Standard 8: Engages With Profession of Teaching as a Reflective Learner
One of my final MSU projects required me to assess different types of apathetic students. I read a book about student apathy, focusing on two different chapters: "The Overwhelmed" and "The Invisible." Through reading this book, I learned that many of my students were overwhelmed with the work. Since I was working at a junior high, my 7th graders were switching classes for the very first time. They have been consistently overwhelmed throughout the year as they have homework from many different classes. They have had to learn organization skills and immense discipline. My readings suggested that I break down larger assignments so my students do not feel so overwhelmed. I used a couple different assignments for this idea: Close and Critical Readings, the Glory Road webquest, and the biography project. Breaking down assignments allows for students to feel less overwhelmed and stay on track with assignments. "Invisible" students tend to stay very quiet during class and go completely unnoticed. During a professional development day, my administrators introduced some games and activities they recently purchased from a company. My mentor teacher downloaded an application on her smart phone that is referred to as the "randomizer." By simply entering the amount of students in your class, the randomizer will pick a random number. You can even use group numbers and then call on students within the group, which is how I ran one of my CCR days. Using the randomizer not only gets students really excited to participate, but it also allows the "invisible" students to have a voice in the classroom.