O Mondays

Another day of observations and all I could think about was my focal student...that I dont have yet. The students Monday were reviewing for their chapter test on Tuesday. The teacher prepared a really fun game for them. The students responded well. They were split into two teams and determined the order in which the would go up to the board. I liked how independent and cooperative they were with each other. The review game had two poster boards with the answers on it. Each student went up the his/her respective boards and picked up a fly swatter. After the question was read, the students had to swat the answer. I thought it was very creative and have never seen the game played before. Apparently it is often used in foreign language classes. The students seemed to enjoy it as well. They were able to make notes of questions they didnt know so that they could study them later.

I thought back to my past history classes and the games we played in order to review. Learning in this classroom is very interactive. The students participate in history, like the stock market game. It definitely helps them remember the information better. The fun games are creative ways of studying and realizing what still needs to be studied. In my history classes, we play jeopordy review games and the like, but I know I found it helpful when I could actually put myself in a situation and/or relate to a topic. Students could also remember the information better on a test if they can think back to what they were doing during the game/activity/review and use that to help them remember the information. Plus, anything is better than just taking notes =P

Ill have to ask the students how the notes and review sessions helped them on the test.