Got Your Head in the (Word) Clouds

Active Learning

    

    Active learning is a teaching method that encourages students to engage with classroom material in more interactive and hands-on ways. Instead of simply listening to a teacher's lectures or reading textbooks, students participate in activities like discussions, group work, projects, or problem solving scenarios. This approach can help students understand and remember the information better because they’re actively involved in the learning process, rather than passively absorbing information.

    When I am planning for instruction, I try to focus on my students having a more active and engaging role to play than just sitting in their desks and listening to me drone on like one of the adults from Charlie Brown. While the lectures and the note taking are sometimes necessary, I am of the belief that if I am not having a good time teaching it, my students are more likely than not having a good time learning it. Implementing active learning strategies also allows me to sustain my students' attention for a longer period of time. I always take this victory, considering that most of my students' attention spans is akin to that of Dug the dog from the Disney classic, Up.

Image Source: GIPHY

Why Use Active Learning?

    Implementing active learning strategies in the classroom has many benefits for both teachers and students alike. For students, active learning leads to greater understanding of content, improves critical thinking skills, increases motivation, and fosters teamwork and collaboration among peers. As a teacher, I feel that using active learning strategies has boosted my students' engagement and allows me to see practical, concrete application of the skills I am teaching. Seeing how my students apply the things they have learned gives me a much clearer picture of their understanding of content as a whole, rather than relying solely on their performance on a traditional test. But don't just take it from me; hear what students at Cornell had to say about their experiences in a class that participated in the university's Active Learning Initiative!

Video Source: Youtube

Word Cloud Guessing

    Word cloud guessing is an active learning strategy that involves teachers creating and displaying word clouds to encourage discussion amongst students. In viewing the word cloud, students are challenged to guess the overall theme or topic the word cloud is describing. This strategy is often used prior to teaching a new topic, but could also be used after learning to informally assess student understanding or application of a concept.

    To test out this active learning strategy, I generated a word cloud for students to view as a way to kick off our new unit in Science about living things and ecosystems. I used the key terms and other important phrases from each lesson in this unit to generate the word cloud, then had students work with their table partner to read through the word cloud. Then, students had time to jot down ideas about what they thought was the learning topic and discuss as a class before opening their Science books to confirm their thoughts. I really enjoyed using this activity with my students because it was like watching them attempt to put together a puzzle with one missing piece. It was great to see them get excited about what we would be learning through seeing key terms they already knew and ask questions about terms that were unfamiliar to them. I will definitely be using this strategy again and would encourage you to try it out!

Image Source: Personal Word Cloud created using Mentimeter

For Your Reading Pleasure

• Use Word Clouds to Enhance Critical Thinking

• Literacy in Science: Word Clouds

• Using Word Clouds to Develop Proactive Learners

• Ten Active Learning Strategies Using Word Clouds

• 5 Ways to Use Word Clouds in the Classroom

• 10 Engaging Types of Word Clouds to Excite Your Classroom