What has worked well for me: I have used many of the strategies that I learned at NTI. My favorite is having the students repeat the direction to me. By using this technique I have cut the transition time in half. The less time the students spend transitioning the more time they spend on their activity. That is always a good thing. Overall I think the semester is going much smoother. I know I am more confident and secure with my teaching.
What has not worked for me: The classroom procedure "ask 3 then me." The students have not grasped the concept. I am not sure if was my explanation or if the concept is too complicated. I plan to reintroduce the concept for spring semester. In the mean time, I made a new classroom procedure poster and set the other one aside for now. I figure if that is the only thing that has not worked I am doing okay.
I am going to be very honest in that I don't agree with (or possibly don't understand corretly) the "ask 3 then me". Just because another student asks another student before they ask me doesn't guarantee that they are getting correct information. When it comes to questions, I much rather have the student ask me first. We all know how the game "telephone" works and I think if the student asks other students they can easily get wrong information. Also students may not feel comfortable asking another student for fear of looking stupid so they never get answers or clarification to their questions. I did not use that rule in my class and I don't see me using it ever. It may be that it is not a good rule to use in your class and with the type of students you have. You may indeed have explained it fine but it is not a good rule for your students.
ReplyDeleteHi Aimee,
ReplyDeleteJust take what works and use it. Not everything works for everybody. I used that strategy just for simple things to keep me from getting mobbed, ie things like where do I find the rubic for an assignment.
Anyway, everything I saw when I observed you was great!!
Dr. J.