Colleagues,
We are close to the holiday season and this is a time when we lose students when the classes start back. So how can we proactively prepare students for a holiday break and get them ready to return to the class.
- Revisit student goals before break. Remind them how far they've come and get them excited about coming back to class.
- Provide students with web-resources they can review during break. Ask students to reflect on what they've learned when classes return.
What ideas do you have to keep students engaged during the holidays? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Sincerely,
Kathy Tracey
Comments
I think that teachers can leverage the connection they've built with learners to combat the holiday slide. I like to put together individualized practice in a Wakelet for each student. I provide a few resources that they can use to continue learning. For classes that use an LMS, I make sure not to archive the class prior to the holiday break. I encourage learners to go back through it and practice what we covered. Some do; some don't.
Erin,
I love that you have personalized learning for your students! What a great way to keep them engaged over the holiday break. An additional strategy can be to use literature (and I'm a huge believer in using young adult literature in the classroom) and provide an appropriate reading assignment over the break. We often work with local libraries to help students understand how to connect with Internet based resources, check out books at an appropriate reading level, and other strategies.
I look forward to hearing additional ideas from our programs on engaging adult learners.