Seeing how Halloween fell at the end of this week, and everyone seemed to be getting in the spirit (especially on Friday, since students were allowed to wear costumes), I decided to apply this enthusiasm to this week’s curriculum.
As a pre-cursor, students were introduced to the literary elements irony and characterization. Students took notes, watched presentations, participated in class discussions, read stories and answered corresponding questions to build up their skills with these elements. After consistently working with these tools, I had determined (through various assessments) that students maintained proficient comprehension, so I had the students apply and utilize this skills with video clips that parodied a famous literature text, “The Monkey’s Paw” by W.W. Jacobs. Previously, students had only been learning and practicing these skills with written literature, they had not yet had the opportunity to cover the skills learned on pieces of media. Through working with these diverse groups of students, I have discovered one common ground: students would prefer to utilize anything technological, as opposed to traditional text on paper. Given modern students’ over-stimulation of technology, it is not surprising that they find plain old paper boring and often respond better when some type of technology or media is involved. Technology resources can be found and used in a variety of fashions, and audio and/or video supplements are the most commonly complement literature texts.
Because of the overt attention given to media sources, I attempted to incorporate some of these supplements into the instruction, while adhering to the spooky anticipation that was in the air this Halloween week. The first classes in the beginning of the week were occupied by yet another class interruption, Acuity testing; this, however, did leave a majority of the rest of the week for a lesson centered around the uncanny holiday anticipation and media incorporation. Before reading “The Monkey’s Paw”, the students were given a pre-writing exercise, which focused on each student’s three personal wishes, which then led into a class discussion voicing these wishes and discussing the possible consequences of these wishes (which encompassed the theme: be careful what you wish for/want, because you just might get it…..at any cost). Then students were given the story (and corresponding vocabulary sheet) to read and comprehend. After class discussion, I was able to assess that students were competent, and understood the material presented while showing previously learned literacy application skills; therefore, students were shown an older black and white, Alfred Hitchcock adaptation. Students were then shown a more modern television show parody of the story. Throughout both videos, students were to apply their irony and characterization skills and take notes on the videos, which led into a whole class discussion from these exercises, I not only realized that students were more that capable to apply these skills, but they are much more stimulated and apt to participate when the audio/video material was integrated with the assigned literature. According to student feedback, students enjoyed seeing literature portrayed in other formats, and judging by student responses throughout the lesson, the students comprehended the material and were able to utilize previously introduced skills; also, students are much more interested when we, as educators, can construct traditional literary text and integrate corresponding media to better interest today’s students. All in all, this was a very productive and fun lesson that I think really complemented this week’s Halloween spirit.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Week 9
Prompt) Reflect on what you have observed about the students’ learning styles/multiple intelligences.
If I know anything about my students thus far pertaining to their learning styles/preferences (referred to by class) is that they are all vastly different. I have a class that contains a majority of visual learners while another consists mainly of auditory learners, and other classes possess a unique mix, specifically defined by the variety of learning styles that are found within each
One way I have been trying to accommodate the basic, predominant, visual and auditory learning styles/ preferences of the students, is to establish learning individual and social learning environments that accommodate all groups of diverse learners. An example of this occurs when the students are designed a text to read. I take a group of students (whichever group has the least amount of students) out into the hallway and divide the students into visual and auditory learning groups. The auditory group usually takes turns reading the text aloud, while the visual learners are separated (away from noise and distractions) to read independently themselves. This method also adheres to accommodating individual and social learning preferences that these student possess; the students who usually are the auditory learners, also expressed (via the C.I.T.E Inventory, or student feedback) are also social expressive learners, therefore this method of simply covering a text adheres to multiple learning styles/preferences.
Sometimes, for instance in the event of a lengthy text, co-taught classes necessitate different methods of reading and comprehending the text. On occasion, we take turns reading aloud, other times we play the voice recording of the story from the Literature textbook CD, while students follow along in their books. By differentiating the curriculum/instruction to accommodate these students, I have not only witnessed an increase in learning susceptibility, but also a boost in student engagement. By accommodating learning styles with oral/visual aides (PowerPoint, audio/video clips, etc.) we are also engaging students in their own learning. Through observation (of students) and discussion (with other teachers) I have come to the realization that I am, and will from here on out, be teaching to a technologically stimulated mass of students; because of this, plain paper and pen does not stimulate, or even intrigue, them (which could be potentially devastating for an English curriculum) and so now I am challenged with discovering methods for making the stories on that plain old paper and handwriting (papers, responses, etc. as opposed to word processor generated material) appealing to students; after I have discovered how to do this successfully, I can then learn how to transition traditional curriculum to apply to modern instruction.
