Class Discussions

OK, Teacher Heaven moment of the day: the look on my kids faces when I explained that they get to SKIP FIVE WORDS every time they get a zinger in Superspeed 1000. For those of you that are unfamiliar with the game, this just means they have to read more words in the list (because skipping five moves them farther down), but they bought it hook line and sinker that they got to CHEAT every time they got a zinger. This game rocks.

One habit that I'm having trouble breaking is taking answers from students by having them raise their hands. It's not that I don't see the argument against this, but there are some situations where I just can't find a better solution yet. For things where any student should have the answer, like a warmup or math assignment, or repeating what was just shared with their partner, I use sticks with the students' numbers on them, and that is working fine.

However, one of my biggest strengths as a teacher is my questioning. I'm pretty good at working through something with the students and getting them to figure out the answer for themselves. The thing is, I don't really know how to do this without asking questions and taking answers from hands raised. I can't call on a random student, because these questions are difficult and intended to be so (I want them figuring it out for themselves, so they won't all have the answer right away). I'm pretty good at not just picking the smart kids, but I still can't get away from choosing a volunteer.

I'll have to keep exploring this.

Oh, by the way, math went really well today. I kept it much faster paced, using lots of Class-Yes and Teach-OK, and the students were more engaged. I was able to get through two lessons!