This week began unpleasantly for me, as I was still sick from a sinus and throat infection I developed at the end of last week. Even upon returning, I was not 100% myself, unable to speak on Tuesday. This made conducting any activities difficult, so Joe and I had to brainstorm a good way to kill some time with the students that involved minimal vocal activity on my part. We decided to try out Scattergories, and wow, did that ever go over well!
The students were uncertain about the game at first, but after a practice round, most of them quickly got the hang of it. Since there was a limited number of boards, we broke the class into teams of two or three (plus usually a student aide). We let each team pick a name, and after only one hiccup (one team wanted to be "The Blood," which was in fairness intended to be a reference to a video game rather than the unfortunate gang reference it could be interpreted to mean; they renamed themselves "Red Fire"), the game was on! The students interacted, and although they frequently were not able to come up with all the categories for any given letter, they had a great time challenging other team's answers and having their answers thwarted by duplicates from their classmates. The activity showed me that when students are allowed to collaborate, just about anything can be fun for them. They even started getting more clever and shooting for sneakier answers and double points for categories like "company names: 'Dunkin Donuts.'" It was a lot of fun.
Things after that were pretty smooth. The class at La Casa really started getting excited about their yearbook project, and even though their teachers didn't do much with them in the way of actual instruction this week, I was able to spend many valuable moments with my students observing their natural interactions. One thing I've noticed is how much more I look at the everyday actions of students as genuine moments of learning than I used to. I have a much greater appreciation for how even little things, like Gabrielys' desire to read aloud a familiar text to me, are powerful teaching moments for me and learning moments for students like her.
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ReplyDeleteEvan,
ReplyDeleteIt's great that you found a way to interact with the kids in a meaningful way that did not involve using your voice much. I think it shows great dedication on your part that you came in when you could barely speak.
I think what you wrote about students making anything fun when they are allowed to collaborate is really insightful. It makes me think about relishing the rare opportunities that I had to collaborate with my classmates in elementary school. It made doing school work more enjoyable, but was not a valued teaching strategy.
Yes, I second what Camille wrote. I was so surprised to hear your terrible voice that day. It was great to see how you and Joe worked to create a fun day for the kids. You have the "magic" necessary for a teacher to be able to make t his happen.
ReplyDeleteI love Scattergories!!!! What a great idea- I never thought of playing it with the students. You could even come up with topics that relate to a particular unit of study or subject and create boards for the students to use. Thanks for the idea!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you were not feeling well, but I love your creativity. : )
Evan,
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you found a way to still reach the kids despite being sick. That perseverance is all apart of being a good teacher! Like Nicole, I LOVE Scattergories! My family and I used to have game nights and play it all of the time. I never thought to play it with the students. You always push your students to go above what we think they can do and that is definitely something I admire.