OneStepAtATime Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I am a volunteer parent in a co-op I have just joined. I help in a literature class for 9-12 year olds (15 in the class). The teacher is a really nice lady but has obviously not ever dealt with a large group of kids (half are boys half are girls). At least three of the kids are extremely wiggly and had a hard time focusing. Another child I strongly suspect has a learning issue that makes reading exceedingly difficult. The teacher is very lecture and write key points on the chalk board oriented. She lost at least half the class by mid way through. It was sort of painful to watch. I suggested after class that we might have the kids DO something while she is giving her lectures. Something physical that might keep their physical bodies occupied. What I would really like to do would mean taking over the class and that would be inappropriate so I need to keep this fairly standard but I am definitely wanting something interesting to do, not just busy work, that would tie in to literature/books somehow... I am willing to spend $20-30 on materials to help this work. All that to say I need suggestions. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73349 Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 What books are they reading? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
almondbutterandjelly Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Crafts that relate to the topic. Scratch art. Coloring pages. Yarn. Anything like this will keep their hands busy and be helpful for the wiggly ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Have you seen the LitWits guides that Jen over on LC always recommends? They're AMAZING and they have some info up for free too. Really though, I hate to be super-tacky (what am I saying? I don't hate to, lol), but I'd DITCH THAT CLASS in a heartbeat. At least I'd ditch it if it's not fitting *your* kids. Cuz I let my dd stay in a class like that once and it was NOT worth it. The teacher will never get it. She's not qualified and she's thinking one-dimensionally. She'll never be anything else. Leave, go have fun with the books yourself. There is nothing more tedious to bright, multi-faceted kids than to have a boring, single-faceted, unimaginative human RUIN a book they formerly liked. And that's all that happens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amethyst Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Really though, I hate to be super-tacky (what am I saying? I don't hate to, lol), but I'd DITCH THAT CLASS in a heartbeat. At least I'd ditch it if it's not fitting *your* kids. Cuz I let my dd stay in a class like that once and it was NOT worth it. The teacher will never get it. She's not qualified and she's thinking one-dimensionally. She'll never be anything else. Leave, go have fun with the books yourself. There is nothing more tedious to bright, multi-faceted kids than to have a boring, single-faceted, unimaginative human RUIN a book they formerly liked. And that's all that happens. This atmosphere made me give up on homeschooling before I ever started. Someone teaching letters to a bunch of preschoolers and expected them to sit and raise their hands when they already knew their letters. And it was so poorly taught even if they didn't know their letters! I gave up on that co-op and put my kids in a Waldorf preschool for 2 years before we finally committed to homeschooling. And I agree that if you gave us an idea of the book/books you are reading, then maybe we could help come up with ideas for that particular book. Or maybe suggest that each child should come to class prepared to ask a discussion question. DISCUSSION QUESTION is the key phrase, not a right or wrong kind of question. I think kids learn from the discussion so much more than from lectures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I would be concerned that anything that you give them is going to draw their attention away from her boring lecture. Is there no way that you could constructively suggest she engage the children in conversation or discussion versus just lecturing? Could she give them all a printout of her key points and go around the room having each child read those aloud...or better yet ask questions leading them to the key points and have kids come up and write them on the board? Lecturing about literature seems like a sure path to make those dc dislike reading. I've taught several literature classes and one of the favorite activities is to print out questions on slips of paper and have the children take turns pulling a strip, reading it and then answering it. I would ask questions about the plot, setting, characters, and so on. I'd also include questions about literary elements and would throw in silly questions or commands too (silly things like quack like a duck, what's your favorite planet, name all the characters in StarWars, etc.) to keep them all excited to draw another slip of paper. They'd get all the same info I could have given them in a lecture but it was so much more engaging and they remembered it. Perhaps you could ask her permission to just "test" it for one class. Good luck...sounds like a difficult situation to be in. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 3, 2014 Author Share Posted October 3, 2014 Sadly, they aren't reading a specific book they could all discuss. She just talks about books. :confused1: Today she talked about terms in literature (character, tone, etc). Next week she plans to talk about what a biography is vs. an autobiography. The following week she will talk about fun books. No actual book has been assigned to read. No book that the kids could read at home and then do some great discussion on in class. Really rather frustrating. Honestly, DS is probably not going to get anything out of this class but he says he doesn't mind staying there since he likes some of the other kids in the class and at one point she did ask a few questions. He enjoyed responding and listening to the other kids. His first class is science and so far that has been terrific. To remain in the co-op he has to take two classes and his choice for second hour was this Lit class and ballet. He chose lit. :) He might have been better off with ballet, but he doesn't think so. And I really feel like I can't just walk away since there is no other parent helping in this classroom of 15 kids. She needs help. I had to step in several times to get the kids refocused on what she was saying and to keep the wiggly ones from bolting out the door or running willy nilly around the classroom. It is only for 4 more Fridays. I just hope I can find a way to get her on board with making this more engaging.