I actually like Wednesdays, they're usually too strenuous. Of course, it didn't help that I didn't sleep very well last night and there is no sunshine today, but I managed. I don't really feel like working now, so I'll get the blogging done.
Today, I noticed that there is an indirect relationship between the amount of learning that gets done and student engagement (see above). That may not be the best way to express it, but it's how I felt today. I need to use tricks to get the students engaged in the material, and then teach them before they realize what's going on. Today, for example, in the middle of a lesson on acceleration and deceleration, I showed an 8-minute YouTube video of "fails". It basically showed people falling for 8 minutes straight. It is a good description of acceleration as a change in speed or direction, and I had EVERY SINGLE STUDENT watching silently (except for laughing). Not a single student was talking, or distracted, or doing other work. I need to figure out ways to incorporate this into my lessons. I need to trick them into learning, because the lecturing style doesn't really work for them. I need to distract them with smoke and mirrors while I am reinforcing my key points. Gosh, I wish I had more time for planning.
I have a science department faculty meeting this afternoon, followed by a trip to the gym and maybe a manicure if I have time. Then it's home to plan, grade, and maybe relax if there's time. This is quite a challenging job, but it's worth it when my homeroom class does well on their quizzes.
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