Daily discussions

For the last two days, my students have been engaged in daily discussions. Since each chapter in FRIEDRICH is so short, it allows us to read it out loud as a class, then discuss what is happening in the chapter.

Yesterday, we started class by going over some open-ended questions the students completed the day before. I passed back their worksheets and we had a guided discussion using the questions they have already thought about and answered. It was beneficial for students to have their answers in front of them in case they "freeze up." I have already looked over and graded their answers (they were all very good!)so they knew that I "approved" of what they had written. This is also beneficial because students who say "I don't know" were then asked to read what they had written down.

After discussing those questions, students read the next chapter out loud. My eighth graders like the "Popcorn" way of reading, and I also like it because most students pay special attention to the book when doing this. After the reading, I led a discussion about what we just read. I started the discussion with "So tell me what is going on in this chapter." After this, students began to ask questions about the novel - both clarification questions and interpretive questions. Students appeared to enjoy the "circling up" and are excited to participate. I am going to try to make this a daily occurance and see if the excitement remains as high.

Today, I will do the same thing - discussion, but I am going to structure it a little differently. After students are done reading the next chapter out loud, I will pass out index cards and ask students to write an open-ended discussion question regarding the chapter. Then, students will have their own discussion questions to ask when reviewing the chapter.

I began by leading the discussion, but I am trying to make students comfortable enough sharing their thoughts and ideas that I do not have to be leading the discussion. We'll see how today goes!

Ideas, ideas!

Although my commute is a long one, it offers me time to reflect on my teaching and to brainstorm new ideas regarding my teaching strategies. Some questions that come to my mind include:

-Are my students moving forward at a reasonable pace?
-Are there ways to switch-up my style of instruction to keep students actively engaged?
-What are some new ways to help my students interact with the material?

I was reflecting on these questions and how my classrooms have been acting during this stressful time (regarding PSSA testing, awkward bell schedules, and arena scheduling). Some neat ideas came to mind! Some include:

~Working backwards with my planning WITH my students. For example, "We need to finish the novel FRIEDRICH by May seventh. How do you think we should go about finishing the novel, starting with the week it needs to be completed? By having students involved in my planning, they may become more receptive to completing the work in a timely manner.

~Having students teach each other chapters of the novel. This (of course) will be carefully scaffolded so that students may be prepared for teaching. Students will be given a few days notice, where I will explain the activity and assign a chapter to be taught. Some questions that must be answered to assist in the teaching of other students include:

What is the main idea of this chapter?
What are the two most important events that happen in this chapter?
How do the characters react to these events? (What does this say about their overall characters?)
In regards to the overall novel, how important is this chapter?

By having students analyzing the chapter with these questions, they will have a better understanding of it as well. I can quickly assess their work before they begin teaching another student so they know they are on the right track.

As part of the activity, student "teachers" cannot just tell their partner what the chapter is about. Since both students will have read the chapter, it is the student "teacher"'s responsibility to have their "student" come to his/her own conclusions and help them with the process of analyzing the chapter.

I am in the process of designing this activity for my students and am looking forward to seeing the results!