My First Week - Lindsey

So, as you all know I am a week behind all of you. It was a good first week. I have realized I need not worry about sticking exactly to my plans. Things are taking much longer than I thought they would.

I began Mystery with a mystery theater. I had no idea what to expect since it was the first time it had been done. I thought it would take only one day, but it took two. The students really enjoyed this activity! They really got in to it by bringing in costumes and props. If I were to do this again I think I would allow the students to take their scripts home to practice. This would allow for them to read it more fluently. They students would also be able to act it out more, which I think they would have like to do.

In Social Studies the students are working on billboards to 'sell' their colony. They are really getting in to this as well. However, I had to stop the second group yesterday and talk about group norms. This group was having a difficult time working with one another. They were arguing to say the least. However, after the talk, I think things will work a lot better. I wrote their ideas about working together on the board. I think I will transfer these ideas to chart paper on Monday so we can refere to them in the future if things get out of hand.

On Friday we began "Mystery in a Bag". I gave each group of students a bag with four or five objects. These were clues. They had to decide how these clues would connect. They then had to tell what their mystery would be. The students really enjoyed this. I had so much fun doing this with them. Monday they will build their three main characters. I am excited to see how the stories develop.

This week I also began a new positive reenforcement program. I am calling it Star Student. When the students are doing what they are suppose to be doing, they earn a raffle ticket. They write their name on it and put it in to the AM or PM bin. On Friday I will draw four names. These students will have an opportunity to choose a coupon at random. The students really got in to this this week. I feel this is working so far. And one of my students who gives me problems won this week. I was glad to see this because I want him to know that his good behavior does pay off. The coupons I chose to do are Homework Pass, Stinky Feet, Teacher's Desk, Chair of your Choice, Free Time, and Lunch with the Teacher. The students seemed excited about all of these as well.

I am looking forward to the up coming week. However, I am not sure how much teaching I am actually going to do! This is one crazy week coming up!