If I know anything about my students thus far pertaining to their learning styles/preferences (referred to by class) is that they are all vastly different. I have a class that contains a majority of visual learners while another consists mainly of auditory learners, and other classes possess a unique mix, specifically defined by the variety of learning styles that are found within each
One way I have been trying to accommodate the basic, predominant, visual and auditory learning styles/ preferences of the students, is to establish learning individual and social learning environments that accommodate all groups of diverse learners. An example of this occurs when the students are designed a text to read. I take a group of students (whichever group has the least amount of students) out into the hallway and divide the students into visual and auditory learning groups. The auditory group usually takes turns reading the text aloud, while the visual learners are separated (away from noise and distractions) to read independently themselves. This method also adheres to accommodating individual and social learning preferences that these student possess; the students who usually are the auditory learners, also expressed (via the C.I.T.E Inventory, or student feedback) are also social expressive learners, therefore this method of simply covering a text adheres to multiple learning styles/preferences.
Sometimes, for instance in the event of a lengthy text, co-taught classes necessitate different methods of reading and comprehending the text. On occasion, we take turns reading aloud, other times we play the voice recording of the story from the Literature textbook CD, while students follow along in their books. By differentiating the curriculum/instruction to accommodate these students, I have not only witnessed an increase in learning susceptibility, but also a boost in student engagement. By accommodating learning styles with oral/visual aides (PowerPoint, audio/video clips, etc.) we are also engaging students in their own learning. Through observation (of students) and discussion (with other teachers) I have come to the realization that I am, and will from here on out, be teaching to a technologically stimulated mass of students; because of this, plain paper and pen does not stimulate, or even intrigue, them (which could be potentially devastating for an English curriculum) and so now I am challenged with discovering methods for making the stories on that plain old paper and handwriting (papers, responses, etc. as opposed to word processor generated material) appealing to students; after I have discovered how to do this successfully, I can then learn how to transition traditional curriculum to apply to modern instruction.
Week 8
(Prompt) Reflect on a cooperative learning technique you may have used.
In my opinion, all classes need to be fitted to accustom every student’s learning needs/styles. I have found that if you, as an educator, do not apply this, especially to co-taught classes, students often get confused, usually leading to frustration. Classes, especially co-taught, needed to be divided among tasks; this is to ensure that students are not forced to work on one tedious assignment for the entire hour and a half class time (which usually results in aggravation---and behavior problems). If students are assigned different activities or assignments at regular intervals (I’ve found that at least every 20-30 minutes works exceptionally well), students are less likely to get frustrated on a smaller assignment, where they can receive more individual assistance; also, when students are given multiple of these divided assignments, they are more likely to remain on task, which also helps to eliminate behavior problems.
But, for these co-taught classes especially, this divided class time strategy also requires structure. These classes are prone to get, and remain, off task which has the potential to become quite a challenge to steer them back on track. While the co-taught classes differ in assignments, as they correspond with the material being taught, the structure usually remains the same. For the first twenty or so minutes the students do a warm-up, or pre-cursor, exercise that leads up the material that is going to be taught that particular day. The next two portions of class are divided up into studying the material, and then apply and utilize the material or skill taught. For these classes, it is also important to take as much time as needed to cover a particular topic. For example, the co-taught classes did not catch onto the information and skills employed during a unit on characterization. Because of this, they required more time and practice to fully comprehend this necessary material. Although more material was presented to them to in order for them to grasps the concepts in this unit, the class was still structured around the divided schedule that they have grown accustomed to; essentially, these students require class time to be divided into portions, but those consequent portions need to be structured and adhered to. This is only a few learning techniques that I have found so far in my teaching career that really work for me and the students, especially co-taught students. Although I am sure I will encounter many more learning strategies, I also realize that the successfulness of these techniques dictate from the students to which they are applied. Various learning needs and styles accompany students, and the unique mixture of these will vary year to year; therefore the techniques that work for students this year, may not work so well for next year’s sophomores. I realize the need for technique changes and the students changes, and I can only hope to keep up with the ever-changing learning styles and needs of my students.