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkateLeft Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 It sounds like the leadership of your co-op may need to chat with the instructor a bit about expectations. Our co-op has experienced this type of thing a few times. Our teachers are great, but occasionally, we bring in an instructor that has never taught homeschoolers before, or one whose expectations don't match the expectations of our families. My son took a fabulous literature class last year at our co-op, but it included lots of discussion and hands on projects. It was geared towards 4th-7th graders. Students did the reading outside of class, so class time was a lot more collaborative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 I teach a lit analysis class at a co op. I have a class of 10 students ages 11-13. We have discussion, not lecture, though many of them are shy and won't speak up. I write on a flip chart, and I invite the kids to add to our flip chart notes (coming up and writing on the chart with a sharpie). We build on these every day. The other day I did a demonstration of a passage in the book in which I called in three other moms. The class went wild over this. I read passages from the book, and we discuss protagonist, antagonist and action. I point out literary devices from the chapters we've read that week. In other words, I mix it up. No notes are taken by students. Maybe you can suggest a break in the middle for an activity. My little dd was in a "book club" class last year at co op which had a lot of activities, including eating similar foods to the foods in the book, reading in class and discussing the book. She reports that the slow readers held up the class so reading in the class is probably not the way to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeschoolingHearts&Minds Posted October 3, 2014 Share Posted October 3, 2014 Sadly, they aren't reading a specific book they could all discuss. She just talks about books. :confused1: Today she talked about terms in literature (character, tone, etc). Next week she plans to talk about what a biography is vs. an autobiography. The following week she will talk about fun books. No actual book has been assigned to read. No book that the kids could read at home and then do some great discussion on in class. Really rather frustrating. Wow, what a total dud---it's impossible to study literature outside of the context of actual literature, lol! :lol: I am running a book "club" for our homeschool group for 15 kids that same age group and we're having a blast. We have an assigned book each month that they read before they come (we only meet monthly). In club we have an activity (the volunteer mom for that month provides it, it can be a craft, game, whatever she comes up with---each mom takes a turn) and then I discuss the book with the kids. If we run out of steam, we might play a little game or let them run around outside for a few minutes before their parents pick them up. No notes or written assignments, but my goal is to foster a love of good books and to get them making connections. It seems to be working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 4, 2014 Author Share Posted October 4, 2014 Wow, what a total dud---it's impossible to study literature outside of the context of actual literature, lol! :lol: Yeah, tell me about it! :) Honestly, I know she is the teacher and I don't want to offend her. We just joined this co-op and are still getting to know this group. I don't want to step on toes just a couple of weeks into joining this group and after only one day of classes. But goodness, the more I think about this class and what it could be, the more I cringe at what it is. Heavy sigh...would it be rude to email her and ask if we could shake things up a bit? She seems really nice, but I think I shocked her a bit the couple of times I said something to the kids to help them see what she was getting at. I don't think she intended for me to participate, just help maintain control and help with clean up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 Oh gosh....I'm really sorry. That sounds miserable. I'm assuming this person is new too? I think, since there are only 4 more classes, I would take the leap and email to ask what concept or topic she was going to be teaching next and ask if she would mind if you brought in some books. Maybe bringing in appropriate books and then letting the kids look through them for a few minutes at the end of the class to see if they can determine the difference between the autobiography and the biography. Or, for the "fun" books class just bring in a really fun, short book and spend 10 minutes at the beginning or end of class to read through the book. I'm not sure, based on how she's teaching how you could salvage the class. :( My concern about not saying anything to anyone would be that, if you are going to remain with this co-op, you are likely to have your dc in a class she volunteers to teach again. Sounds like someone needs to find somewhere else in the co-op to utilize her...in the nursery, hall monitor, bathroom clean-up, helper in another class, etc. