Coming back to school after Christmas break has been difficult. I was mostly sick over the break, and tried to nurse myself back to good health before school started up again. Since fighting the worst of it off, I have had a stuffy/runny nose for almost a month! I am experience a lot of congestion still, and am getting sick of it (pun intended). I didn't feel like I had much of a break because I was stuck inside being ill. You win some, you lose some.
Another reason why the transition from break to school has been tough is that for science class, we haven't had many experiments left to do as we wrap up our Earth Science unit. We have just finished learning about plate tectonics, volcanoes and earthquakes. The last cool experiment we did was convection in the mantle, in which we studied rhioscopic fluid heated by a tea-light candle from underneath. We turn off the lights, and use a flashlight to see the fluid move. The kids like it because we get to turn the lights off, and use fire! But more importantly, they can see how the mantle convection behaves and why tectonic plates are moving.
Since that lab, studying volcanoes and earthquakes has been mostly me talking at them, and dealing with behavior during that time has been consuming. The Washington State science standards just say that kids need to know that volcanoes are landforms created when 2 tectonic plates meet and earthquakes result from plate movement...kinda boring. I tried to put a video in there, but some classes couldn't get through the note-taking to get to the video-reward. Can you say, "lame?" Next week should be better. Here's to hoping!
Math is always tough because I've never taught it before, and I have a lot of squirrely boys who can't sit still. I am working on making math more interactive with projects and technology, but the curriculum doesn't offer a lot of solutions, so I have to go digging through the world-wide-web to find something suitable. Also, many of my students failed their unit test, so I am offering re-takes. This means more grading for me, but I want them to be successful. They have to correct all the mistakes on the old test, then schedule time after school with me to take the new version. So far, only 1 student has come by...but I'm glad at least one student is taking advantage of the opportunity!
Lately I have been feeling bogged down with discipline, and all I want are my kids to follow directions. When I tell you to stay in your seat, please stay there! There are always 4-5 students who struggle with following directions and it's driving me crazy because I tell them the same things every day...I am re-teaching classroom expectations because my students are starting to tow the line. Two of my five classes have to take out their planners, notebooks and writing utensils outside before they can come in. It's intense, but I think they are starting to catch on (in a good way).
If you have any suggestions for incentives for getting students to follow classroom expectations, please drop me a comment or two!
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