For many of you, school starting means another year of walking, listening, and learning with The Walking Classroom! As we know you have plenty of preparing to do, we are here to help. We have several ways to support you in your implementation of The Walking Classroom as you get back on the trail!
Tackle the Teacher Guide
The Teacher’s Guide is an invaluable resource. It provides complete lesson plans for each podcast, including a synopsis, standards addressed, objectives, procedure, discussion questions, and comprehension quiz!
The guide begins with useful program management tips as well as a series of lessons to introduce your students to The Walking Classroom. Whether you are new to program or a veteran adopter, those are helpful to review. Taking a few extra minutes of class time at the start of the year to establish routines and review expectations will guarantee happy trails for all!
In addition, the Appendix provides some FAQ’s, background material on the program, podcast listings, and more. Not currently using the Teacher Guide? You are missing out!
Sharing a class set among several teachers and looking for an alternative to the print version of the binder? Check out the (especially environmentally friendly!) electronic version of the guide, offered for both the STEM and the Complete Programs!
Be Watching the Blog (and Looking for Those Quarterly Newsletters)!
We began this blog not just to provide folks with relevant resources, information, and ideas, but also so that program adopters could share their own insights and experiences with The Walking Classroom. We encourage (and appreciate!) your active participation. Feel free to contribute your comments on blog posts or share your story. We would love to hear from you!
Similarly, our quarterly e-mail newsletters help us keep in touch with our many adopters, to share news, ideas, and (occasionally) special offers! As our adopters’ needs vary depending on where they use the program, we have separate targeted newsletters for our in-school adopters and our out-of-school adopters.
. . . and Take Advantage of those Adopter Resources!
Over the past several years, we have enhanced the free resources we provide. If you haven’t explored these yet, they’re definitely worth a look! And, especially now, as we have recently updated our Adopter Resources page to make it much more user-friendly! If you have not yet set up an Adopter Resources account to access the many resources we provide, let us know and we can help!
Slide Decks
The slide decks contain supplemental information for each of the podcasts within all of our program offerings past and present (Program 4, Program 5, STEM, and the Complete Program). Complete with a podcast summary, key terms, and discussion questions, the slide decks make it a breeze to introduce those podcast topics!
Looking for ways to support different learning styles or to differentiate instruction? Not only are the slide decks great resources to enhance the experience for your visual learners pre-walk and post-walk, they also help support your English language learners!
› See a sample slide deck for our Idioms podcast!
Electronic Quizzes
Trying to minimize potential paper piles? No problem! All of the podcasts’ comprehension quizzes are also available via Google Forms.
Students complete quizzes online where their answers are recorded, then teachers view student responses live or have students complete the quiz and then grade it using Flubaroo, a free add-on!
› View a sample electronic quiz!
Supplemental Videos
In addition to the slide decks and electronic quizzes, we also list suggested videos for each podcast to extend the lesson or to provide a brief follow-up to your walk.
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