playin games

Yesterday i played a pretty fun game with my junior English class I thought I might share. The game is called "stump the teacher" and I use it to review study questions and vocabulary. I'm sure it can be adapted to use with any subject or questions. Before the game starts i have the students come up with two or three questions based on some sort of popular culture (e.g. music, movies, TV, art). The class is then divided depending on the size. I found that four or five groups works well for a class of thirty or so students. A fewer number of groups will keep the game moving swiftly. Each group then chooses a team spokesperson and a name. i usually write the team names on the board to keep track of the points. Before starting the game I explain: 1. Only the spokesperson can give an answer, although the spokesperson can delegate that duty to another member. 2 Anyone calling out answers will cause their team to lose a turn. 3 You have thirty seconds to discuss the answer.
The game starts by me asking the first group a question, if they get it correct they recieve a point and a chance to stump the teacher by asking one of their prepared pop culture questions. If they do indeed stump the teacher, they recieve an additional point. If the teacher answers correctly, they recieve only the first point. If the team answers the study question incorrectly, the next group has a chance to answer it and stump the teacher. The game is really fun if it's moving at a quick pace and it also allows you to cover more material.
This game is fun because it gives students a chance to ask their teacher questions and see what they reallly know. it also gives students a chance to discuss relevant information with their peers. I usually play this game for extra credit points and maybe give the winning team a few extra points or something.

Lots of planning.

I apologize to my critical friends for putting off posting for so long, but I've felt somewhat overwhelmed lately. As I stated in my previous post, i just started with two new classes this semester. On Monday I just started a new unit with my junior American Lit class (Bless Me, Ultima) and I've been busy planning. I began by giving them an assignment where they research both sides of their family to explore the differences and similarities. They are supposed to interview parents and do internet research in order to find specific details. I hoping this assignment will help them relate to the main character in the book who often feels torn between both sides of his family. most of the students seem to be on task today in the computer lab; I hope that is a sign of their interest.
My freshman class is still not completely mine. My master teacher wants to finish the Romeo and Juliet unit before I take over the class completely. I'm glad we're team-teaching at this point; I hate teaching Shakespeare. I'm supposed to be planning a unit for Ender's Game. It's going slow. Many of the boys in the class seem really interrested, the girls, not so much. Hopefully I can find some ways to keep them both engaged.

let's get started

This semester is off to a rough start. I had to change high schools two weeks into the semester due to scheduling conflicts. It's all good. I'm trying to keep a good attitude about the whole situation. Here's to a good a semester.