If you’re a teacher who spends time online, your algorithm probably sends you various teaching hacks from teacher influencers. Megan Kelly was curious to see if these teaching tips actually translate to the real world. Here are some of her recent favorite fun discoveries.
Megan Kelly finds it pretty amazing that we can make small adjustments to our lessons and help our students’ brains focus and work more efficiently. In recent years she’s added a range of consolidation strategies to her classes to do just that. Here are four of her favorites.
Each year our mission is to build community so that middle schoolers can make friends, learn, and thrive. Megan Kelly shares activities that are breaks in the routine to allow students to enjoy themselves and work together, building trust for the more complex tasks ahead.
Megan Kelly understands the learning power of academic conversation. To tap into that power source, she introduces activities that have middle schoolers speaking to each other in a variety of configurations – increasing confidence, growing vocabulary, and building community.
Media LIteracy / Wide Open Learning
by Megan Kelly · Published 12/15/2024 · Last modified 01/01/2025
Concerned by the News Literacy Project’s survey revealing teens’ difficulties in separating fact and fiction, Megan Kelly is finding as many classroom minutes as possible to build her students’ media literacy skills. She shares some quick activities her classes like best.
How do we infuse fun into our classes and keep the content fresh in our students’ minds? Keeping in mind that physical activity enhances academic performance, Megan Kelly shares activities she uses with her 6th graders to have fun while emphasizing the content they are studying.
Research is a muscle Megan Kelly’s 6th grade social studies students are still building, and just like muscles, their skills get stronger with repetition. The goal is to make sure that the repetition isn’t tedious. Here are some ways she’s improving students’ research savvy.
To make sure social studies content reading is accessible to all of her students, no matter their level of reading when they arrive, Megan Kelly has added strategies to her literacy toolbox to create entry points for everyone. See the six activities she’s developed so far.
Building Relationships / Wide Open Learning
by Megan Kelly · Published 11/26/2023 · Last modified 08/04/2024
Megan Kelly writes about improvements in her student relationships after trying out strategies adapted from Zaretta Hammond’s Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain. One key insight: talking with kids about their lives and personal interests can boost in-class learning.
The authors of Educating for Global Competence break down what global competence is and then give examples and advice on how teachers can help students achieve it. International teacher Megan Kelly recommends the book as a resource to engage students in global citizenship.
