Week 15 and 16

The past two weeks have been focused on finishing the Civil War. Due to the fact that this is one of the biggest units I teach during the war, I am tied to my teaching partner. Therefore, I did not try any new techniques or strategies. It was a typical day to day progression of lecture, notes, and video. Nothing to exciting. I have spent the last three weeks teaching as I have always done and not enjoyed it. The students excitement for class has dropped and the number of disruptions,i.e. student conversations, has increased. The fun of teaching and learning just was not there. Knowing this, I decided I needed to stop trying to be like my teaching partner, and get back to my new ideas and try to be as innovative with my lesson design as I could. I made this decision with only the test left. One review day and then the test day before winter vacation. What I decided to do was reward them for taking all those notes the pas three weeks. I told them I would let them use them on the test. Immediately things in class picked up. Their engagement went way up. They asked a bunch of questions and we had great discussions. I explained my reasons for letting them use their notes. I told them that the test was not of their memorization skills, but of their ability to understand the main concepts and key events of the Civil War. Also, I told them they deserved to be rewarded for their work in taking notes over the unit. This reinforced my desire to change. I need to do my own ting, and if my teaching partner wants to stick to the same old routine, that is just the way it will have to be. I felt stifled the past few weeks. I was not excited about class, and it became somewhat of a forced march through the war. As soon as I finished grading the tests, I began to look at ways to teach reconstruction. I am excited again, and hope that I can come up with some new lessons that will keep student interest and enjoyment up. Have a wonderful holiday break, and remember, Happy Teaching!!