Or is it the beat of the African drums??
Nah... I'm pretty positive it's my heart beating so proudly.
German 3 today was fantastic.
And what was different, you might ask??
First: instead of grades on their quizzes, I matched them in groups of three... one high, one medium and one low. Their task as a group was to help each other so that everyone's paper was perfect. The amount of coaching that was going on... especially for those lower kids who seriously need it... was nothing short of amazing. Kids were looking out for each other... making sure they had enough time... making sure they asked the questions they needed to get the answers... and even more importantly, the high achieving kids were asking the questions for the lower achieving kids... and then they would go back and teach it!! It made me so proud... and I knew that what we were doing was good. HOORAY!!
Second: I split them. The kids who hadn't finished their verb conjugation had computer time to do so. Those who had split into groups and added to our wikispace about past tense verbs. This was SO meaningful... because the kids who had finished felt like their purpose on the wikispace was a privilege and they were working so hard to get the information that they understood onto that space. They even figured out inserting tables... and were having discussions about what the most meaningful way to write things was for people who were just learning. Awesome. Everyone working on their own stuff... one of those "productive buzz" moments.
Third: Positivity. I think I understand. This class needs a bunch of positive feedback. When theywere told that people from district were looking at the website... and when I said I was so proud of them for their coaching and so proud of them for the work they've done on the wiki... they just beamed. And then they got to work... really productive, meaningful work. Awesome kids. Thank you, SMU.
Whew. So that was awesome.
Tomorrow I have an IEP... and I'm the only general education teacher... and the student has an incomplete for last quarter. I don't know how this is going to go. We'll see.
Tomorrow is the last day for the week!
Happy Thanksmas!
P.S. I almost forgot. German 1 we looked at houses for sale online today. They did a good job of making up sentences and talking about the houses! I really want to continue meaningful exercises like this and bent objects. I like them and the kids have even asked to do more... Meike was the one who asked! Keep this up!
Also, note to self: try to add more ways to draw... everyone is asking for it... and denying that is denying a big piece of who these kids are.
Showing posts with label verb conjugation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label verb conjugation. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Memememe again...
What went well today:
The students in German 3 were really impressed with the "ambient learning" powerpoint that I had created to play between classes. They also seemed to think the SpongeBob trailer was alright. I'm wondering if I need to do a new ambient learning PowerPoint for the German 3 class, or if I can just add more... or if I even need to do that.
Splatsch also went sowieso well.
What could have been better:
Since I had let myself believe that I didn't have sophomores in German 1 today, I was just kind of off my game. We went over endings and they did what I wanted them to, but I just wasn't feeling the normal excitement. Then when they wrote 3 sentences about what they did in their freetime, I noticed that although we said the -e ending thing, the majority of them didn't apply that knowledge. So that tells me we need more practice tomorrow. I think the chart from today probably helped. But they probably also need to hear more and need to see more actual examples for them to just pick it up. This is something to think on, and maybe create a more practice-voll experience for them tomorrow. I wish I would have noted how many didn't do it correctly, but it felt like at least 70%. So that will be a place of need for tomorrow.
What/who I need to touch base with tomorrow:
Erin about her music: how's it going?
German 1 about verb conjugation.
*I'm noticing that it's easy for me to fall back into the routines of what I've always done. This does "get me by", however, I think it's more meaningful if I purposefully plan ever more new things as I implement that perfect classroom. The more I put in, the more I'll get out.
The students in German 3 were really impressed with the "ambient learning" powerpoint that I had created to play between classes. They also seemed to think the SpongeBob trailer was alright. I'm wondering if I need to do a new ambient learning PowerPoint for the German 3 class, or if I can just add more... or if I even need to do that.
Splatsch also went sowieso well.
What could have been better:
Since I had let myself believe that I didn't have sophomores in German 1 today, I was just kind of off my game. We went over endings and they did what I wanted them to, but I just wasn't feeling the normal excitement. Then when they wrote 3 sentences about what they did in their freetime, I noticed that although we said the -e ending thing, the majority of them didn't apply that knowledge. So that tells me we need more practice tomorrow. I think the chart from today probably helped. But they probably also need to hear more and need to see more actual examples for them to just pick it up. This is something to think on, and maybe create a more practice-voll experience for them tomorrow. I wish I would have noted how many didn't do it correctly, but it felt like at least 70%. So that will be a place of need for tomorrow.
What/who I need to touch base with tomorrow:
Erin about her music: how's it going?
German 1 about verb conjugation.
*I'm noticing that it's easy for me to fall back into the routines of what I've always done. This does "get me by", however, I think it's more meaningful if I purposefully plan ever more new things as I implement that perfect classroom. The more I put in, the more I'll get out.
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