In my opinion, all classes need to be fitted to accustom every student’s learning needs/styles. I have found that if you, as an educator, do not apply this, especially to co-taught classes, students often get confused, usually leading to frustration. Classes, especially co-taught, needed to be divided among tasks; this is to ensure that students are not forced to work on one tedious assignment for the entire hour and a half class time (which usually results in aggravation---and behavior problems). If students are assigned different activities or assignments at regular intervals (I’ve found that at least every 20-30 minutes works exceptionally well), students are less likely to get frustrated on a smaller assignment, where they can receive more individual assistance; also, when students are given multiple of these divided assignments, they are more likely to remain on task, which also helps to eliminate behavior problems.
But, for these co-taught classes especially, this divided class time strategy also requires structure. These classes are prone to get, and remain, off task which has the potential to become quite a challenge to steer them back on track. While the co-taught classes differ in assignments, as they correspond with the material being taught, the structure usually remains the same. For the first twenty or so minutes the students do a warm-up, or pre-cursor, exercise that leads up the material that is going to be taught that particular day. The next two portions of class are divided up into studying the material, and then apply and utilize the material or skill taught. For these classes, it is also important to take as much time as needed to cover a particular topic. For example, the co-taught classes did not catch onto the information and skills employed during a unit on characterization. Because of this, they required more time and practice to fully comprehend this necessary material. Although more material was presented to them to in order for them to grasps the concepts in this unit, the class was still structured around the divided schedule that they have grown accustomed to; essentially, these students require class time to be divided into portions, but those consequent portions need to be structured and adhered to. This is only a few learning techniques that I have found so far in my teaching career that really work for me and the students, especially co-taught students. Although I am sure I will encounter many more learning strategies, I also realize that the successfulness of these techniques dictate from the students to which they are applied. Various learning needs and styles accompany students, and the unique mixture of these will vary year to year; therefore the techniques that work for students this year, may not work so well for next year’s sophomores. I realize the need for technique changes and the students changes, and I can only hope to keep up with the ever-changing learning styles and needs of my students.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Week 7
This week was filled with many school events that I was able to witness and participate in. Because it was homecoming week, each day was designed around a certain theme. It was very entertaining to see all of the students dress up on sock and superhero days. There were also many different activities going on to celebrate homecoming throughout the week; the three most popular undoubtedly being the homecoming thuse, football game, and dance. These activities came at the end of the week, the thuse happening Friday during the last hour and a half of school time. Of course the students were excited; I am sure that they were excited not only because of the thuse’s activities, but also that the thuse affected the school schedule to shorten the day’s classes. For the thuse, the students were dismissed between 1:00 and 1:15 to the gymnasium. Once all of the students piled in, the students and teachers led the crowd in various chants and entertained with different skits and stunts. Each class of students was allowed to perform a skit that they had created and then performed it for the entire school. Although the juniors’ skit was by far the most amusing, the entire thuse was very fervent.
Later that evening, the homecoming football game against North Marion was scheduled to ensue. The weather had cleared up during the afternoon, leaving the evening looking hopeful; but as the beginning of the game drew nearer, the weather took a turn for the worse. By the time we arrived at the game, the storm had died down, but the rain sustained until half time, when Morgantown was already way ahead of North Marion. This break did not hold, but by the end of this soggy game the Mohigans pulled ahead 51-14.
This substantial win was later celebrated the following Saturday night. All of the interns decided to chaperon the homecoming dance; our main responsibilities including looking after the students and shoe duty. At first we were in charge of reminding students to remove their shoes before entering the dance floor. After this was successfully accomplished, we moved to the shoe/item check-in, as students continually needed to retrieve items from their personal bags (cell phones, money, etc). The homecoming activities were a notable way to experience students and how they interact outside of the classroom. It was great to see and to interact with them “out of the norm”. This whole homecoming experience was very exciting and enjoyable.
Later that evening, the homecoming football game against North Marion was scheduled to ensue. The weather had cleared up during the afternoon, leaving the evening looking hopeful; but as the beginning of the game drew nearer, the weather took a turn for the worse. By the time we arrived at the game, the storm had died down, but the rain sustained until half time, when Morgantown was already way ahead of North Marion. This break did not hold, but by the end of this soggy game the Mohigans pulled ahead 51-14.
