There are always days when we have to do things we don't want to... but there are also days when things fall into place, and today (so far) has been one of those days.*
As a 6th-year teacher, I've always struggled with time management of classes, lesson planning, and other facets of teaching. However, sometimes a lesson just works (for no clear reason)! To this day, I don't understand why some well-planned lessons fail and some off-the-cuff lessons are awesome.
Anyway, this is just a reminder to me why I teach (and has nothing to do with my Fb detox, so feel free to disregard). I feel I did a nice job differentiating today (which is time-consuming but worth the effort)... I separated the kids into 3 vocabulary groups, determined by each student's score on a pretest. I gave the groups 15 minutes to work together on their vocab, and it went pretty well. I think the kids were relieved that their words are now at their level, and not too difficult or easy, as was the case last term.
Second, we did a whole-class vocabulary activity on context clues, and I think it went pretty well. I tried to make sure each student was engaged and that they understood. After that, I implemented my new "super bonus challenge" cards, that are really just index cards with a task written on them. (For example, they say things like, "Show me your English notebook," or "What percent of your grade is participation?" or "Spell the word 'soldier'" or "What's the meaning of the word 'kamikaze'?" and so forth. I choose students randomly, and they have to complete the task within 30 seconds. For some reason, they get really into this.
Next, we talked about the Six Traits of Writing, which was actually pretty fun (especially giving bad examples!). Finally, the students wrote a brief reflection on WWII (which is our topic this term), and tomorrow we'll "grade" them on the Six Traits rubric, and then each student will "grade" a partner's work, followed by a reflection.
The point is: this was all potentially dry material, but for some reason, we just "flowed" today. We laughed and smiled a lot, the kids were engaged, and we ended the class feeling pretty good as a group (I hope!). Why can't all lessons being like this??? (Oh, and having just 11 kids in the class is DEFINITELY a huge part of our cohesion!)
Ok, that's it for now. Random post, but hopefully this'll be a reminder of why I chose the profession I did. Cheers! :)
*This feeling reminds me of the beginning of Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, which we're reading in 5th grade English class. It opens: "When I left my office that beautiful spring day, I had no idea what was in store for me. To begin with, everything was too perfect for anything unusual to happen. It was one of those days when a man feels good, feels like speaking to his neighbor, is glad to live in a country like ours, and proud of his government. You know what I mean, one of those rare days when everything is right and nothing is wrong." (I obviously do not share his sentiments about country or government, but the mood is reminiscent!)
As a 6th-year teacher, I've always struggled with time management of classes, lesson planning, and other facets of teaching. However, sometimes a lesson just works (for no clear reason)! To this day, I don't understand why some well-planned lessons fail and some off-the-cuff lessons are awesome.
Anyway, this is just a reminder to me why I teach (and has nothing to do with my Fb detox, so feel free to disregard). I feel I did a nice job differentiating today (which is time-consuming but worth the effort)... I separated the kids into 3 vocabulary groups, determined by each student's score on a pretest. I gave the groups 15 minutes to work together on their vocab, and it went pretty well. I think the kids were relieved that their words are now at their level, and not too difficult or easy, as was the case last term.
Second, we did a whole-class vocabulary activity on context clues, and I think it went pretty well. I tried to make sure each student was engaged and that they understood. After that, I implemented my new "super bonus challenge" cards, that are really just index cards with a task written on them. (For example, they say things like, "Show me your English notebook," or "What percent of your grade is participation?" or "Spell the word 'soldier'" or "What's the meaning of the word 'kamikaze'?" and so forth. I choose students randomly, and they have to complete the task within 30 seconds. For some reason, they get really into this.
Next, we talked about the Six Traits of Writing, which was actually pretty fun (especially giving bad examples!). Finally, the students wrote a brief reflection on WWII (which is our topic this term), and tomorrow we'll "grade" them on the Six Traits rubric, and then each student will "grade" a partner's work, followed by a reflection.
The point is: this was all potentially dry material, but for some reason, we just "flowed" today. We laughed and smiled a lot, the kids were engaged, and we ended the class feeling pretty good as a group (I hope!). Why can't all lessons being like this??? (Oh, and having just 11 kids in the class is DEFINITELY a huge part of our cohesion!)
Ok, that's it for now. Random post, but hopefully this'll be a reminder of why I chose the profession I did. Cheers! :)
*This feeling reminds me of the beginning of Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls, which we're reading in 5th grade English class. It opens: "When I left my office that beautiful spring day, I had no idea what was in store for me. To begin with, everything was too perfect for anything unusual to happen. It was one of those days when a man feels good, feels like speaking to his neighbor, is glad to live in a country like ours, and proud of his government. You know what I mean, one of those rare days when everything is right and nothing is wrong." (I obviously do not share his sentiments about country or government, but the mood is reminiscent!)
No comments:
Post a Comment