My apologies for no posting yesterday. Shortly after I got home from school, we lost our electricity, and we did not get it back until around 9:00 PM.
OK, it appears that my new method of instruction is working, I think. I gave a quiz today on the terms that I had the kids "perform", and while I have not done a complete breakdown of the grades, at a quick glance they seem to be better than what I have been getting. I think with more formal instruction on what I want, to include more concrete/higher expectations, things will improve.
I am going to give the kids a compare/contrast exercise tomorrow. I wanted them to do this in groups, but it is an Early Release Friday (ERF) and my classes are only 36 minutes long. That is not enough time to get them in their groups, assign roles, etc. and then get something constructive done in my humble opinion.
I seem to have tapped a nerve with my collab class. They are, by all the reports of my fellow teachers, a very motivated group, but have not been for me. Somehow, someway, I have managed to recently tap into this. I think it may have to do with asking their opinion and responding to it positively.
Funny how each year's class you get has its own personality, take my collab class for instance. The collab kids I had last year were very sweet kids for the most part, but were masters at learned helplessness. The kids two years ahead of them, classmates of my son, are, and I hesitate to say it, little monsters. (I can say this as I have had a chance to observe that group of kids since they were in kindergarten.) The kids I have in my collab class this year are uber-motivated. They really think that there is nothing they cannot do. Funny, almost all of the kids in all three of these classes have come from the same elementary schools, and have had the same teachers, etc. It's just weird how it can turn out like that.
On a related note, I find it interesting how each class you have throughout the day has its own personality/dynamic as well. A certain mix of kids will have a certain chemistry, and you have to deal with each group throughout the day differently. Of course I strive to treat each group the same, cover the same material, etc. I cannot help but react differently to the different classes. One one hand this really bothers me, principal of the thing I guess, but then again, I am too am human. Just as we react differently to different people, as a teacher I have to accept the fact that I will unconsciously treat each period differently throughout the day. Wouldn't it be interesting if we could "shuffle" our classes to see what effect it might have on our students or our instruction?