Monday, October 25th Post

I thought that Van Sluys' article on how to set up an invitation within your classroom was very informative. It is very important for the teacher to know how to create an appropriate classroom environment which would facilitate student engagement and learning. It all boils down to the teacher's role in preparation and planning. The author gives a teacher specific considerations in order to create an environment for invitations such as 1) Make time for invitations 2) Create productive workspaces 3) Organize invitations and related materials 4)Design written invitations that honor the requisite properties 5) Give students choices about invitations to pursue 6) Establish sign-up procedures 7) Make invitations interesting and engaging 8) Build in opportunities for relflection 9) Allow students to share their thinking, experiences, insights, and processes. I think the 8th topic about reflection is very important and I love how the author included examples of reflection forms and learning logs. In order to set up an effective and successful invitation, the teacher needs to carefully consider the students' interests, plan ahead with all necessary materials, and be organized.