At this point of the year (with or without consideration of the unending snow/cold), the kiddos are a bit...hmm...Shall we say...no...How can I put this nicely?...Well, let's just face the facts - they're bonkers with no real outlet for all that energy.
What's a poor teacher to do?
Carrying on as usual is certainly not an option. (Not if you want to keep your sanity.)
It's been time to dig deep and get those creative juices flowing - what's going to be relevant to these kids? What's going to make them want to put in the time and effort?
You know you're in for it when your announcement to the class that they will be doing independent projects meets with a choruses of "oh man"s and "another assessment?"s. (Sometimes they don't even let you finish your sentence. Sheesh.) But then I kept going - the students were going to do a bulletin board design contest that features the three pillars of Lent. (As I told them, anyone who comes into our room should be able to tell from your bulletin board what Lent is really all about - and I should also be able to tell .)
One of the students piped up, "Wait? That's our project? I LOVE you," and then proceeded to lead the class in a short cheer/clap. (Later, I found out she was very proud of her cheer.)
Maybe she saw the relevance? Or maybe she liked the idea of some creative freedom?
Who knows...
What I do know is that, for the most part, all 19 (one was absent) students were focused and were working the whole time. I haven't scored the projects yet, so I don't know how well they applied their knowledge, but I'm crossing my fingers that they made this assessment count. Only time will tell.
And then, it will be on to the voting for and making of the best bulletin board design. (I love it when the kids do all the work...the only downside is we won't have the bulletin board up for conferences. Should have timed that better - oops...)
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