This substantial win was later celebrated the following Saturday night. All of the interns decided to chaperon the homecoming dance; our main responsibilities including looking after the students and shoe duty. At first we were in charge of reminding students to remove their shoes before entering the dance floor. After this was successfully accomplished, we moved to the shoe/item check-in, as students continually needed to retrieve items from their personal bags (cell phones, money, etc). The homecoming activities were a notable way to experience students and how they interact outside of the classroom. It was great to see and to interact with them “out of the norm”. This whole homecoming experience was very exciting and enjoyable.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Week 6
Classroom interruptions unfortunately occur. Do these affect your instruction? How do you get students back on track? (prompt)
Unfortunately, classroom interruptions occur often. I have found that the most disruptive, and also the hardest to refocus the students afterwards, has to be the fire drill. These fire drill interruptions force students to leave the classroom for an extended amount of time, and it is very hard, if you get to go back to the classroom, to get the students refocused on the lesson. Another interruption that I ran into not too long ago was the student picture days. During English class, students were to go to the gymnasium to get their pictures taken for the yearbook. By the time the students went to the gymnasium, waited, got their pictures taken, and returned to the classroom, the class time was significantly diminished to almost half of the normal time. To counteract this loss of time, I rescheduled their activities, for the classes that this affected, so that they were in the computer lab working on an assignment that would only require the allotted time left in class. This seemed to work well, as the students worked diligently on their project, and almost all of the students finished and turned in their work before class ended. Hopefully, you (as a teacher) know when these kinds of interruptions are going to happen, so that you can plan your lessons accordingly. If not, adapt-it’s what being a teacher is all about.
Other more common interruptions that I have dealt with include announcements and student behavior. Announcements seem to happen at least once per class period. The most aggravating factor of this particular interruption is that they happen at the most random times, and often distract you and your students from the current train of thought; this often leads to getting off task, or having to retrace your steps to get your lesson back on track. Student behavior is perhaps the most destructive interruption; mostly, because this often affects other students and can be very detrimental to student-student and student-teacher relationships. Students often act-out to receive attention, and how a teacher handles the situation can often determine the outcome of the situation. The best intervention in student behavior problems is prevention; I believe it is best to have a pre-determined set of rules and policies that are introduced from the beginning and enforced throughout the semester(s). If this procedure is followed, I have found that students are well aware of the consequences to their actions and are therefore less willing to act up/challenge the rules.
Unfortunately, classroom interruptions occur often. I have found that the most disruptive, and also the hardest to refocus the students afterwards, has to be the fire drill. These fire drill interruptions force students to leave the classroom for an extended amount of time, and it is very hard, if you get to go back to the classroom, to get the students refocused on the lesson. Another interruption that I ran into not too long ago was the student picture days. During English class, students were to go to the gymnasium to get their pictures taken for the yearbook. By the time the students went to the gymnasium, waited, got their pictures taken, and returned to the classroom, the class time was significantly diminished to almost half of the normal time. To counteract this loss of time, I rescheduled their activities, for the classes that this affected, so that they were in the computer lab working on an assignment that would only require the allotted time left in class. This seemed to work well, as the students worked diligently on their project, and almost all of the students finished and turned in their work before class ended. Hopefully, you (as a teacher) know when these kinds of interruptions are going to happen, so that you can plan your lessons accordingly. If not, adapt-it’s what being a teacher is all about.
Other more common interruptions that I have dealt with include announcements and student behavior. Announcements seem to happen at least once per class period. The most aggravating factor of this particular interruption is that they happen at the most random times, and often distract you and your students from the current train of thought; this often leads to getting off task, or having to retrace your steps to get your lesson back on track. Student behavior is perhaps the most destructive interruption; mostly, because this often affects other students and can be very detrimental to student-student and student-teacher relationships. Students often act-out to receive attention, and how a teacher handles the situation can often determine the outcome of the situation. The best intervention in student behavior problems is prevention; I believe it is best to have a pre-determined set of rules and policies that are introduced from the beginning and enforced throughout the semester(s). If this procedure is followed, I have found that students are well aware of the consequences to their actions and are therefore less willing to act up/challenge the rules.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Week 5
We started this week out by wrapping up the 6 word memoirs and multi-genre projects. All students that worked on their memoirs in class finished, and some of those students also turned in their multi-genre projects that class as well. As I look back on this project, I should have more clearly stated the directions and requirements for the multi-genre project. Most students were right on task with their projects, but others needed to add writing and/or other minor details that were lacking in their particular genre projects. I proceeded to grade these projects based off of a rubric that I created specifically for this project; this way, if students get docked points they will know why, and will know what is to be expected for the next multi-genre project (projected to be due the 3rd or so week in October).
