September 27-October 1, 2010

On Monday, I introduced my Reading students to the life size game board activity I had planned for them. They weren't as excited as I thought that they would be. This really disappointed me because I thought that it was going to be an awesome and fun activity for them to do. In Science, we learned about mass and weight and the difference between the two. The students had a lot of trouble with this and I partially blame myself. I do not think that I explained it as well as I could have. Also, I didn't use concrete examples to explain or show the difference to them. I think that this would have benefited the students alot. Today was the requiz for the students. Almost every single student failed the requiz. I am completely baffled as to why this happened. I wonder why the students didn't do well on the quiz? Was it something I did? Was it because it was a Monday? Was it something the students did?

On Tuesday, I realized why the students in my Reading class weren't excited yesterday. They didn't understand what the assignment actually was. They thought we were making this little tiny game board. When they found out that it was this giant game board that they themselves played on, they were ecstatic. By the time seventh period comes around, I feel that I am just extremely irritated. I feel like I need to get a tape recorder and just press play. I am not sure if it is the students in my 7th period or that it is the end of the day, but my 7th period does not pay attention or listen to a world that I say. I will literally get done saying something and no more than 1 second later someone will raise their hand and ask the same question I just answered. I wonder why this is? After having my seminar tonight, I have decided that I am going to make a survey for the students to take about their quizzes. I am really curious as to why they performed the way that they did. On the survey, I am going to ask students: if he/she understands the material, what he/she doesn't understand, why he/she may have done poorly, and if there is anything I could do to better facilitate their learning.

On Wednesday, I overslept a little bit and had an extra burst of energy. My reading class specifically asked me: What is wrong with you? I was so jumpy and excited for the lesson. My reaction to everything really livened up the class. We had a lot of fun today and I think that my enthusiasm in everything that we did really helped this. I tried to video tape my lesson today, but we had a human error and the record button was never pressed. I guess I will just have to try again tomorrow! In Science, I had the students fill out their surveys as a bell ringer. I had them keep it annoymous. As i watched them fill it out, I noticed how long it was taking them to do. I got curious so I walked around a table and noticed that they were all really concentrated on filling it out and working really hard at it. This made me feel a lot better because it told me that they really cared about this and wanted me to understand. We started our Mini Olympics today. It took a period or two to work on the kinks, but it ended up being a lot of fun. The students really had a lot of fun with it. It gave them practice measuring, while competing.

On Thursday, I read all of the responses that the students wrote on their surveys. The students were extremely honest and I am very pleased about this. They told me whether or not they understood the material and what exactly they didn't understand. They told me ways to help them. For example, playing more games, hands-on activities, more practice, and better explainations. These surveys were very beneficial for me. It has allowed me to think from the students point of view and cater to their needs and wants. I am now building my lessons around what they need and how I can best facilitate their learning (although I do this anyways, but this is more specific). I have changed my lesson plans for the remainder of this unit and have found several different ways to help them understand the material better. I have done a plethora of research! Honestly, I will glad when the metric system is over! In reading, we sang our Figurative Language rap again today. The students absolutely love it! It is so funny watching them sing and dance to. It has really helped them understand the different types of figurative language and examples to go along with them.

On Friday, I found out that one of my weaknesses is teaching unit conversion. I feel like I did a really poor job teaching it. It is not that I don't understand it because I do; it is that it is so hard to put into words. I didn't mess them up too bad though because it is something that is not needed for the test; we just like to touch on it so that they know that this type of thing exists. I had a few students know how to do all of this better than me. They did a better job explaining it than I ever could. By the time seventh period rolled around, I was a pro at it. I think this is honestly because I get more and more practice as each period goes on. I think that if I taught this again, it would definetly benefit me to consult another science teacher or a math teacher!