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 4, 2014 Author Share Posted October 4, 2014 I like the idea of bringing in books and seeing if they can determine which are autobiographies and which are biographies. I have plenty of books. Loads and loads. I could certainly do that. I will email her ahead of time to ask if that's o.k. Maybe the kids could brain storm ideas for things they would want represented if they were writing their autobiography, then turn around and brain storm questions they would want to ask someone else if they were writing some else's biography? I could try to find a public domain biography that I could print out (something short) and give to them to take home and read, then they could discuss the reading a bit at the beginning of the next class. My son is reading The Rommel Papers, about Erwin Rommel, a German general from WWII that stood up to Hitler. It is a collection of letters and his military tactics/plans, etc. I guess we could bring that in to show the difference between an autobiography, a standard biography and a compilation of primary resources that act like a biography in many ways....then ask how people might get to know the kids if all strangers had to go on was what was lying around their house and in their room...? Anything else? I'm on allergy meds and my brain is a bit fuzzy. I want to email her by tomorrow so I have time to pull stuff together over the weekend if she is o.k. with changing things up a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 I think your ideas sound great although to grab the kid's attention and focus on the actual topic of genre, I might choose a person(s) they all know....maybe an author, inventor, or scientist, actor or athlete they've all at least heard of. I could be totally off on that but, in my experience with teaching groups of kids often the familiar is a better plate for serving new information. I might just start with just the ideas you have above until you see how receptive she is to you adding to her class. No sense in you spending a lot of time brainstorming for other classes if she insists on continuing down her path of boredom and despair. ;) You'll have to post to let us know her response! Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 There's this really good line in a russian poem (but it sounds better in russian) to the jist: AND NOW you understand why... Then it diverges into love and tosca and all that, but NOW you understand why we gave up on co-ops. ;) I guess you could say it with a thick Russian accent and walk out the door and leave... You mean your poor ds doesn't get to see ANY humans during the day, any day of the week, unless he sits with the DUMBEST, most UNIMAGINATIVE and obviously UNQUALIFIED pseudo-teacher of all time? I mean, mercy, a student teacher would do better than that! What human does that to their kids?? Whatever, I saw almost as bad in other classes, lol. You could take 'em to the park and let them be with humans for free. You don't have to torture their souls just to get time with people. Take up a sport. Go to the Y. Go sing at the nursing home. Lots of people there for your kid to see, and when they ramble it will be more interesting and informative and life changing. But do as you want. I don't think anything you do is going to create what you're wanting which is a good class with an actual expert who will intrigue your kids. And the thing is, if they can't assign ANY homework in this class, then that tells you the other classes are equally crappy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 One more thing. When I saw that what I wanted for my kids did not exist at our co op, I volunteered to teach it myself. It actually replaced an existing class in which kids read books and did literature guides. I teach a rockin', wild, Deconstructing Penguins stand up comedy class. Totally cool. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 OneStepAtATime - I'll just add - great co-ops are built by great parents who are willing to put in the time and effort required to provide fun, engaging, group classes that can't be duplicated at home with one, two of three children. They provide amazing enrichment experiences, community and friendships for your dc and for yourself - not just classes. These co-ops have a set of standards for their classes and aren't afraid to ask volunteer teachers to move into other areas of helping when their classes don't meet these standards. Unfortunately, often times those parents who would be amazing teachers, and could help a good co-op become a great co-op get turned off within the first few classes by bad or mediocre teachers and instead of stepping in to try to improve the situation or step up to teach themselves, they bale. When all the exceptional parent\teachers leave then you're left with a pathetic co-op. I tell my new members all the time that if they expect to have a good experience from our co-op they need to give as much as they expect to get. I commend you for being willing to put yourself out there to try to improve the class versus just cutting your loses and running. It may not work out for this particular class, but hopefully your vision for creating an engaging class experience will be heard and you could help set the new standard for this co-op. