A better day

Today went pretty well considering I had to deliver the bad news that most failed the vocabulary test. I gave a presentation showing how both my actions and the students' actions contributed to the bad grades. Most seemed interested and desired to do better. I made the point that I wanted each one to succeed and that success meant a class average of 80% or better. I told them that I would fail as a teacher if I were to accept their low performance on the past test. There was more to the speech, but right after it we got to work. I went through and explained some of the terms and most students in each class were taking notes. The room had never been that silent outside of taking a test. Each class also picked a class creed that the students will say each day. The creeds are in the first person and lay out the expectations I have for each student. Parts of them, for example, were, "I believe in myself and my ability to do my best. I am intelligent. I am capable of greatness."

This is not to say there weren't problems. My last period is still difficult due to having dismissal duty and many leaving 15 minutes early. It was also apparent today that only 2-3 students are causing the trouble in the class. I found this out by sending them out into the hall. Once this happened, those in class worked quietly without disrupting the class. I haven't figured out what I'll do for that period, but I've got part of the solution.

I decided tonight that I will also split the vocabulary test up into two sections--one for friday and the other for monday or tuesday. This will help with giving the students a smaller amount to study and to allow for greater comprehension instead of a shallow memorization of lots of terms. It will take the anxiety off the students as well as a smaller amount may be a more feasible amount. Of course the 2nd test will have a few terms from the first one as well. Tomorrow will involve a little more teaching and then a powerpoint jeoparday game (the board is set up just like the game show--it's really cool).