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Recognize what those are? That’s right, the cute little snores of
a first hour class and even if you don’t hear them, you may be able to imagine
that little cloud above the heads of many of the students. My placement, the
first hour of the day, has many of these Zzz bubbles floating about, and it
puts a damper on the effectiveness of the lesson, leading me to question:
How do I weed out those Z’s?
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Weeds are stubborn, as are the students and their need for the z’s,
so I decided to look into how to set off a class to a start that gets the students up and ready to go. In my
search, I came across a blog post on Edutopia called, “Your Lesson's First Five
Minutes: Make Them Grand,” by Dr. Richard Curwin. This post doesn’t refer to
the time of day a class is, but it did help give me more of an insight on
instigating more interaction in class. In his post he
gives three tips: use teasers, use compelling questions, and...
Do something you love every day.
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Dr. Curwin writes that doing
something you love everyday will create energy and “Energy is contagious,” so,
next to a bright and welcoming hello to start the morning, the start to the
lesson should be just as energetic. Though he is writing about the educator
doing something he or she loves, my brain took me down a different path. What
if it was up to the students to start off the class by introducing or doing something they love?
Risky business for sure, but a way for the students to look forward to the
lesson to come because I could adjust it to where we work together to tie what
they love to the lesson.
My idea so far:
1. At the beginning of the year, the syllabus has a rough schedule
attached for what we will be doing in each unit.
2. Each student will pick an activity/lesson/reading that they
believe they could tie to something they love or enjoy.
3. As we near each item, the student will be in charge of creating a
mini lesson or way to introduce the class to this piece of them and show how
they found it related to what we are doing in class.
Obviously an extremely rough
draft to the idea, but it would help the students in developing connections,
learning how to speak with the group, and it would start off each class in a
manner other than the teacher jumping right into a lesson.
I know that this will need many, many
adjustments and may even leave me still wondering how to eliminate those z’s in
the end, but it is my start to developing one of many ways to weed out the z’s
in my future classes. It is only the first few weeks of pre student teaching,
and I am sure to come across a multitude of alternative ideas and ways to
further energize not only first hour students, but students in general, but for
now I will continue to ponder the weeding of the z’s.
Curwin, Dr. Richard. "Your Lesson's
First Five Minutes: Make Them Grand." Web log post. Edutopia.
George Lucas Educational Foundation, 15 Apr. 2013. Web. 8 Sept. 2016.
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/first-five-minutes-richard-curwin
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/first-five-minutes-richard-curwin
Ha, your opening reminds me so much of my seniors first thing in the morning! I know you wrote about your desire to combat disengagement any time of the day, but I do think it's particularly important in the earlier part of the day when everyone's still trying to activate their brains. What are some of the strategies your MT utilizes to gear everybody up for learning each day? I have been watching my own MT and she seems to approach the mornings with a question or brief conversation that includes something relevant to our students to generate chatter.
ReplyDeleteI think it's pretty neat and proactive of you to already be thinking about how you want to model your class, so there will still be plenty of time for you to tweak your plans. I'm eager to read the post you referenced and to hear more from you.
I agree that it is a genuine issue. I have seniors as well, nice and early, but contagious energy will only go so far. It has become apparent that engagement is a lot to ask for when it is the start of the morning, and will be something that I will have to tackle regularly in the very near future, so why not start practicing now? My MT begins the day with two vocabulary words of which they copy down, write the definition, their own example, then briefly share with each other. This activity has good intentions, but it does not get the students engaged in the class.
DeleteI will definitely be keeping up with the research! Thank you!
This is very easy to relate to! I taught a first hour class last year and made absolutely sure my class this semester was not a first hour class. If you didn't bribe them with treats, those kids would barely move. Then I think about myself, and before I have had my coffee and an hour or so to chill, I'm not much of a learner either. I'm going to follow you and keep reading about those Z's.
ReplyDeleteDuly noted, I am looking forward to researching this further because that has been a common response!
DeleteThanks for your post, Miss Bailey! Like your colleagues, I applaud your efforts to begin thinking of ways to engage your students and connect to their own interests and loves in your curriculum. I see opportunities for you to take on an appreciative perspective we’ll read about in Randy Bomer’s book, as you learn more about your students’ existing literacies and tie those into your instruction. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteI definitely took a liking to the appreciative perspective, thank you!
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