As mentioned in previous posts, my motto for this school year is "More on them, less on me." I'm putting the students in the driver's seat of their own learning. I'll be there as the driver's ed instructor who occasionally needs to take the wheel. Keeping this in mind as I plan lessons, I've used quite a few different forms of group work during these first couple of weeks of school. Here are some of the best examples:
JR American Lit:
In the first unit, we learn about origin myths from Native American Indians. There are three myths in the textbook, and even though they are short tales, they are quite dense. So, for our study of The Navajo Origin Lesson, I put the students into small groups of 4-5, they took turns reading the tales aloud, and then they created a flow chart for the steps of the Navajo ritual they learned about. It was wonderful to walk around between the groups and hear the students instructing each other on which pictures to draw, descriptions to include, and the order in which the events happened. They were teaching each other while I walked around and clarified things like "ear of corn" ("No, don't draw ears"). The students were proud of the posters they created, and hung them on the wall at the back of the classroom. Some even corrected other groups: "You forgot the part when...". Those are some of my favorite moments as a teacher: when they correct each other on the content. :)
LDC 3:
In this class, the unit we're studying focuses on mystery. We have an Illustrated Classics edition of some Sherlock Holmes stories, and I'd like us to read one or two. To introduce the students to the elements of a detective story, though, I used some of the handouts and ideas from this lesson called Ingredients of a Mystery. After I inroduced the students to some of the vocabulary, they worked together in small groups to fill out the "Detective Case Report" handout with their own ideas for a detective mystery. Then, they had to work as a team to come up with all of the details for the story. Listening to their ideas has been fun, and watching them carefully construct a story with all of the necessary elements has been fun. They'll have to use a lot of structure later, so I might as well get them used to it now! :)
All other classes are going well. I'm allowing them to work in partners/small groups more with daily assignments. ELL students are generally so needy that I buzz around the room all day answering questions, so if they can help each other out, that saves me a trip across the room! I'm still up and moving all period, every period, though.
One student said to me today: "Miss, what they say about you is true."
I thought, oh lord!, but I asked: "What's that?"
"That you make us read...A LOT!" she said.
"Well, that's true. But you have a lot to learn." I replied.
"Yeah, that's true, too." she smiled.
I think they see what I'm trying to do for them, and they appreciate it. I haven't had any complaints so far, and have even had a few compliments and thank you's. ...So, I'll just keep doing what I think is best. :)
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Monday, August 15, 2011
1st Week Back: My Feet Are Killing Me!
This has been the smoothest 1st week back to school that I can remember. All of my preparations during preplanning really paid off, and classes have run nicely. Thanks to my seating charts, I know almost all of my new students' names, and I already have 2-3 grades for the students in each class. About the only thing that is bothering me so far is the fact that my feet ache horribly by mid-day. I know that some teachers take house shoes to wear in the classroom, but I feel like only teachers who are 50+ can pull that off in an endearing way. If I did it, I feel like a slob. :) So, I'll suffer for the sake of professionalism.
A few thoughts about my classes:
Language Arts Level II--my seating chart has proven ineffective in this class. Of course, class goes smoother when students who feel comfortable with each other can sit near each other and/or work together. What is interesting is that 5 of 17 students there are mostly using Spanish to communicate, and the other Hispanic students have requested to be moved away from them so they can practice their English with the Asian and French-speaking students. So, the left side of my classroom is made up of a very wide variety, while the right side has 5 Hispanic students. As they all feel more comfortable with each other, I'll mix them up again. For now, I'm going to learn more about each of them and their levels of English ability.
Junior American Lit--my evil 6th period class and my heavenly 1st period class from last year have both combined into 7th period JR LA. This class is a non-stop chatter box. I've decided to work with it, though, and give the students plenty of work that is group-work friendly. That way, they can interact with each other, but if they don't get their work done, it's on them. I fought 6th period to the very end of last year, so I know that it's futile to try to mold them into quiet, studious, attentive pupils. They are an unfortunate mix of loud, hyper, attention-seeking individuals, and this year I'm putting all of the responsibility on them. One-on-one, each of them is awesome. Put them together, though, and it's a 55-minute "Let me top that!" routine.
