Week 13 Reflection

Post #1

This week, I started a thematic unit on Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. While I knew that I was going to have fun teaching this unit, I have to say, I didn't expect the response that I got on the first day and all week after that. Specifically, I noticed higher levels of student participation and lower levels of behavior problems or time on-task issues--not to say that I typically have behavior concerns during class, but at times the kids are very chatty. Despite this fact, not once did I have to ask students to "quiet down" or "pay attention" as either myself or the other students read from the book. As I read, I was sure to use a great deal of enthusiasm--perhaps more than was necessary--which paid off as I noticed my students mimicking me during popcorn reading! Hearing them use such expression and actually enjoy the text that they are reading, especially those who typically struggle, was very rewarding to me! I look forward to seeing if this behavior continues throughout the unit and if the students' work performance raises as a result.

Post #2

This week's class in the computer lab focused on creating a PowerPoint presentation. Going into this lesson, I have to say that I was a bit worried about how it would run because, while I have worked with the students on the computers and asked them to complete several tasks--including browsing the Internet and blogging--I had not asked them to create a visual document using technology prior to this. I was not sure of their experiences with the program. However, much to my surprise, many of the students had worked with the program before and those who had not caught on quite quickly. The fact that students were able to edit the colors, sizes, and font of their text was motivating to students; typically their writing is put on notebook paper in their own handwriting with lead pencil, so this was a nice change for them. I witnessed students who are normally unmotivated to participate and complete work taking "risks" with their work (being creative) and even providing assistance to their peers! Honestly, I hardly had to do a thing! The only frustration that I saw in students was with typing. Some of the students complained as they copied the text from the slides I provided as examples, saying that it "took too long." I think that this is something that will just have to come with practice and time. Perhaps I could use a class session in the computer lab to focus on typing skills with students...maybe on an interactive site that allows them to work at their own pace to help build confidence. In summary, I was very impressed by the work my students generated and am excited to see the final products.