This week has taught me a lot about my students. I would say that I have pretty good relationships with most of my students, with the exception of a slight few who continue to challenge me and my patience. Regardless, I find that more and more students are beginning to open up and trust me more. I found that, especially in the essay that the collaborative students worked on, a lot of those students opened up with some pretty personal information. I am glad that these students trust me enough to share their personal history with me. A student in particular, was having difficulty with a assignment. When I pulled him outside of the classroom (and into the hallway) to ask him why he was so upset, he responded that it was the year anniversary of his father’s death, and we just so happened to be reading a poem that was about a young boy and his father passing away; needless to say this student was having a really rough time. After a pretty extensive conversation with this student, I discover that this student was also having school and current living-situation problems. I offered to help this student, and I felt privileged that this particular student, who is usually very reserved, confided in me; this experience also conveyed unsaid information on why this particular student seemed distant and apathetic. Since this incident, the student regularly participates in class and has made a real attempt to succeed in the classroom.
Coinciding with these new relationships, students are also participating more in class; they are less hesitant to do the assigned tasks, and more apt to participate in class. This, of course, does not apply to all students, but does include the majority of the students. As always, students are going to have days when they are resistant to do anything, but it is days (much like the ones I have had this week) where the students cooperate and are eager to work, that their best, and sometimes most personal, work comes out and really makes the not-so-good days all worth it.
This week has taught me a lot about my students. I would say that I have pretty good relationships with most of my students, with the exception of a slight few who continue to challenge me and my patience. Regardless, I find that more and more students are beginning to open up and trust me more. I found that, especially in the essay that the collaborative students worked on, a lot of those students opened up with some pretty personal information. I am glad that these students trust me enough to share their personal history with me. A student in particular, was having difficulty with a assignment. When I pulled him outside of the classroom (and into the hallway) to ask him why he was so upset, he responded that it was the year anniversary of his father’s death, and we just so happened to be reading a poem that was about a young boy and his father passing away; needless to say this student was having a really rough time. After a pretty extensive conversation with this student, I discover that this student was also having school and current living-situation problems. I offered to help this student, and I felt privileged that this particular student, who is usually very reserved, confided in me; this experience also conveyed unsaid information on why this particular student seemed distant and apathetic. Since this incident, the student regularly participates in class and has made a real attempt to succeed in the classroom.
Coinciding with these new relationships, students are also participating more in class; they are less hesitant to do the assigned tasks, and more apt to participate in class. This, of course, does not apply to all students, but does include the majority of the students. As always, students are going to have days when they are resistant to do anything, but it is days (much like the ones I have had this week) where the students cooperate and are eager to work, that their best, and sometimes most personal, work comes out and really makes the not-so-good days all worth it.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Week 4
I taught another full odd day this Tuesday. My mentor teacher was attending an event that day, so I had 1st, 5th, and 7th periods to teach. For first period, we reviewed deeper concepts of the three essays that they had previously covered and would be tested on the following class period. We divided into groups to generate deeper-meaning comprehension and application to these essays. The class seemed to be divided among groups that were working diligently and other groups of students that needed assistance developing ideas or had to be reminded to stay on task. When we reconvened, all students appeared to participate in class discussion and pay attention to the material being covered. This collaborative group discussion helped all students to develop their ideas further and greatly benefitted the students, especially those who were having difficultly digging deeper into themes and applications of these essays.
5th and 7th periods were dedicated to working individually and collaboratively to strengthen grammar, independent reading, and comprehension skills. We have begun bell ringers in these periods to help get students motivated to settle down and begin work when they enter the classroom. This system seems to be working well: students come in and find the bell ringer sentence(s) in which they must copy down the incorrect form as it is written, then below it, rewrite the sentence(s) with the corrections in place (this activity also helps students work on grammar and sentence structure skills). After they completed their bell ringer, the students were given 20 grammar sentences to correct. This activity helped me to evaluate students grammar strengths and issues, so that I may assess their writing skills and hopefully help these students with the areas that they are having difficulty with. When all of the students completed all twenty sentences, we reviewed them all via class discussion. 5th period completed these sentences, reviewed the answers, read a new story (orally-decided by class vote) “The Pedestrian” and worked on a corresponding vocabulary 4-fold during this class. 7th period took much more time with the grammar sentences; a lot of these students struggled with the material, which coveys to me that these students lack basic and comprehension grammar/sentence structure skills (which I will need to help them with). Because these students required a lot more time to complete the grammar sentences, after they finished, we only had enough time to review the answers before class ended; this only reinforces the notion that this class needs more time allotted to complete tasks.
