I haven't posted much because, truth be told, I'm tired of hearing myself whine about snow days so I can only imagine how you all feel.
For the record...we have not gone a complete, full, five-day week since the week of December 6th. We're hoping that we'll make 5 days this week because we've already lost every holiday scheduled, and we're so far behind on our scope and sequence that I'm not even going to bother looking at it.
So there.
It's been a absolute monster trying to get our genetics unit finished. We just love teaching this unit - it's so much fun, and there's so many cool things you can do. However, it's not fun teaching a unit when it keeps getting chopped up by days out of school. I feel like I can't get into my groove, and the kids seem to be getting things piecemeal. It's frustrating.
So anyway, we finally - FINALLY - got our unit test in today. As a rule I hardly ever give a test on Monday, but we are so far behind we really didn't have a choice. As soon as I finish this, I'm going to start grading them (yeah!).
I'm kind of curious as to how one of my students - Wiggly Boy - did. Because we tried something different today when it came to taking his test.
Wiggly Boy is tiny, and cute, and a lot of fun, and enthusiastic, and just a neat kid - but he can't pass a test - any test - to save his life. From class observations and discussion, he knows the material fairly well, but he just blows it big time when it comes to tests (and the subject doesn't matter). One thing, however, that The Team noticed, is that Wiggly Boy likes to stand a lot. He would much rather stand than sit in a seat, so I got the idea, why not have him stand at my teacher station while he takes his test?
I approached him with the idea, and he was willing to give it a try, so that's what we did.
So he stood there, and took his test...he did all the good test-taking strategies I've taught him, but since he was standing, we added in his natural bouncy enthusiasm. (I think he needs his own soundtrack, personally.) Even if he didn't do better (and that remains to be seen) he seemed a bit more focused, and certainly had fun.
And honestly, when's the last time a kid had fun taking a test.
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6 comments:
I'm really curious about how Wiggle Boy's test turns out - please let us know! I have a boy (1st grade) who ALWAYS stand at his table when working, and even if told to sit down, will be back on his feet within a moment. He IS working, he's just doing it standing up! Interestingly, he's also small/short compared to the others in the class, so I wonder if that has anything to do with it.
I'm really curious as to how this turns out. The best 3rd. grade teacher I know was very relaxed about letting kids work where they were comfortable. You'd walk by her room and there would be kids sitting at their desks, leaning on the counter by the window and sprawled out on the floor. I saw something on TV a few years ago about a teacher who had some adjustable desks made so that kids who wanted to stand could. It makes a lot of sense.
I love love love your blog posts and how real they are. I think some days you were sitting in the back of my 7th grade computer classroom.
I have my own version of Wiggly Boy in my 7th hour computer class. He sits next to the wall and rarely makes it to the seat. He’ll lean against the wall, bounce up and down, kneel on the ground, pretty much anything but sit in his seat. But he gets his work done, so I’m a happy camper!
Heads up, you’ll get through it!
Hope it worked out well. It's so much harder to accommodate or be creative like that with 10th or 12th, although I have someone who might benefit from that!
And as for posting, it's a pleasure to read you, no matter what you post.
Longtime lurker here... Thought you'd like this. :-)
http://img808.imageshack.us/img808/540/southernsnow.jpg
Kristie, I can't tell you how that made my day!
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