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 4, 2014 Author Share Posted October 4, 2014 I am definitely teaching once I am qualified to do so (if we last that long :) ). You have to be a member of this co-op for a year before teaching. OhE, you made me laugh. Yep, the park would be cheaper. But DS really wanted a structured classroom setting. He misses school. If I could put him back and have even a modicum of hope that a ps classroom could provide material at his intellectual level while still being able to handle his learning challenges I would do it. Since that just isn't an option locally, we were hoping this might work. He loves the science class. In 45 minutes they did a fun science activity, a lab experiment, constructed an atom and played a sciency game. He was also with one of the few close friends he has made since we started homeschooling. He loved it. And got praise from a teacher other than Mom for knowing the origin of a lot of the scientific words (and I didn't teach him those, he just picked them up from all the audible books he listens to...) I am actually thinking about seeing if a few High School teenagers DS and DD know might be interested in coming over to do some sort of Lit analysis club with DS. I would pay them. DS thrives when he can discuss material in detail with lots of depth and he loves talking with anyone that will take him seriously, instead of dismissing him because he is only 10. He needs people around. Lots of people who love to learn and want to analyze, study, ponder.... In the meantime, can we come over and hang out in one of the awesome sounding co-op classes some of you seem to be having fun with? Anyone have a transporter handy? No? Going to send that e-mail and hope maybe we can pep things up a bit...wish me luck! And thanks for all the help. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 4, 2014 Author Share Posted October 4, 2014 OneStepAtATime - I'll just add - great co-ops are built by great parents who are willing to put in the time and effort required to provide fun, engaging, group classes that can't be duplicated at home with one, two of three children. They provide amazing enrichment experiences, community and friendships for your dc and for yourself - not just classes. These co-ops have a set of standards for their classes and aren't afraid to ask volunteer teachers to move into other areas of helping when their classes don't meet these standards. Unfortunately, often times those parents who would be amazing teachers, and could help a good co-op become a great co-op get turned off within the first few classes by bad or mediocre teachers and instead of stepping in to try to improve the situation or step up to teach themselves, they bale. When all the exceptional parent\teachers leave then you're left with a pathetic co-op. I tell my new members all the time that if they expect to have a good experience from our co-op they need to give as much as they expect to get. I commend you for being willing to put yourself out there to try to improve the class versus just cutting your loses and running. It may not work out for this particular class, but hopefully your vision for creating an engaging class experience will be heard and you could help set the new standard for this co-op. :) You are absolutely right about this. And I don't blame the teacher. She seems really sincere and was trying very hard. Her heart is in the right place to volunteer to teach to begin with. The teachers aren't paid at this co-op so she is doing this out of the goodness of her heart. I do appreciate that she was willing. This just isn't her forte, at least not yet. Maybe if she will let me brainstorm with her and come up with some better plans, we can turn this around and she might expand her abilities as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybear Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 How about suggesting something like, "In support of ___ books (whatever style she is next doing) perhaps we could ask the kids to read ____ at home and work on a lapbook in class while the kids are listening to you." Or, alternatively, they could do a lap book on the various elements of literature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 UPDATE: O.k. we had co-op today. I have been communicating back and forth with her and she was definitely amenable to some extras and small group work. Unfortunately, we never got to the small group work and she doesn't want to assign any outside reading. We did do more group discussion and I gave her a list of some fun questions and a couple of activities we could do verbally since she didn't feel comfortable doing anything with paper, or art supplies. The kids enjoyed the discussion and got really into it. Unfortunately when they started laughing (I included a funny activity regarding the difference between an autobiography and fiction) she got nervous that everyone was being too rambunctious and shifted gears back to more of a lecture style. At the end, she told everyone to pick out their favorite book and write a book report to share in class next Friday. She also asked them to bring their favorite book to class. Her plan was to have everyone read their book report then state what they would like to include in a biography about themselves if someone else were writing it then share their favorite book with everyone else. This sounded not only incredibly boring to me, it also sounded unworkable. I quickly suggested that everyone just write a couple of sentences about why they would recommend that book to someone else (we have 16 kids now and only 45 minutes; besides putting everyone to sleep, some kids are going to come in with a book report 5 pages long and others are going to never even start one so it seemed kind of a bad idea). She agreed that was a more workable idea. After class she said she didn't know how to make the next class more engaging without everyone getting too out of hand. I pointed out that they were actually behaving pretty well, they were just laughing. She has suggested we brainstorm some ideas for next class on Monday. So here is where I need more help. For the next class the kids (most anyway) may be bringing in 2-3 sentences recommending a favorite book they have read and also the book. It doesn't sound like she has a ton planned beyond that. Any suggestions? That don't include a book read in class or a book on cd listened to during class or a book read at home then discussed in class? Something that could tie in to literature that might be interesting? Fun AND educational? Cause I'm drawing a blank. FWIW, she is really nice. She is trying really hard. She just appears to be way out of her comfort zone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 I'm confused on what the topic is for the next class. Fun literature, or is there some element of biography still being discussed? By the way - I'm so glad to hear that she is willing to spice this class up a bit. