So, I’m not really sure if this counts as a new tool or strategy but one thing I have done this year differently is I created a lunch club called eMammal for students who are interested in science. We meet every Wednesday at lunch and explore the world of science. This group of students not only deals with the eMammal project directly, but also explores a variety of different science experiments.
Many students can’t stay after school for a particular club so making it during the day allows an opportunity that wouldn’t necessarily be there. As a new teacher I have all these great ideas of things that I would like to try and this smaller group allows me to see if it would actually be reasonable on a larger scale. Many of us know that experiments with 15-20 students is much easier (and affordable) than with 140 students. The students have kind of become a panel for me to bounce ideas back and forth to get a students perspective on what its like for them. Feedback from these students have helped me rework lessons, build on old things, and even try some new materials with all of my classes.
Like I said I’m not sure is this is considered a new “tool”, but I know that my teaching style changes almost each week for the better because I decided to take on this eMammal Team.