Saturday, January 19, 2013

Back at it

I haven't posted in a while, because, well, I don't really have an excuse.  Busy?  Yes.  Too busy?  Probably not.  If Amanda can post consistently, I should be able to manage it too.  So, I'll try my best.

We are in the middle of exams here, but thankfully mine are almost all written.  I have been diligent in trying to get things done ahead of time.  I have started into some deep (as in a while away) planning.

This past semester has seen a lot of changes.  I started the year gung-ho with gamifying elements of my courses, but I soon realized I had bitten off more than I could chew.  I took on too much, really, and it was difficult to keep up with.  I have pared down that side of the program.  I realized that creating a classroom narrative was a lot of work, and, really, too much for the amount of planning time I have (including hours at home).  Some kids were very interested in that side of it, though, so hopefully a better mind than me can come up with a system in which that works.

Something many of my students loved: Crafting!  A lot of them are very interested in the idea of crafting. Crafting, as I mean it, is a program where kids who are finished early can continue developing skills for badges awarded on Edmodo. I generally make it related to a topic in grammar that we have studied previously. This gives the kids a chance to reinforce their skills, and it is completely optional. One of my most avid crafters has seen significant improvement this year!


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