For our last round of PBL this year, the grade 6 students had to complete the scientific method with an experiment of their choosing. Here are some pictures from one groups experiment. They were trying to determine which type of candy created the most cotton candy. They needed to identify all elements of the scientific method and ensure it was a fair test. Along with these pictures they created a tri-fold, and google presentation with videos from their experiment.
0 Comments
Kindness club initiated an activity in the school where everyone in the class had a hand pinned to their back. Everyone walked around and wrote one positive thing about that person. Giving them a "pat on the back". Here is a picture of mine.
It has been crucial to build good relationships with every student in my class. Seeing the kind words shows that I have been building positive relationships with my class. Over the past school year I have really found how instrumental it is to make sure you develop genuine relationships with your students. I have devoted time every day to get to know my students a little better. The result is that my students trust me, are willing to share things with me, and are respectful in the classroom. This helps with classroom management and helps when there is a problem in the classroom because we can come back from the blow up and make it better. I have also found that keeping parents in the loop as often as possible shows the students that we are all one united front trying to ensure we get their best. Parent involvement also helps shine a light on different behaviours in the classroom. I want every single one of students to leave at that end of the year know that I care about them. The only way to make sure that is the case is to put in the time throughout the year.
In my class there is a variety of learning needs and student abilities. Here is an example of a differentiated assignment to meet student needs.
Last month we were working on developing a classroom mission. My co-teacher and I wanted to make sure it was a collaborative mission that we made with our class. We gave each student three post its that they could describe what a class room should look like, feel like, and sound like. While we were brainstorming some ideas of what an ideal classroom should be like the students started to write down their thoughts. When they were done they went up and stuck them on the board. We went through each one and tried to find common language. From there is were able to come up with a mission that represented what our students wanted our classroom to be like. Here are some photos they first is in the midst of planning and the last is our complete mission statement. We had three students paint it onto a canvas that we can display in our classroom.
Within my grade 5 class I have differing needs and abilities. I have one students who is working at about a grade 1 level for reading and writing. When I was creating my quiz I needed to keep this students ability in mind so I created two different quizzes. Instead of getting the student to write the definitions and key ideas I made it a matching so they could read the term and then definition to find the answer. Also for the final unit test I scribed for the student. I would elaborate on the answers to build more understanding. I have attached the quiz to see how it was tiered for the students needs.
I have read a very interesting piece on the difference between homework and practice and how that reflects in assessment. I had not thought there was a big difference between practice and homework but through this article I understand the distinction. They propose that practice is given during class time to give further time to reaffirm the class lesson. Where homework is what you expect them to complete outside of school. This article states the idea that homework and practice should not be taken for marks. I completely agree, I always felt in school that if I understood a topic it was pointless for me complete extra worksheets or do the "required" homework. After a student has reached a mastery stage, to do extra work just disengages them and they lose interests. Teachers should be working closely with students and learning their abilities. Homework and practice does not have to be the same for each student. I have attached the article if you are interested in reading!
In class we have been talking about different ways to instruct in PE than the typical stand and deliver. A new technique that is coming in PE is the sports education model. I have attached a powerpoint to explain it more in detail. This model turns the typical unit plans into actual seasons. You would break your students into teams and they would assign a coach who would coordiante practices, a captain, they could have a publisher who would watch the game and write a report. Every day throughout the season the roles would change. The nice thing with this model is it may get those who do not like gym class more involved and invested into sport. If someone is injured instead of just sitting on the side lines or in the office they can still participate by being a coach, statistician, publicist, etc. Something unique to this model is it frees up the PE teacher from instruction. The students are independent and work within their teams. Now the teacher is able to build report with the students, provide some suggestion and have more one on one time with the students. The teacher is also able to give a lot more feedback because they do not spend time standing and delivering material.
|
Miss. HamptonLinking learning and instruction to KSA's Archives
May 2017
Categories
All
|