Homeroom

Agile Concepts

  • Self-regulation

Peak Learning Practices

  • Collaboration
  • Exploration

Learning & Teaching

Middle school ‘homeroom’ consisted of 30 minute slots, two times a week. These slots were given to allow time for free learning to happen.

The only condition was that students had to ‘post’ what they were working on during the time given. The use of an adapted Kanban board, gave them the opportunity to put a task next to their name, either written or pre-populated with a sticker or magnet. Teachers were then able to easily see what was happening in the room, at a glance.

What became interesting was that students liked to take on board a range of activities. Students didn’t necessarily copy each other, but they worked in small groups without any indication from the teachers around them.

Students chose the following:

  • Home/Class work
  • Learning a language
  • Reading, writing, drawing etc
  • Building (Use of Lego)
  • Board/Card games
  • Teacher and student conferences- often in small groups or 1 on 1.
  • Peer tutoring

The atmosphere in the room during those times was a buzz of activity and the ability for students to learn, even if it wasn’t the traditional class or home work. Many students felt like this was ‘free time’ for them, yes it technically was, but actually they were developing valuable life, social and academic skills all in one. Sure, there were times when students were not on task, but this was a time for experimentation, rather than structured time for working on a specific piece of work.

Source

Questions: Paul Magnuson, [email protected], Twitter etc @zebmagnuson

Further Resources

Magnuson, P. (2017). 35 Minutes of Homeroom, The International Educator Online, (March 22).

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