2 out of 3 ain't bad
So I thought I came up with the PERFECT Friday lesson plan. I scoured the internet for video clips that would demonstrate forces to my kids. Finally, I decided that X-Men, which I had on dvd, would allow my kids to use a movie they'd seen to make connections. I wrote out a series of questions and put together a powerpoint presentation, that included a brief introduction to Newton's 2nd Law.
In second period, my kids started to enjoy it. The first girl who said it was boring, was sent to my favorite teacher on campus (who inevitably made her life hell when she showed up 30 minutes late).
By some stroke of luck, I messed up in the planning. I thought rewinding the film and making them answer 22 questions would take up the entire 2 hr block. Oops, with 40 minutes to spare, I decided to take it easy and let the kids just watch the movie. They'd done their work and it had been one hell of a week.
It happened in 4th period, too, which was fine.
But 6th period. All they had to do was get through 22 questions, without making me crazy. When the bell rang and half of them were missing, I cheered inside. This is going to be a good friday, thought I.
Nope. The kids I had in class decided to compensate for all the behavior issues who were missing. They got through 20 questions and I turned it off. I told them they were being jerks, and gave them a quiz instead.
That'll show them. But hey, this time most of them passed the quiz. Either they're getting smarter or they cheated really well.
On another, sadder, note. One of my students with a real attitude but with sooooooo much potential (I was hoping she'd turn around) was OT'd - an opportunity transfer to another school in the district in hopes to improve her behavior. I don't know what to do about this, especially because there are so many other students who REALLY need a change of scenery to improve. So many other students who are still at Bethune, terrorizing their classmates and I. They ought to ask teachers what we think before they rip our students off the roster.
Comments
Posted by: Sara
Posted on: October 14, 2006 04:39 AM
Hey, nice entry. It must be hard to deal with students being transferred out without your knowledge or input--you'd think with all the bureaucracy in public school systems....but no, I remember pre-college and it was the same. I would imagine that strong communication skills are a must for any school teacher to stay sane....keep at it, I think that what you are doing is admirable. I have to laugh, though, when I think of you calling them jerks. :)