Education expert Mark Barnes in a post for SmartBlog on Education has defined several ways for educators to begin implementing positive changes in their classroom today without the need of a convoluted and easily-outdated five-year implementation plan.

"It’s time for all education stakeholders to reframe their thinking and to change their attitudes. It’s time to solve problems today. Here are five solve-today-implement-tomorrow strategies that are sure to improve teaching and learning at your school," Barnes said.

Among the things that Barnes recommends educators begin doing, he says the first step is to engage learners using the powerful learning tools that often get left out of the classroom: mobile devices

"[T]here is no better way to engage all learners than by telling your students to bring their mobile devices to class, so they can text their peers or share their thoughts on Twitter or Instagram. Plus, activities like these present wonderful opportunities to teach appropriate use and online safety, lessons our students don’t get enough of outside school."

"All you need is Internet access and a few computers, tablets or mobile devices, and you can involve all your students in a remarkable conversation about any subject," he said.

Tied into this concept is what Barnes says is the importance of making sure students are prompted to reflect, whether it be by using social media or not.

He says an important thing to add to the daily classroom routine is the act of reflecting on what's learned.

"Give your students a space to write — a blog, a social network or even a spiral notebook, and plan as little as five minutes at the end of class for process writing. Build these journal entries around questions such as, What did I learn? Why is it important? What is unclear? How can I explain this in under a minute?"

He also emphasizes the importance of developing some sort of professional learning network to build a community of peers to share ideas and experiences with as well as the importance of educators taking time to meditate and de-stress on a regular basis.

Read his full post here and comment with your thoughts below.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

08/31/2015