March 24, 2011

It felt like I hadn't been back too that class in forever, but at the same time like I'm there all the time. I got to work with a group of students out in the hall yesterday. We read through the article and then went through and answered all the questions. They all put effort into the work and it was cool to work with them personally. Each time I go there the teacher gives me bigger things to help with. This week we talked about teaching methods, what teachers should and should not do. One thing they shouldn't do is grade on a curve. It is not fair for all the students. Rather teachers should grade by percentages and how acurate each individual student is. We talked about facts, concepts, thinking and problem solving, and physical and manipulative skills. We discussed the methods of direct and indirect teaching and the positive and negative sides to both. Another thing we talked about is how teachers should give tests not for the grade but to make sure the students understand the information.

March 10, 2011

Yesterday at the middle school the kids took a CPQ. This means there wasn't really a lesson or objective. However, I thought of an objective that could work. Given a CPQ the student will demonstrate their knowledge of reading maps and charts and recalling facts about religion by answering the questions to the best of their knowledge with 85% accuracy. The class consisted of reviewing for this CPQ then going ahead and taking the CPQ. While they took this quiz I graded their homework. It was actually kinda fun. It was interesting to see which students tried on their homework and who didn't really care. A major difference I've seen between elementary and middle school is in middle school the students are very vocal and have opinions. In elementary school they seem to go more along with whatever the teacher says.