Fabulous Friday

What a great day it was today! Yesterday, I could have sworn it was a full moon or something...talk about out of sorts or strange. Almost all of the students acted like Christmas was just a few days away when we still have about 20 days or so left! Needless to say, I was really worried that would be the case for all the days to come. THANKFULLY, I was wrong. These fabulous middle schoolers never cease to amaze me at how fast they can change and how capable they really are.

Imagine a boy who never takes notes, never participates in class, and depends on his father to do his work (yes, his father sits next to him in the classroom) AND DOES HIS SON'S WORK.....well today was different. Today, that boy worked hard and all for the incentive of a tiny piece of candy. Yes, candy. I told all of the students that I would be watching who was taking notes and would give them a piece of candy. As I walked around the room, I set a piece of candy next to his father's notebook because like always, he was working, and then I passed by the boy without giving him any candy. Kudos to his father for at least having the sense to not give the boy the candy. So, wouldn't you know, the boy took out his own notebook and feverishly worked to catch up on the notes! I walked by, looked over his shoulder, and set down a piece of candy.

I know it seems minor but I've tried this with him in weeks past (giving candy for those who are working) and he would still choose to do nothing and miss out on the reward. So, I was satisfied. We shall see how he does next week!

In another classroom (Social Studies), I led an activity for students' review in which they made foldables and recorded information for review. It was a lot of fun and the students really worked hard. It did take a lot of time so I will be brainstorming ways to speed up the process. I thought I might do some pre-cutting and pre-folding for students but I'm not sure.  If anyone has any suggestions....please share!

And finally, I had a lot of nice compliments about an activity I made for students to review the last couple of chapters. I laminated cards that are a little smaller than index cards. Each card has either the name of a person, an event, or a vocab word. I also have a stack of cards that describe what the person did, information that goes with the event, or a definition. I will shuffle the deck and hand each student a card and they will need to find the person with the card that goes with theirs'. We ran out of time to do it today but I look forward to trying it out next week!

So, it was truly a fabulous Friday and I left the school feeling energized and excited that I will be teaching my own students very soon! Happy Friday!