As the managing editor of In the Classroom, I am lucky to get to hear about amazing classroom media projects on a regular basis. As more of our readers join our ranks as writers, I’ve been awed by the vast diversity of projects, skills, tools and classrooms that are using digital media to elevate student voice and engage students’ creativity.
Over this past month, I have also been inspired by the celebration of diversity involved in Women’s History Month. As March comes to a close, I want to take a minute to celebrate some of the many innovative female educators that share their stories with In the Classroom.
Here are five of my top picks:
- 5 Effective Strategies for the Inclusive Classroom, by Kristin Vogel
This is a reader favorite: our most popular blog post of all time! This post covers strategies for supporting students with special needs, including incorporating universal design for learning (UDL) principles, which are important for making any media project inclusive. - Collaborating with Kindergarteners Made My High School Students Better Writers, by Samantha Paoletti
Samantha’s personable writing style will make you laugh and will tug on your heartstrings, too. I love hearing stories about collaboration between educators and between students, especially across grade levels and school sites. Samantha’s media project engaged students who were struggling with their reading and writing skills. Like in Kristin’s post listed above, providing the right opportunity and resources allowed Samantha’s students to build their skills and shine! - ‘Watch-Think-Write’ and Other Proven Strategies for Using Video in the Classroom, by Mariana Garcia-Serrato
This is another of our most popular posts. Mariana shares useful, practical tips for engaging students with video and strengthening students’ active viewing skills. And take it from me, Mariana really knows her stuff—Mariana is a PBS Media Literacy Educator and KQED Media Literacy Innovator with years of experience incorporating all kinds of media projects in her classroom. - Using Multimedia Profiles to Tell Immigrant Stories, by Jolivette Mecenas
Jolivette used a story from KQED’s California Report as a model for her students to practice listening skills, strengthen their narrative storytelling, learn about interviewing and connect with their community. The student work included in this post is top notch! - How Blog Writing Leads to Better Essay Writing, by Stacey Cler
One of the great things about teaching media literacy skills is how they can connect with and extend traditional literacy skills. Like Samantha’s post above, Stacey focuses on how writing using a digital media format helped strengthen her students’ overall writing skills. Stacey is another PBS Media Literacy Educator, and a frequent superstar in KQED Teach courses and bootcamps. Look out for a new post from her coming soon about using audio storytelling to improve students’ narrative writing and speaking skills!
I hope these amazing female educators inspire you as much as they inspire me!
Looking for more inspiration?
Check out another list of great blog posts from one of the In the Classroom editors: Teachers Who Blog, The 20 Best of 2017.