Teaching Today publishes innovative teaching tips on a weekly basis. Written with the busy teacher in mind, each tip is concise, practical and easy to implement in the classroom right away. Topics covered in Teaching Today are classroom management, career development, high stakes testing, instruction and planning, parental involvement, reading in the content areas, using technology in the classroom, and portfolio development. Teaching Today also offers free weekly downloads that correspond to the tips. Our free downloads make implementing the teaching tips even easier. Teaching Today provides educational resources for teachers looking for everyday solutions to the challenges of the classroom.
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Teaching Today - This Week's Tips Teaching Today - This Week's Tips

This Week's Topic

Active Learning—Part 1
Adult learners like to be engaged in their learning. Active learning engages learners in the learning process. Passive learning disengages learners. This week’s tips are designed to help you with active learning techniques and activities in a variety of subjects.

This Week's Tips

Self Dialogue (Monday)
Active learning encourages learners to think reflectively about a subject. Asking students what they think and how they feel about the topic engages them in active learning. To encourage self-dialogue while not in the classroom, see this week’s Download Depot and have students try the following: Keep a journal about their thoughts and feelings about the topic. Develop a learning portfolio.

Download your free Self-Dialogue today!

Dialoguing with Others (Tuesday)
Dialoguing with others engages students in active learning. In passive learning, students listen to a lecture, or to an author when reading a book. In active learning, students dialogue with the instructor, the author of the book, and with each other. To engage your students, try these tips: Have small groups discuss an issue or solve a problem. Have students dialogue with professionals in their field of study and give an oral report on the exchange.

Active Observing (Wednesday)
Learners can observe someone else doing something either directly or vicariously. A direct observation means the student is observing the action; a vicarious observation means the student is observing a simulation of the real action. Attending a concert would be a direct observation. A vicarious observation might involve watching a movie of the concert. To keep learning active, have students observe (both directly and vicariously) the subject or action they are learning.

Learn by Active Doing (Thursday)
Learning activities that require doing include giving a speech, critiquing a piece of literature, or building a model. Use case studies, simulation, or role playing to provide ways for students to actively learn by doing.

Using the Cumulative Process (Friday)
You can multiply learning by using the cumulative process. Have students engage in self-dialogue about a subject, then have them meet in groups to discuss the subject. Next, have the groups observe an activity involving the subject. Finally, have students engage in the action themselves. Try this tip for using the cumulative process: Change the sequence of learning activities. Start with doing by posing a problem to be solved.



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