Blog - Visionary Teaching

How To Play ‘Would You Rather?’ During a Virtual Lesson

Would You Rather? is both a classic ice breaker game and a powerful educational activity. I find that many teachers are aware of Would You Rather?, but have not considered how it can be used academically. The rules are simple. The...

Opportunities to Respond That Improve Engagement & Learning

Opportunities to respond (OTR) include instances where teachers elicit answers or responses from students. Unfortunately, the traditional OTR involves teachers calling on one student at a time to answer a question. When we call on a single student, it makes it easy...

Choice Boards: A Powerful Way to Engage & Assess Your Students

Using choice boards just makes sense! Every individual student represents a unique blend of strengths, interests, needs, experiences, and background knowledge, so it stands to reason that a one-size-fits-all approach to assessment is not ideal. Giving students some...

How to Engage Your Whole Class with Pinch Cards

Teachers are always looking for new ways to engage and educate students. Pinch cards offer simple, but powerful opportunities for students to respond to teacher questions or discussion points. As discussed in a previous blog post, the traditional model of one student...

Science Choice Boards: A Formula for Authentic Assessment

This post will be short on theory and long on materials that you can use with your class. We have previously discussed the why and how of using choice boards for assessment. As follows are 5 choice boards that you can use for...

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Choice Board Book Reports Are Amazing! Get Started Here.

Visionary Teaching has previously explored the use of choice boards for student assessment opportunities. In this article, we will look at how choice board book reports help students deliver amazing projects that play to...

Equity in Schools: What it Means & Why it is Important

Equity is a hot button issue in American public schools. Educators work hard to provide the best possible instruction for their students. In some places, the idea of equity in schools seems to be misunderstood. The issue may be a...

Taking the Think-Pair-Share Teaching Strategy to the Next Level

If you are a veteran teacher, you are likely familiar with the think-pair-share strategy. This version of the activity takes interaction to the next level by offering multiple opportunities to respond and increasing interaction with content and peers. The teacher...

Have You Tried These Innovative & Engaging Exit Tickets?

Exit Tickets are growing in popularity across the field of education, and for good reason. A thoughtfully-crafted Exit Ticket activity can provide valuable formative assessment data to educators, and to the students themselves. What is formative...

7 Teaching Strategies That Will Lead to an Amazing Year

As I write this post, teachers across the world are returning to their classrooms for a new school year. Educators are always looking for new teaching strategies to update their practices. Below are seven amazing ideas to get your school year started off right. We...

Icebreaker Bingo: The Ultimate Getting to Know You Game

Icebreaker Bingo is truly the ultimate getting to know you activity for large groups. It is perfect for students at the beginning of a school year or for adult audiences at the beginning of a workshop or conference. You can successfully play Icebreaker...

Excellent Ways to Foster Student Choice in the Classroom

Think about your own learning preferences. Do you prefer to work alone or in small groups? Do you prefer to learn a new skill by reading about it or by watching a video about it? You have likely developed clear preferences and, further, you likely enjoy the...

100 Great Questions for the ‘Turn Your Camera On If’ Game

The Turn Your Camera On If game has become very popular over the past year and a half. The game is also frequently called Camera On Camera Off and can be played on Zoom or other virtual platforms with camera access. Teachers, trainers, counselors, and youth group...