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 10, 2014 Author Share Posted October 10, 2014 I'm confused on what the topic is for the next class. Fun literature, or is there some element of biography still being discussed? By the way - I'm so glad to hear that she is willing to spice this class up a bit. :) Well, honestly I am confused, too. She seemed to indicate that we could still do something with biographies but also we would be discussing fun books. What she really seemed to be counting on to fill the time was everyone reading their book report. Now that we have cut that down to just a couple of sentences she seemed a bit lost. So am I, actually. I've never done a lit class this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5LittleMonkeys Posted October 10, 2014 Share Posted October 10, 2014 Sounds like instead of having written a syllabus she's winging it...not good when you don't know what you're doing to begin with. I'm surprised those in charge of the co-op don't require all lead teachers to submit a class syllabus at the beginning of the semester so that the parents know what their children will be learning. Anyway - 45 minutes\16 kids - two topics. Here's how I would do it. First 10 minutes of class: Tell the kids that before you move onto the next topic you're going to finish up with biographies by having volunteers tell one thing they would want an author to include about them in a biography and why they think that thing would be important to include. Transition, 10 minutes: Tell the kids that they are going to now talk about fiction, specifically 'fun' fiction. Explain that there are all types of fiction - name off a few. Then ask a few kids what elements they think should be included to make a book 'fun'. Hopefully they will name different types of things and you can point out that different people consider different things fun. Go on from here asking for volunteers to share their sentences or (preferably) just have them share in a conversational tone what elements the author included in the book to make it 'fun'. (NOTE - if the kids just say - well it was just fun - try to get them to share examples from the book.) Next 20 minutes: take volunteers first and then if there is more time see if you can persuade any others to share. I would also write the names of the books the kids bring in on the chalk\white board so that other children could write them down if they'd like to read them. Final 5 minutes: tell the kids what a great job they did and set up the topic for the next class. I don't know if this will actually work since it's not clear if she specified fun books or not. If she didn't, then I'm not sure of what the focus of the class would be other than just the kids talking about why they liked this or that book. If that is the case then try to draw out of them specific elements the author used that made them enjoy the book. Was there a lot of imagery, action, humor, did the main character remind them of someone, was the dialog witty, etc. Good luck.....you've got your work cut out for you in salvaging this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 Sounds like instead of having written a syllabus she's winging it...not good when you don't know what you're doing to begin with. I'm surprised those in charge of the co-op don't require all lead teachers to submit a class syllabus at the beginning of the semester so that the parents know what their children will be learning. Anyway - 45 minutes\16 kids - two topics. Here's how I would do it. First 10 minutes of class: Tell the kids that before you move onto the next topic you're going to finish up with biographies by having volunteers tell one thing they would want an author to include about them in a biography and why they think that thing would be important to include. Transition, 10 minutes: Tell the kids that they are going to now talk about fiction, specifically 'fun' fiction. Explain that there are all types of fiction - name off a few. Then ask a few kids what elements they think should be included to make a book 'fun'. Hopefully they will name different types of things and you can point out that different people consider different things fun. Go on from here asking for volunteers to share their sentences or (preferably) just have them share in a conversational tone what elements the author included in the book to make it 'fun'. (NOTE - if the kids just say - well it was just fun - try to get them to share examples from the book.) Next 20 minutes: take volunteers first and then if there is more time see if you can persuade any others to share. I would also write the names of the books the kids bring in on the chalk\white board so that other children could write them down if they'd like to read them. Final 5 minutes: tell the kids what a great job they did and set up the topic for the next class. I don't know if this will actually work since it's not clear if she specified fun books or not. If she didn't, then I'm not sure of what the focus of the class would be other than just the kids talking about why they liked this or that book. If that is the case then try to draw out of them specific elements the author used that made them enjoy the book. Was there a lot of imagery, action, humor, did the main character remind them of someone, was the dialog witty, etc. Good luck.....you've got your work cut out for you in salvaging this! Sounds great. Thanks so much! When I have more time this weekend I will try to flesh things out and send her a plan. I know she isn't really working off of some clearly laid out lesson plan. She has some scribbled notes she reads off of when she gets flustered and basically just follows a hand written checklist. She has two kids in the class. Really sweet and quiet. They seem to be extreme bookworms and have read a LOT of books, but in a fairly narrow range (they had never heard of Percy Jackson or Geronimo Stilton for instance). I don't think they had ever participated in a co-op before last year and I am pretty certain she has never taught anyone but her own kids. This is a learning curve for all of us. I think by the end of this she and I both will be a lot more knowledgeable about the dos and dont's of running a co-op classroom. