Life's Whirlwind Adventures

So I have been reading many educational blogs as of late and I have been trying out some of the ideas in my own classroom.  In my religion class I allowed the students to grade themselves.  I spoke with each student and I was able to gather a better understanding of some of the students in my class.  It's sometimes hard to connect with Middle school students, but I found taking that time in my class to talk with each of them independently opened new doors of communication between us.  It's working and I do believe that next I will be letting the students self-evaluate in a written form their mark in class. I want them to be honest with me and themselves, about what their level of effort and comprehension has been.  There are still some hiccups but I think it's working out.  I do not feel like I am an expert in assigning students a mark on their spiritual journey. In my science class I have given my students a project to research a system of the body, th...

I am sitting in a CTS class and I am watching a group of students work independently creating projects without instruction from the teacher (me, I am subbing today).  It has got me to thinking, and I mean I think a lot on days like these because subbing can be very demanding or essentially putting me in a place of classroom babysitter.  My thoughts are running around in my head questioning why we can't have all classes run this way. Why can't students work at their own pace just being given an outcome they must show you how they understand it in their own way?  It could work within any class if the teacher is creative enough to set up their classroom that way. The teacher also has to be willing to let go of control.  You can't have the students learn the concepts at their speed but at the speed that they are comfortable with.  I could come up with all kinds of examples of how teachers could start this in small units which will gradually grow into l...

I am trying something new in my science classroom.  I am hoping it will work out for me, and not blow up in my face, but I have decided to step outside my comfort zone and let some control for the unit go to the students.  If I am successful I will continue to use this for the rest of the year, if not, then I will reassess and find some other teachers who can help me find a way to make this idea work. The idea is to start my new science unit off with a K-W-L sheet, a sheet I used to use a lot in my internship and teaching in Saskatchewan, but I have not been using in Alberta.  (I can't really explain why, but it is what it is).  I will ask the students "Please list all that you know about Cells and Systems in the human body."  They will then record down all that they know about Cells and Systems on their K-W-L sheet under the K for know.  We will then share our answers and I will create a smartboard document that will include all the answers the students ...