Thursday’s lesson was much more hands-on. I was in charge of 5th and 7th periods, so I decided to finish up work on the 6 words memoirs that they had previously started on, so that come next week, I could begin with a brand new lesson unit. Both classes were given their 6 word memoirs that they created last week, and told to create a power point slide that incorporated a picture that best represented/expressed their memoir, as well as including the actual memoir and their name. I wanted to show both classes a video that exemplifies the activity that they would be doing, but the computer did not work in the classroom, so only some of the students actually watched it when we got to the computer lab. Both classes were reduced to approximately fifty minutes each, due to class pictures and because 7th period generally needs more time to complete tasks, I decided to give them a jump start on this lesson. While they were getting their pictures taken, I logged each student into a computer, set their memoir with that particular computer, and opened up the website with the video example on it; this way, all the students needed to do was come in, find their seat, listen to/read the directions and get to work, which is exactly what they did. Because of the shortened class period, I was afraid that the classes would not finish the assignment, but much to my surprise, they not only completed it, but they also composed highly creative, quality work! I was very, very impressed with the work ethic and products that these students generated from this lesson. From trial-and-error-type activities in present and past lessons, I have come to find that the students in 5th and 7th periods benefit more with both written and oral directions; they need to see the instructions, so that they can follow and effectively accomplish each step, but they also need oral guidance, or clues, as well as examples, effectively comprehend and complete a task/assignment. Also, hands-on activities seem to fare better with these two classes; they get much more involved, or much more engaged, with the lesson, as well as retain much more of the information and more efficiently complete assigned tasks.
5th and 7th periods were dedicated to working individually and collaboratively to strengthen grammar, independent reading, and comprehension skills. We have begun bell ringers in these periods to help get students motivated to settle down and begin work when they enter the classroom. This system seems to be working well: students come in and find the bell ringer sentence(s) in which they must copy down the incorrect form as it is written, then below it, rewrite the sentence(s) with the corrections in place (this activity also helps students work on grammar and sentence structure skills). After they completed their bell ringer, the students were given 20 grammar sentences to correct. This activity helped me to evaluate students grammar strengths and issues, so that I may assess their writing skills and hopefully help these students with the areas that they are having difficulty with. When all of the students completed all twenty sentences, we reviewed them all via class discussion. 5th period completed these sentences, reviewed the answers, read a new story (orally-decided by class vote) “The Pedestrian” and worked on a corresponding vocabulary 4-fold during this class. 7th period took much more time with the grammar sentences; a lot of these students struggled with the material, which coveys to me that these students lack basic and comprehension grammar/sentence structure skills (which I will need to help them with). Because these students required a lot more time to complete the grammar sentences, after they finished, we only had enough time to review the answers before class ended; this only reinforces the notion that this class needs more time allotted to complete tasks.
Thursday’s lesson was much more hands-on. I was in charge of 5th and 7th periods, so I decided to finish up work on the 6 words memoirs that they had previously started on, so that come next week, I could begin with a brand new lesson unit. Both classes were given their 6 word memoirs that they created last week, and told to create a power point slide that incorporated a picture that best represented/expressed their memoir, as well as including the actual memoir and their name. I wanted to show both classes a video that exemplifies the activity that they would be doing, but the computer did not work in the classroom, so only some of the students actually watched it when we got to the computer lab. Both classes were reduced to approximately fifty minutes each, due to class pictures and because 7th period generally needs more time to complete tasks, I decided to give them a jump start on this lesson. While they were getting their pictures taken, I logged each student into a computer, set their memoir with that particular computer, and opened up the website with the video example on it; this way, all the students needed to do was come in, find their seat, listen to/read the directions and get to work, which is exactly what they did. Because of the shortened class period, I was afraid that the classes would not finish the assignment, but much to my surprise, they not only completed it, but they also composed highly creative, quality work! I was very, very impressed with the work ethic and products that these students generated from this lesson. From trial-and-error-type activities in present and past lessons, I have come to find that the students in 5th and 7th periods benefit more with both written and oral directions; they need to see the instructions, so that they can follow and effectively accomplish each step, but they also need oral guidance, or clues, as well as examples, effectively comprehend and complete a task/assignment. Also, hands-on activities seem to fare better with these two classes; they get much more involved, or much more engaged, with the lesson, as well as retain much more of the information and more efficiently complete assigned tasks.
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