Dear Teachers,Welcome back. Hope you and yours had a restful and happy holiday. It does seem possible that we are starting our second semester. It will go fast and your first year at GMS will be "under your belt." Actually, this blog entry is a bit late as I am in my usual disabled blog mode.
January and February are traditionally rather difficult for some of us. It's sort of the dark time of the teaching year....post-holiday and pre-spring. This is great teaching time however so just hang in there. Experienced teachers know that the time from January to March is the “heartland” of the school year. Unless winter weather interrupts your schedule, your students can discover more and focus better now than at any time.
The blog attempts continue. Maybe this time I will get things rolling. To get the "reflective" journal requirement underway, would you please think about the following and respond in a
post.
" What was the most successful teaching/learning experience that took place in your classroom first semester? Why would you say so? What made it successful?"
This will be our first "official" reflective journal entry. Hopefully, you will receive this blog post..but if not, we will resort to pre-tech paper & pen. Keep smiling..MLK is just around the corner. Liz
4 comments:
Okay, 1st semester...hmmm...
I think one of the coolest things was an idea from my PLC--color coded notebook sections. This has helped my the kids 1) keep track of their assignments; 2)organize themselves; 3)find what they need when they need it. I know that it isn't "science-y," but it is definitely something I will continue to use because it has been so valuable. It is empowering to ask a class of 30 7th graders to find a piece of paper that they did 2 weeks ago and have 27 be able to find it.
Liz, sorry that this has taken so long...
What was the most successful teaching/learning experience that took place in my classroom first semester? I would have to say using the SuccessMaker program. I have a wide range of skill levels in my math classes. This program allowed for individualized instruction, basically. The students were working on problems right at their level. They could go as fast as the wanted or as slow as they needed. With my limited Middle School Experience (i.e. none) it really allowed me to get my feet wet and see where our kids are at during these grades.
I think that the roleplays we did first semester were effective. Basically the students got into groups and then wrote and starred in their own role plays that covered certain parts of the Renaissance period. At the end of each role play presentation a "press conference" was held in which the rest of the class could "grill" the actors about the subject matter of that particular roleplay. The kids presenting really seemed to enjoy the activity and had a lot of fun with it. Also the kids in the audience seemed to enjoy learning from their peers. I think the fact that the information was being presented in a way that was kinestetic really helped them to tap into their imaginations to help visualize the events being presented.(That was a really long sentence I just wrote)
Also the group work that was done to prepare the roleplays really helped them learn more about working with different types of personalities. By the way I like this form of reflective journal - sorry it took so long to respond
One of my favorites from 1st semester is an activity that I do called Camouflaged Fish and Lizards. The students are given a picture of a fish or lizard and they are asked to color and position it in a way that the animal will be camouflaged somewhere within the classroom. After they are finished I have a teacher or administrator come in and act as the "predator". With a limited amount of time, the predator tries to catch and "eat" as many of the camouflaged animals as they can. The animals, or the students so to speak, that survive are rewarded with a lollipop.....or a kick in the butt, depending on what they need most. It’s amazing to see how hard the students work at making their animal “disappear” and how nervous and excited they get when the predator comes in. This is just one of those activities, that as a teacher, you just have to smile about, because it engages most of the students and creates a memorable experience for all of them……and it also allows me to sit on my butt for two days as the kids cut, color and tape…..which are, of course, essential learnings for our science curriculum.
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