Sunday, February 8, 2009

Sometime within the past couple classes we discussed how making your students raise their hands when they have finished may make them feeled a bit rushed. The other day this past week in one of my classes we had to do a quick assignment about a an article we just read. The professor said that everyone will speak about their answers when we were finished. I was already nervous about finding the exact answer we were suppose to have found when I thought about being the last one to raise my hand...forget about it! I was too focused on not being the last one to raise my hand...in fear that the other students who found the answer quickly would think I was dumb! I settled for an answer that may or may not have been the right one just to raise my hand because I feared being judged by my fellow peers. I thought about what we were discussing in class and how this type of activity may hinder your students from performing at their best ablilies. This is exactly what it did to me...I was unable to find the correct answer and feel confident because I felt - - stressed and rushed! I def. feel that students may not understand because they are too concerned on not being last when they should be focusing on finding the correct information. Through my experience I feel that other ways can be used to get kids to be active and participate....rather than have them feel pressured and not quite understanding the assignment they are suppose to be grasping. It didn't make me feel okay and I was a college student...I couldn't imagine how it would make middle schoolers/highschoolers feel when they are still trying to find out who they really are and trying to be accepted amist a judgemental crowd involving their peers.

1 comment:

  1. Kris,

    Excellent points.

    This type of assessment can produce anxiety. On the other hand, some students may actually do *better* when put on the spot. As a teacher, we have to be aware of these types of differences in style.

    Think about the discussion board posting we had this past week. You had time to reflect and research the question before answering. Would this be a way to supplement a class discussion? Or, even this blog... you are all going to write much more here than you could ever say in class...

    Just some ideas.

    Thanks for bringing up an engaging thought!

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