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Has she ever taught a class before? She sounds very nervous about losing control, which is understandable. It also happens in most classes at one point or another. I lost control of my class today, and soon I had a bunch of silly, giggly 5th-6th grade girls with three 8th grade boys staring at them. It was a brutal come-back, let me tell you, and I will need to have a little talk with them at the beginning of next week's class! I walk a very fine line between encouraging them to speak up (which has taken all 9 weeks of the class to accomplish) and then not shutting them down again by being heavy-handed dealing with their off-topic silliness and tale-telling. ("The other day I saw a dead possum, and it had a board over it." "My friend has a lot of nosebleeds and will be getting her nose....it starts with a C." Etc.) At one point I ordered them all to laugh and then asked them to get it together. Once it goes down a bad path, all can be lost quickly. A fine line, I tell you. (Our current book is The Phantom Tollbooth, btw. Fun, fun book!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 11, 2014 Author Share Posted October 11, 2014 Has she ever taught a class before? She sounds very nervous about losing control, which is understandable. It also happens in most classes at one point or another. I lost control of my class today, and soon I had a bunch of silly, giggly 5th-6th grade girls with three 8th grade boys staring at them. It was a brutal come-back, let me tell you, and I will need to have a little talk with them at the beginning of next week's class! I walk a very fine line between encouraging them to speak up (which has taken all 9 weeks of the class to accomplish) and then not shutting them down again by being heavy-handed dealing with their off-topic silliness and tale-telling. ("The other day I saw a dead possum, and it had a board over it." "My friend has a lot of nosebleeds and will be getting her nose....it starts with a C." Etc.) At one point I ordered them all to laugh and then asked them to get it together. Once it goes down a bad path, all can be lost quickly. A fine line, I tell you. (Our current book is The Phantom Tollbooth, btw. Fun, fun book!) I honestly don't think she ever has. And her kids are very quiet. I don't think she knows how to maintain control of a large group of wiggly, verbal kids. I totally get that. Teaching can be intimidating under the best of circumstances. I just really hope that these kids can learn something by the end of the 5 weeks. Of course, especially with homeschoolers, knowledge base and skill level are all over the place, but I am still hoping this won't end up being a complete waste of time for most of these kids. DS is bored but he also has made a new friend, and has had a couple of interesting discussions with classmates. Anyway, I appreciate the help and the general support. I realize I haven't given you much to work with. :) Best wishes... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted October 11, 2014 Share Posted October 11, 2014 Maybe you could do a couple of literary terms and definitions with examples. I interject these when I can and tell the kids that many adults don't know what allegory means, for instance, so if they want to be smarter than many adults, learn these definitions. (I employ silliness to get the point across when needed.). These are things that can be prepared as fillers when needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 UPDATE AND NEED FOR INPUT: O.k. last class was fair. We were unable to communicate at all before class (she was sick all week) so I had to toss my ideas at her as class was starting. Didn't work out that well, but it could have been worse. This next class she wants to just read poetry to the kids. No poetry was assigned to read at home, and she didn't seem to have a plan to have kids do anything but sit and listen to her read poetry and talk about how wonderful it is. Anyone got a great idea for poetry? I will be honest, poetry is not my strong suit at all. We are supposed to confer on Monday. I really hope to do something better for this next class. Ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 I did a day of poetry with my class last year and plan another one this year. I read different poems to the kids and let them read some, as well (my choosing, though they were free to bring in a fave poem). I read Ozymandias and The Jabberwocky. Then I read some haikus and broke the kids into small groups of five students and had them work together to write a haiku. They did really nice work. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 I did a day of poetry with my class last year and plan another one this year. I read different poems to the kids and let them read some, as well (my choosing, though they were free to bring in a fave poem). I read Ozymandias and The Jabberwocky. Then I read some haikus and broke the kids into small groups of five students and had them work together to write a haiku. They did really nice work. :) I remember liking the process of writing a haiku in school but I don't remember how. Any good sources for how to write a haiku? I agree, I think that would be a great small group activity! