As much as I needed a week off to catch my breath and recooperate from pneumonia, I am not sure that a week off was the best idea for our students. Maybe I came from a strange world where education was important to my family. My mother made my brother and I read and review during every break we had from school, summer included. There was absolutely no forgetting what we had learned allowed.
Upon returning to classes on Monday I was greeted with blank stares as I reminded my students that "in our last class we discussed........". I was shocked. What had they been doing over break? Did they give one thought to their studies knowing that they would eventually return to school? So I spent a class period reviewing......no reteaching.....because not only had they forgotten eveything but they couldn't find their notebooks or their notes to refresh their memories.
As a Healthcare Science teacher and one that has a fairly good grasp of Anatomy I wonder.........Where do their brain cells go?
Jan, I don't believe its the lack of brain cells as it is an interest in retention of educational information. I do a recap at the beginning of every class from yesterdays lesson. It is amazing what they don't remember and even as simple as what was the lesson was about. Mondays are the worse for trying to remember from last week Friday. It might as well have been 10 years ago for them to remember that information. Repetition is the answer with my students right now. I also give them the information in small bits with lots of small quizzes in between to reinforce it. Good Luck, your not alone!
ReplyDeleteMike M.
The students remembering things seems to go in waves. Some days, when I review at the beginning of class the students are on top of their game, but there are other times, they I don't feel like they even attended the class the day before. I'm a little nervous to see how the upcoming graduation tests, proms, Spring Break and end of course testing is going to affect the students performance in the classroom. I'll just keep trying to work at making it very interesting for them so it will make it easier to remember.
ReplyDeleteBrain cells vs technology? I think with all the advancements in technology, we as teachers, find our backs against the walls trying to compete with technology. Our students are faced head on everyday with high tech gadgets. Can we compete? I think if I could teach strictly with text messaging, my students would remember and comprehend better. Students seem to be able to remember everyone's My Space account names, cell pohone numbers and e-mails addresses, but they can't remember the parts of a human cell and their functions. So I think it's brain cells vs technology.
ReplyDeleteYou are not alone