This site is a class blog space for new Career and Technical Specializations and Heathcare Science teachers enrolled in the New Teacher Institute (NTI) at Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Floor framing nightmare
I tried to teach floor framing to my carpentry 1 class. After spending class time, one on one time, and my co-teacher worked with student we were shocked to see how poorly they did on the test. We talked today and agreed that we did not think the test was too hard. We decided that we would go about it differently this week. Today they had "art time" where they designed cards with the terms from the test on them for the word wall. They seemed to enjoy it and we judged who's was the best. The will be up tomorrow and until the next floor framing test Wednesday. Tomorrow we will return to parts of a floor frame and try a new game to help all of us do better Wednesday.
Chris I understand completely. We were reviewing measurements in my Intro class this past week. We covered a number of different methods for reading a ruler. I gave a number of students the opportunity to tell their method of measuring. When it came quiz time we reviewed the methods. Some liked the ease of counting lines then reducing, some liked the method of using the 1/2 mark as a reference, and others used the length of line. Just before handing out the quiz I asked "What are your denominators?, What needs to happen if you have an even number on in the numerator?, What is the easiest method of measuring?", yet still, 30% of the class listened not to pointers or lessons of the week and failed the quiz. So we reviewed again, I put the strong measures in groups with the weak and had them work together to complete a worksheet. Each person was assigned a set of problems and was to explain their method of solving within their group. It seemed to go well. The measurement test was today, so suppose I will find out if the method of using the students to teach one another worked from the results.
ReplyDeleteIt is so frustrating when you work and work to make sure your kids know something, and then the big day comes to see what they know, and it fails. I doesn't mean you have failed as an educator, it's actually the opposite. You want so much for them to do well, and for them to succeed in the way you know they can, but something just isn't clicking. You made a good choice to take a class day to "cool off" and try another activity before tackling the floor framing again. Good luck to you!
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