MathsClass

2008 Review

Tuesday, 06 January 2009 | Comments

In my post Thinking about 2008 I noted four things to improve my teaching in 2008, here I review how I did.

1. Consistency in behaviour management.  In terms of behaviour, respect and motivation to learn, I would say that my school is not easy.  Behaviour management (as opposed to classroom management) is happening nearly every lesson (mainly at low levels now) – which becomes tiring.  With experience, the classroom has continued to improve.  That magical “teacher power” is growing.  This year, the focus should be similar, with the aim of reducing low level behaviours.
2. Sorting Resources.  Ongoing.
3. Online activities tied to topics to form mini lessons.  Have done this a little.  Small online activities just don’t seem to hold the attention of my students.  For example, I used a learning object called Biscuit Factory which looked at gear ratios.  I spent 15 minutes in preparation working with the tool, reading each step.  In class, students spent about 5 minutes clicking buttons till they got the correct answer.
4. Students with the correct equipment.  My pen supply purchased during the back to school sales was exhausted by the end of the year.  I made some bags with pencils and eraser for the 3 desk groups in my class – they worked well.  So, I’m going to make some individual student bags for this year – if a student needs to borrow even one thing, they will get a bag with a blue pen, red pen and ruler.

That’s part 1 of the 2008 review, the second part will look at some other things that happened in 2008.

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