Week 11 Reflection

Well...this week was my official start of what Mr. Stocking likes to call "power teaching." I realized that i've spent most of the semester adjusting to teaching every day in general. We're now at a point in the semester where things are becoming routine and students are getting bored with the same thing day in and day out. I've decided that time spent planning is not always as important and the quality of the way content is presented. I've started requiring a lot more student participation, including getting started right away and working until the bell rings. I see now that this method would have been much easier had I started the semester this way. If and when I start a school year again i'm going to make it a priority to establish good procedures for the beginning and end of class time and stick with them. Because I didn't have any problems at the start of the semester, I wasn't prepared enough for when they developed.
I am also dealing with anatomy students who talk a lot during lecture so i've started holding them accountable for the information a lot more often with in-class quizzes or "quick checks". This helps to keep them focused and motivates some students to pay better attention. I am trying to make the lectures as interesting and exciting as possible by varying the tone of my voice and moving around the room a lot as I talk. I hope this helps to keep their attention focused a little better.
I also found a topic with the forensics classes this week that seem to really enjoy- forensic anthropology. By building off of their curiosities about the subject I have been able to present some lessons that have really kept their interests. I have had great class participation this week- even from students who usually struggle to finish work or stay on task. I am hoping to use their interests to continue planning good lessons around this topic. I initially wasn't planning on using this topic as one of the inquiry-based activities for my research but I am now thinking that their research projects would make good data. I would also like to have them complete the student interest survey on this subject and use that for my research as well. I am still adjusting to the idea that action research plans can change and adapt to meet the students' needs. I hope that I am collecting useful and relevant data to help answer my research question. More importantly though- I hope that I am adjusting my teaching to meet the needs of all of my students.