2 Stars & a Wish: Week 13

     Tis’ the season! December is upon us and there is only 15 teaching days left until Christmas holidays. Technically it is even less since I am away at a conference 2 days this week and we have some spirit activities in the last week that will take away from class time. Again I fell off the reflection-bandwagon due to the craziness that is report cards & parent-teach interviews but I am committed to keeping with this! Two things that I think went well this week are:

1) Incorporating Student Suggestions in My Grade 10 Class
– Shortly after report cards went out I asked my students to give me a
  report card (anonymously) so they could share their thoughts on the
  class. I feel like my students answered very honestly and, since then,
  I’ve been trying to incorporate their suggestions whenever possible.
– Some examples of this has been having my students create their own
  rubrics for assessment, providing more choices with assignments, &
  building in instructional groupings so students who need more
  explanations can get assistance and students who don’t can go right into
  activities.

2) Having My Students Getting More Excited About Blogging
– Previously, I had a few students who were apprehensive about
  blogging since their writing could be seen by anyone. They would be
  nervous when they were picked as a blog scribe for the day and would
  spell-check again and again before hitting publish.
– This week, I shared Dean Shareski’s blog posts about Why You Can’t
  Click Publish, with my students. He talks about how publishing a book
  is designed to answer all questions on the topic while a blog is always
  evolving and meant to be a ongoing piece of work that invites
  conversation.
– After this I had one of my students who had previously been nervous
  about blogging actually blog twice this week!

     This week I am away both Tuesday & Wednesday so it is my goal to plan efficient and effective substitute plans for my substitute teacher. I’ve never been away for two days in a row and when I’ve previously had a substitute teacher my students were near the end of a unit and mostly working on unit projects. The majority of my classes have just begun new units and are still developing their skills in the topic. I hope it all goes well!!