different

"What one thing would I do differently this past week with my teaching activities and why?"

There is one major thing that I would have done differently this week if given the opportunity - be more strict.

We started out the week working in the lab/shop, and clean up was the goal, as the shop was in disarray from a rough week prior. The groups each had their tasks and jobs to perform. I left it up to them to make sure these duties were completed in the time allowed.

It turns out that leaving groups to work on their own pace is a bad idea. Of the 5 groups in each class, maybe 2 groups actually completed their tasks. Of these completed groups, only 1-2 members completed the tasks - the others simply watched or looked busy until the job was done.

Upon completion of the clean up time, I spoke with the groups and got various excuses and reasons that the groups could not get done. This was very troublesome. I tried to be lenient on the groups and allow them to work at their own pace, and they failed. I should have been much more strict and enforced the "no work no grade" policy that I take when working in the lab... Silly me, it will not happen again...