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalAlt Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 - Small groups working together to read poems and writing down phrases that grab their attention, engage their senses - Short explanation of various poetic devices, ask if people can give examples of each that they found in their poetry - Create found poetry http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/found-poems-parallel-poems-33.html - Opportunity for a few kids to share theirs at the end, others next week if they'd like to work on them more Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 - Small groups working together to read poems and writing down phrases that grab their attention, engage their senses - Short explanation of various poetic devices, ask if people can give examples of each that they found in their poetry - Create found poetry http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/found-poems-parallel-poems-33.html - Opportunity for a few kids to share theirs at the end, others next week if they'd like to work on them more Sounds great! :) Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 I remember liking the process of writing a haiku in school but I don't remember how. Any good sources for how to write a haiku? I agree, I think that would be a great small group activity! I just used whatever materials I had laying around. It is such a simple formula that I laid out that and then talked about the purpose of the haiku as a way for the author to describe every day occurrences or nature. One group wrote about a birthday party. It was a really nice haiku! It is a fast, easy way for the students to get a bit of hands on experience in poetry writing. Anyone can write a haiku, and those who don't love froo-froo poetry can usually understand and appreciate the utilitarian nature of the haiku. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 - Small groups working together to read poems and writing down phrases that grab their attention, engage their senses - Short explanation of various poetic devices, ask if people can give examples of each that they found in their poetry - Create found poetry http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/found-poems-parallel-poems-33.html - Opportunity for a few kids to share theirs at the end, others next week if they'd like to work on them more Cool ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Forgot that I also read The Walrus and the Carpenter! It's one of my faves. So silly. :) The kids get a kick out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalAlt Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 I think there's a picture book called Grass Sandals about the most famous Japanese haiku poet, could be a great intro, even for older kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbotoast Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 My kids enjoyed writing several of the poems from here: http://lets-explore.net/blog/?s=poems Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 O.k. taking my notes as I have a moment to do so. I will call her on Monday and hopefully we can make this class a bit more robust and a bit more interesting. Thanks so much for all your support. I knew I could count on the HIVE. :) I will report back next weekend on how it went. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 We worked out using a haiku, I sent her all the info, we talked about what she planned to do and how I could help but then I was unable to go. I happened to talk to a student today who is friends with my son. Bless him, he is very honest. I casually asked how coop went. He said science was cool because they did an experiment with bases and acids. He said for literature they just listened to a lot of poetry that he didn't really understand. He told me it was more boring that being dead in a coffin. He did say he wrote his own poem but he didn't want to be disrespectful of the teacher so he didn't share it with her. He shared it with me. "Roses are red and I am bored to death." I am sad. Oh, well. One class left. Maybe we can do something fun for the finale.... On the bright side all of your help with this situation has given me some interesting ideas for a book club DS10 and I are thinking of starting...thanks everyone! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasmama Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Oh dear, more bored than being in a coffin. That is bad. I know that sometimes my students are bored, but when this happens I work really hard to engage them using silliness, student involvement or whatever means I can. I put on a student's jacket the other day in front of the class, and they all died laughing because it was very, very small. I am very comfortable with the "stand up comic" routine as a means to engage them, though. Not everyone is. And once the sillies start, it can be a runaway train. It is a hard task to be a teacher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted October 27, 2014 Author Share Posted October 27, 2014 Oh dear, more bored than being in a coffin. That is bad. I know that sometimes my students are bored, but when this happens I work really hard to engage them using silliness, student involvement or whatever means I can. I put on a student's jacket the other day in front of the class, and they all died laughing because it was very, very small. I am very comfortable with the "stand up comic" routine as a means to engage them, though. Not everyone is. And once the sillies start, it can be a runaway train. It is a hard task to be a teacher. Yes, teaching truly is a hard task. Teachers really don't get the respect (or honestly the training) they need to teach large numbers of kids. Teaching in general is HARD. It can also be fun and rewarding, but it isn't an easy job. And there are so many variables that you can't ever really predict what will happen next. I admire her for volunteering to try. Maybe she will have gained some knowledge from the experience. Hopefully the kids gained a bit, too. I have certainly learned a lot. Mainly in the what not to do category but that's knowledge, too. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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