The second attempt at teaching the same material went better. I used my hour I believe productively. I still could use the blackboard better. Any pointers?
Take 2
Comments
3 responses to “Take 2”
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Sounds like you’re enjoying teaching and doing very well at it. That’s awesome!
Some ideas (maybe you already thought of all these, but it’s worth a try):
– Let your students teach…
– Have your students do a little research and do 2-3 minutes of 8th-9th grade “show and tell” in small groups.
– If you have something fun like geometry, you can do some enrichment stuff with real life objects. I taught 10th graders about cross-sections with hollow Platonic solids and water. Kids are automatically intrigued by hands-on objects, lots of color, and challenges to figure out with them. The clock quickly becomes the end-of-recess whistle.
– You probably saw that puzzles often work well, especially if they are related to the lesson. I always liked http://www.cut-the-knot.org.
– If you have to stick to lecture style, try reading/presenting some puzzle stories. I read a book by Martin Gardner, I think, that was all short stories with a math puzzle built into each one. I also saw an elementary detective book of the same style.
– Is there a game like “24” that you could use to build on the appropriate skills? Once they learn it you can always use it if the lesson time comes up short.
– And for the blackboard–draw pictures!
How are you finding the school environment? It sounds like you’ve been able to connect with a number of folks–definitely encouraging, I bet!
Still praying for you!
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use chalk?
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Ha ha, so I had gotten all brave and sent you a comment and you probably were like “What?” Sorry about the obliviousness displayed in that…someone did once tell me you were teaching mathematics but apparently I forgot. Toward the end of the semester my brain always has some glitches, but now I only have a few days left.
Thanks for not displaying my silly teaching tips.
I hope the teaching (and name learning) is going smoothly.Sarah
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