find relevance in what we teach, is a constant challenge. Depending on the subject you teach, this may be a minor or a major hurdle to pass. Whether you teach auto-shop or biology, agriculture science or home economics, or any other subject for that matter - this beginning of the year activity can help you connect your content to students’ natural curiosities.

The Scavenger Hunt: Give each student a copy of your syllabus, course outline, or a list of the chapters (and titles) you will cover in your text. Students are to scavenger through the newspaper, magazines, and even internet to find an article that specifically relates to one of the concepts you will cover in your course. Encourage students to find articles about subjects they are interested in, such as car racing, music, dance, sports, or movies. Then they can work backward to connect the area of interest to your class. Each student should bring in a hard copy of their article, with the concept or chapter connection clearly written on the top.

The Outcome: This activity comes with countless benefits. First, without realizing it students are previewing the course. Students should have a pretty good idea of what’s to come in your class after this activity. Second, you get to find out what students are interested in. If you end up with a ton of articles on sports, you may want to make some quick sports illustrations to play to your students’ interest. Finally, you end up with wonderful real-life resources that connect the concepts you are teaching, to what is going on in the world.

Try it out early this year, and you may be surprised at the great connections your students will make!