September 17, 2007

After a long four day weekend, I was back in the classroom ready to get those Monday blues out of my class. Today, we played a review game for the students because tomorrow is their vocabulary test. I designed a word search with the words inside and definitions outside. So the students had to find the words with only having the knowledge of the definitions. Unfortunately, it only worked out that way with one class. The other periods I gave the opportunity for them to have a word bank and really review. Once the class was settled in finding the words, I went over them by using the overhead. The students had to participate and come up and circle the word where it was in the search. There were a couple of classes that really had fun with it which was encouraging. I know when I was a student I liked being able to participate and get up and show off the talents I possessed as a student. It was also nice to see that the students wanted to participate more than once and for me that was a step ahead in my teaching. The biggest challenge I am facing is with the inclusion class. It is very difficult to get their attention and deal with their attitudes. They just do not know when to shut up and if I tell them "That's Enough!" there is back talk "I didn't say nothing." I had a thought about a teacher that lashed out at his students because they were being bad and it mostly shocked them because it was so out of control. I thought about doing that the next time but shook it out of my head. It is not my classroom and I am a guest, I have to behave like one. But the thought of giving those students a run for their money is a sweet one. Along with the word search my cooperating teacher also gave a small quiz out that was a review as well. The catch was this: depending on how many questions you answer right, you may get that number added on to your test tomorrow. Most students did well with the mini quiz so I am hoping that it will help with their tests tomorrow. I also tried a new way of teaching them how to remember the definitions of words, well the method was new to them. MNEMONICS!!! I explained that this was an easy way to remember a definition because you could associate a noun to either the definition or the word. For example for the word Fetish- an abnormal obession; I told them that I had a shoe fetish and if thats how they could remember it great. Another example was with the word Impluse- a sudden urge, they gave me "urge" as a way to remember it but we talked about the "urge," "impluse" to shop. I was really excited to teach the students this method of studying because it is a method I use. I used an enormous amount of enthusiasm to get their attention and I think it worked because I got a couple of giggles and smirks. I am really hoping I got through to some students and they will do well on their tests tomorrow. That was the extent for the day. Not many students getting on my nerves a few because they are rude and talk back. But I am not quite sure how to handle it. I am teaching tomorrow and I am very excited. I hope that it goes well and have figured out a way to modify the activity so that the inclusion class will not get too out of hand. That's all for today.