I realized after reading so many great education blogs, that this one doesn't compare. So I'm putting it on hiatus until I have something quality to write about or burning questions to explore.
Miss A
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Saturday, February 8, 2014
Snow Days
Our school system has thirteen built in snow days. We extend our school day an extra 30 minutes every day. This winter has given us a few days off and our new schedule has taken some adjustment. Having A/B days has several positives and negatives. Our snow days seem to have fallen on A days and those classes are really behind - a big negative!
We have snow in the first few days forecast. If we are out, the testing crunch will be felt. We started statewide writing assessments this week. I am not an ELA teacher, but I my classroom is a computer lab and the testing takes place in my lab. I relocate for the tests and on one day I proctor my class' test. I really would like to have snow this week, we have a break in our testing schedule and then I'm ready for spring!
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Study Skills
Are you teaching study skills to your middle schoolers? If so, what are you using for curriculum and how are you doing it?
My residency teacher and I have started teaching note taking skills this week. I've not had my students taking notes in the first semester. I jumped right in to interactive notebooks and have not really done any lecture where they needed to "take" notes. But my residency teacher is more comfortable with the lecture method and we are working to get him more comfortable with the interactive notebooks.
As he has done a few lecture based lessons, we realized that only around 25% of our students take effective notes. This week, we've started teaching the outline method as they read their text. We've been very engaging and enthusiastic in our modeling of reading and outlining the text. Our students are doing well with summarization. They were amazed at how much information they knew when we did a quick review sheet over the information we'd read.
Now I am realistic and I know that not many will continue to use this method. High schoolers can be apathetic when it comes to studying. :) We (the teachers) discussed with each class how much we used note taking and outline skills in college and I was amazed at how many questions they had about our personal study methods. So I know they were engaged and interested.
I'm not really sure where I need to go next. I've been trying to find more information but nothing seems really practical. If anyone has suggestions, please let me know!
My residency teacher and I have started teaching note taking skills this week. I've not had my students taking notes in the first semester. I jumped right in to interactive notebooks and have not really done any lecture where they needed to "take" notes. But my residency teacher is more comfortable with the lecture method and we are working to get him more comfortable with the interactive notebooks.
As he has done a few lecture based lessons, we realized that only around 25% of our students take effective notes. This week, we've started teaching the outline method as they read their text. We've been very engaging and enthusiastic in our modeling of reading and outlining the text. Our students are doing well with summarization. They were amazed at how much information they knew when we did a quick review sheet over the information we'd read.
Now I am realistic and I know that not many will continue to use this method. High schoolers can be apathetic when it comes to studying. :) We (the teachers) discussed with each class how much we used note taking and outline skills in college and I was amazed at how many questions they had about our personal study methods. So I know they were engaged and interested.
I'm not really sure where I need to go next. I've been trying to find more information but nothing seems really practical. If anyone has suggestions, please let me know!
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