Teacher's ToolBox

                                            What is Culturally Responsive Teaching? Initially, when I heard this term I felt very alien but when I read more about it and applied it in my daily classroom strategies I found it quite simple and helpful It just makes us focus a little more on the connection of cultures with content and making our students brain wire with experiences that match the content. Few strategies really help to reframe your classroom dynamics which make things effective and suitable for all learners. Sharing some top tips from my research and application: 1. Gamification 2. Social interaction 3. Pairing in groups 4. Incentive to participate. 5. Asking to share ideas for projects or activities 6. Allow them to share through personal chat. 7. Have a one-on-one session with the EAL learners and understand their fears and strengths. 8. Motivation with appreciati...

                                             Easy and Amazing ways to edit and merge PDF's  As a teacher, I often find editing or merging PDFs as great trouble. It is so taxing that making the paper seems like a high stress. So I happen to research and found a very easy-to-use and free tool to ease my work. Hence sharing with you all as well. Have a look at the video above and get the benefit to ease yourself of the stress of making papers and documents.

            Linking Drama with Technology to learn core concepts Drama is a great way to connect links with any subject. Believe me, it acts wonders for your class. I happen to give key terms for a topic: Computer architecture and told them to research and make a mind map to discuss further. While the discussion started I had very limited participation from my class. So I changed it to an activity where students had to research and role-play particular key terms and introduce themselves as that character to the class. Wow....what a change in the dynamics of my class. I had students saying dialogues as Operating System, User Interface, Compiler and sharing their features. I due course the whole class was already ready with the understanding of the key terms and their basic concepts. Feedback from students: Can we have more lessons like this? Teacher: Thrilled to see positive responses even from the EAL students as they were allowed to perform in their native...

  10 Things Culturally Responsive Teachers do: After reading an article and researching more on culturally responsive teaching I happen to realize the following: 1. Pronounce my EAL student's name correctly : It's important to make my student comfortable in class and give them a feeling of belonging which then helps to create the rapport further between a teacher and a student.  2. Keep trying till you get the name correct : Practice calling the EAL students names correctly with their help and ask how they would like to be called. Not to use easy English nick names. 3. Invite EAL students to use their native language in class -they will get an opportunity to connect with students who know the language or are learning it. 4. Share stories with EAL experiences -allowing them to feel comfortable and open to the learning environment. 5. Allow EAL's to share their experiences -as they travel across they have a plethora of experiences that can make other students understand them...