Lesson Experiments

I spend a lot of trying to create lessons because many of my classes do not have books and for the classes that do have books many of the exercises are levels above their ability. I will admit that I don't do much better than the books when I try to create lessons. I miss the mark a lot. Sometimes lessons are too difficult or other times I just can't get my students to engage. I tried to use some very creative lessons from Gender and Diversity Committee, but I couldn't get my students to take them seriously.

For Valentine's Day I was a bit unsure about if I wanted to try to create a lesson or if I just wanted to skip the holiday. I teach 18 classes a week, but I only have half of a class at a time, thus I see each group once a week. The week before Valentine's day I tried some lessons supplied by Peace Corps, but they didn't quite work for my students. The activities that match the levels of my students are designed for elementary age students thus even with my attempts to fine tune then for high school flopped.

However, I decided to try one last time to do a holiday activity on Valentine's Day. I explained to my students a little about traditions in the U.S. and told them that the holiday can be about doing something nice for themselves and also for friends and family. They mostly thought of the holiday as something to celebrate with their boyfriend/girlfriend. I first had my students write on a post-it note something they do well or are good at. For example, "I am a good sister" or "I am an excellent artist." Then I had them stick the note to themselves and tell the class what they had written without looking at it (quite a challenge for some). They then had to write something nice about their desk-mate on another post-it and stick it to that person. We then made traditional valentines. While it wasn't a complete success, it went much better than the week before and I am glad I tried again. Below are the photos from one of my 11th grade classes that did the lesson.