Sophomore World Lit--I have some repeaters in these classes, so it's been fun to find out how much they remember from last year. :) They actually remember quite a bit from the story of Gilgamesh so far, which only reinforces the fact that they failed more from laziness and incomplete work than a lack of learning. Hopefully, they'll apply themselves more this year. The new students seem interested in what we're learning so far. Sometimes I wonder if I break down the information too much, but so far we've had good discussions about archetype, epics, and the plot of Gilgamesh. I'm going to walk them through annotating a text tomorrow using the Ladybug projector I mentioned in a previous post. I'm not sure yet how to make them understand what it means to engage a text...I'm hoping I'll have a stroke of genius in the shower or something before I get to school in the morning. :)
Language Development Content 3--I've been using the Visions: Level C text for these students, but I can tell that it's a little too easy for some of them. The good news is I'll be teaching Night soon since freshmen LA classes study the novel, and I'm charged with teaching all FR LA supplementals to my LDC 3 class. A couple of teachers at school have offered to help me out with the materials for Night and a couple of other texts since I've never taught them before. I always hear good things from ESOL students about Night, though, so I'm excited to teach it. Hopefully, it will go well....
Well, I'm already behind in my grading, and we're only one week in! :) It's alright, though. I'd rather be a little behind than fall into bringing work home in the evening.
This week's The Good & The Bad
The Good: A student who other students have nicknamed "The Sleeper" was transferred from my class. I have only harbored chronic dislike for a student once before, but this one has made my list. The reasons go back almost a year (long story), but it's just such a relief that I don't have to look at him anymore.
The Bad: Did I mention my feet? :(
A few thoughts about my classes:
Language Arts Level II--my seating chart has proven ineffective in this class. Of course, class goes smoother when students who feel comfortable with each other can sit near each other and/or work together. What is interesting is that 5 of 17 students there are mostly using Spanish to communicate, and the other Hispanic students have requested to be moved away from them so they can practice their English with the Asian and French-speaking students. So, the left side of my classroom is made up of a very wide variety, while the right side has 5 Hispanic students. As they all feel more comfortable with each other, I'll mix them up again. For now, I'm going to learn more about each of them and their levels of English ability.
Junior American Lit--my evil 6th period class and my heavenly 1st period class from last year have both combined into 7th period JR LA. This class is a non-stop chatter box. I've decided to work with it, though, and give the students plenty of work that is group-work friendly. That way, they can interact with each other, but if they don't get their work done, it's on them. I fought 6th period to the very end of last year, so I know that it's futile to try to mold them into quiet, studious, attentive pupils. They are an unfortunate mix of loud, hyper, attention-seeking individuals, and this year I'm putting all of the responsibility on them. One-on-one, each of them is awesome. Put them together, though, and it's a 55-minute "Let me top that!" routine.
Sophomore World Lit--I have some repeaters in these classes, so it's been fun to find out how much they remember from last year. :) They actually remember quite a bit from the story of Gilgamesh so far, which only reinforces the fact that they failed more from laziness and incomplete work than a lack of learning. Hopefully, they'll apply themselves more this year. The new students seem interested in what we're learning so far. Sometimes I wonder if I break down the information too much, but so far we've had good discussions about archetype, epics, and the plot of Gilgamesh. I'm going to walk them through annotating a text tomorrow using the Ladybug projector I mentioned in a previous post. I'm not sure yet how to make them understand what it means to engage a text...I'm hoping I'll have a stroke of genius in the shower or something before I get to school in the morning. :)
Language Development Content 3--I've been using the Visions: Level C text for these students, but I can tell that it's a little too easy for some of them. The good news is I'll be teaching Night soon since freshmen LA classes study the novel, and I'm charged with teaching all FR LA supplementals to my LDC 3 class. A couple of teachers at school have offered to help me out with the materials for Night and a couple of other texts since I've never taught them before. I always hear good things from ESOL students about Night, though, so I'm excited to teach it. Hopefully, it will go well....
Well, I'm already behind in my grading, and we're only one week in! :) It's alright, though. I'd rather be a little behind than fall into bringing work home in the evening.
This week's The Good & The Bad
The Good: A student who other students have nicknamed "The Sleeper" was transferred from my class. I have only harbored chronic dislike for a student once before, but this one has made my list. The reasons go back almost a year (long story), but it's just such a relief that I don't have to look at him anymore.
The Bad: Did I mention my feet? :(
Friday, August 5, 2011
Ah...A Whole Week of Preplanning!
I don't even know how many years it's been since teachers in my district were allowed a full week of preplanning. With furloughs being the newest, most popular way for school systems to save money, planning days are often the ones to be cut. So, we've had to accomplish (or do what we could) in 2 days what usually takes 5.
