Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Entry 4: The Day after Spring Break



Spring Break for our district has arrived and left as fast it showed up.  It was the first day back and nobody wanted to be here, but we managed the day.  Before we left Spring Break I decided to prepare for the dreadful Monday when we returned. When the students left for spring break, I looked around my room and decided that the room arrangement needed to improve for better management. In another words I did a little spring cleaning to give it a new vibe in my class. I took down some of my old posters and put new ones that deal with my next unit that I am going to teach and cool posters I had found when shopping. I even found some movie posters that have some historical facts to brighten the room and show how watching some movies can help you in history.  I change the seating arrangement for the students to try something new and test it out.
            The Monday after the students return from any break can be considered another first day of school for many. Well I took advantage of it and I decided to play jeopardy with the students to review on what they had learned so far. I first divided the class into two teams from a list I had made before. I decide which team starts by using a coin toss.  It’s like regular Jeopardy except If Team One misses the question, Team Two gets to answer the question and get the points if they answer correctly. This to me encouraged both sides to pay attention while the other team is answering questions and not get distracted or bored, and consequently get in trouble. I have learned if you don't keep their attention, problems will follow and the review idea would have been wasted.  For Daily Double questions, I decided groups must decide how much to wager and lose that amount from their total if the question is missed. The other team cannot answer the Daily Double question if missed by the other team. Just like regular jeopardy the one with the most points win.
            It was a success in all my classes because everyone remembered what they had learned or learned what they need to know. It was a great review and the students loved it a lot. Now that we survived spring break  now its time to get back to the road of STARR. The whole purpose of today was to review what they knew and focus on what they need to know for the STARR test, but who says we couldn’t have fun doing it. 

In regards Mr. Vega


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