One of the things I started doing last semester was writing a introductory letter to my students and having them write a letter back to me. I attached this assignment below! One of the new things I'm trying this semester is providing my students with a classmate contact sheet. I really want to push my students to be more proactive in their education. Too often I allow them to rely on me for things I feel are their responsibility. Students will have to find one other student in class to become their classmate contact. Next week, when I put them into lab groups, they will record three to four more classmates' contact information. The idea is that when they have questions, in or out of class, they turn to their peers before me. Additionally, I hope that this will build community and camaraderie in our classroom. This is also attached below.
The other new thing I'm trying is not having my students sit in an arranged seating chart from day one. I'm definitely a huge control freak, so this is out of my comfort zone. At the end of last year, I had this idea where I would have students choose their seats based on their needs. For example, if a student is really strong in science and doesn't get distracted easily, I would recommend them to sit in the back of the class. For students who are distracted easily or have a tendency to distract others, I would recommend them to sit in the front of the class. After I saw this on Pinterest, I printed my "recommendations" on post-it's and put them where I felt they were appropriate throughout my class. My students will pick their seats on day one, with my help if they're being honest about themselves, and write their names on the seating chart. We'll see how this goes. It may only last one week before I move them to where I like! Best of luck and skill and sanity for your first day back!
The other new thing I'm trying is not having my students sit in an arranged seating chart from day one. I'm definitely a huge control freak, so this is out of my comfort zone. At the end of last year, I had this idea where I would have students choose their seats based on their needs. For example, if a student is really strong in science and doesn't get distracted easily, I would recommend them to sit in the back of the class. For students who are distracted easily or have a tendency to distract others, I would recommend them to sit in the front of the class. After I saw this on Pinterest, I printed my "recommendations" on post-it's and put them where I felt they were appropriate throughout my class. My students will pick their seats on day one, with my help if they're being honest about themselves, and write their names on the seating chart. We'll see how this goes. It may only last one week before I move them to where I like! Best of luck and skill and sanity for your first day back!
Update: This seating thing didn't work. The kids just sat with their friends, even if it was in a place that was not conducive to their learning. Lessons learned: 1. Don't be afraid to try new things. 2. If I want to do something like this again, I would have to survey students on seat preferences in a way that their friends' answers wouldn't be able to distract them.
No comments:
Post a Comment