This year, I feel READY! :) My biggest "to-do" items where:
1. Plan at least 2 weeks for each class, implementing some of the new ideas I got from the Literacy Institute and other professional learning this summer.
2. Make seating charts for each class
3. Fit enough desks into room for largest class
4. Organize room so I'm ready to go on first day
Among all of the other chores, tasks, meetings, and required activities I did this week, I accomplished all of these big tasks as well! Even better, I planned the entire month of August for both my World Lit and American Lit classes; AND was able to arrange my seating charts so that almost no one is sitting next to more than one person who speaks the same languages as he or she does! This will be a huge help in the lower-level English language classes. I already feel so much better about this year than I did about last year.
A colleague and I were talking today, and we agreed that we are going to be more positive this year. We both had pretty challenging experiences last year and refuse to repeat the anger, frustration, and depression. We agreed that if we say something negative about work, we have to say 2 positives as well. :)
This morning, the last day of preplanning, we were treated to a presentation by Mr. John Antonetti. I wish there was a video clip online of him speaking, because he is one of the most engaging and relevant speakers on education I've heard. His comments and stories were honest and moving, and he had the whole crowd laughing the entire time. The focus of his presentation was on engagement: that students aren't going to pay attention to something they don't have an emotional connection to or a personal experience that relates. So, we have to present the material in such a way that makes it relevant and then allow them time to FIND those connections. He said so many interesting things that I took pages and pages of notes! I'm sure I'll refer to him again in future posts.
Incidentally, my motto for this year (More on them, less on me.) goes along very well with this year's focus in my district on student engagement. Huzzah!
On a different note, I am super excited about a new addition to the Media Center: the Ladybug Lumens. I've wanted one of these since my first year of teaching when one of the presenters at my county's "New Teacher Orientation" used one. I've already checked it out to use on the first day to show my levels 2 & 3 students examples of an activity they'll complete. More importantly, though, I'm going to use it to teach my SOPH and JR level students how to annotate their texts. So, I'll make copies of certain texts that will be especially challenging or dense, and we'll work through it together (with Ladybug's help!) to annotate, discuss, and make sense of it!
Honestly, I can't wait to get started. :)
This year, I feel READY! :) My biggest "to-do" items where:
1. Plan at least 2 weeks for each class, implementing some of the new ideas I got from the Literacy Institute and other professional learning this summer.
2. Make seating charts for each class
3. Fit enough desks into room for largest class
4. Organize room so I'm ready to go on first day
Among all of the other chores, tasks, meetings, and required activities I did this week, I accomplished all of these big tasks as well! Even better, I planned the entire month of August for both my World Lit and American Lit classes; AND was able to arrange my seating charts so that almost no one is sitting next to more than one person who speaks the same languages as he or she does! This will be a huge help in the lower-level English language classes. I already feel so much better about this year than I did about last year.
A colleague and I were talking today, and we agreed that we are going to be more positive this year. We both had pretty challenging experiences last year and refuse to repeat the anger, frustration, and depression. We agreed that if we say something negative about work, we have to say 2 positives as well. :)
This morning, the last day of preplanning, we were treated to a presentation by Mr. John Antonetti. I wish there was a video clip online of him speaking, because he is one of the most engaging and relevant speakers on education I've heard. His comments and stories were honest and moving, and he had the whole crowd laughing the entire time. The focus of his presentation was on engagement: that students aren't going to pay attention to something they don't have an emotional connection to or a personal experience that relates. So, we have to present the material in such a way that makes it relevant and then allow them time to FIND those connections. He said so many interesting things that I took pages and pages of notes! I'm sure I'll refer to him again in future posts.
Incidentally, my motto for this year (More on them, less on me.) goes along very well with this year's focus in my district on student engagement. Huzzah!
On a different note, I am super excited about a new addition to the Media Center: the Ladybug Lumens. I've wanted one of these since my first year of teaching when one of the presenters at my county's "New Teacher Orientation" used one. I've already checked it out to use on the first day to show my levels 2 & 3 students examples of an activity they'll complete. More importantly, though, I'm going to use it to teach my SOPH and JR level students how to annotate their texts. So, I'll make copies of certain texts that will be especially challenging or dense, and we'll work through it together (with Ladybug's help!) to annotate, discuss, and make sense of it!
Honestly, I can't wait to get started. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)