Week one was a busy time getting to know the students, creating treaties and expectations in my first Year 8 class. The first week never seems to follow the standard timetable, however I used short activities to teach classroom routines, transitions and group work. Even though they are year 8's, many still need lots of work managing themselves and their time. I also noticed some some of my higher group boys giving me Level 2 writing. I need to work on this and perhaps find more engaging writing tasks?
I explained that our classroom is free seating although the students seem to be struggling with the concept and have mostly 'claimed' spots with a boys side and a girls side! Argg, should I change tables around every week? I also realise I need to develop my understanding on how spaces should work with the daily learning, at the moment some areas feel abandoned, ownership may be the key.
Next week:
I am trying out Workshops seriously for the first time, as opposed to standard group teaching. I plan to remove myself (and Workshops) from the group task tumble of activities (maths and literacy). I have been reading "Teaching without Telling: Computational Fluency and Understanding through Invention" written by Daniel Heuser, who says that workshop structure has four elements: hands-on-instruction, problem solving, choice and reflection. He also give an example of how he breaks down a maths lesson which has given me some confidence to try it out.
What are your Worksop experiences?
Being deeply learned and skilled, being well trained and using well spoken words: this is good luck. - Buddha
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