With Orchid's help, I am trying to change up things in my classroom. Last week, I tried different activities to get the day started right: assignments with more of a personal connection that let students draw (they LOVE to draw). I think this is a step in the right direction: even my students who have trouble doing much in the morning were asking later, "when can we finish up that assignment?"
I also did a mini-lesson that used the local supermarket to explain what a text structure is and why it's useful. The students were quite enthusiastic; a couple of my boys in the front got up and came to the board to point out the exact locations of different food departments. I'm still refining the lesson, but it was great to see them interested.
I'm hoping for positive changes for some students as well. Junior did some things last week that led to an in-school suspension, and mom is scheduled to attend a before-school meeting tomorrow. I'm hoping Junior, his mom, the counselor and I can figure out together how to get him on track. I can tell Junior is frustrated with me, and I hope tomorrow's meeting will show us a different path. I see a lot of promise in him, but I'm not sure he knows that. The interesting thing about Junior is that I've noticed he kind of orients himself toward me. For instance, he'll ask about the school shirt I'm wearing, or what my ethnic background is (he usually hollers these questions in the middle of a lesson). He is perceptive in his own way; when I was walking around monitoring and assisting students during a lesson, he noticed that I put my hand on students' shoulders while talking to them. He hollered something like, "Is that how you're going to discipline us now?"
Today I had the fortune to attend an all-day presentation by Robert Brooks, who talks about educators' mindsets and how they affect a school environment and students. Lots of good stuff on motivation, choice and student ownership ... and just what I needed to hear before tomorrow's meeting!
I also did a mini-lesson that used the local supermarket to explain what a text structure is and why it's useful. The students were quite enthusiastic; a couple of my boys in the front got up and came to the board to point out the exact locations of different food departments. I'm still refining the lesson, but it was great to see them interested.
I'm hoping for positive changes for some students as well. Junior did some things last week that led to an in-school suspension, and mom is scheduled to attend a before-school meeting tomorrow. I'm hoping Junior, his mom, the counselor and I can figure out together how to get him on track. I can tell Junior is frustrated with me, and I hope tomorrow's meeting will show us a different path. I see a lot of promise in him, but I'm not sure he knows that. The interesting thing about Junior is that I've noticed he kind of orients himself toward me. For instance, he'll ask about the school shirt I'm wearing, or what my ethnic background is (he usually hollers these questions in the middle of a lesson). He is perceptive in his own way; when I was walking around monitoring and assisting students during a lesson, he noticed that I put my hand on students' shoulders while talking to them. He hollered something like, "Is that how you're going to discipline us now?"
Today I had the fortune to attend an all-day presentation by Robert Brooks, who talks about educators' mindsets and how they affect a school environment and students. Lots of good stuff on motivation, choice and student ownership ... and just what I needed to hear before tomorrow's meeting!
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