I bought a bird feeder this weekend and only squirrels seem to be interested. Sounds like my classroom.
You know that feeling when you plan a lesson to get certain students in your class engaged and end up exciting a completely different group of kids? What about when you plan a fun activity you think the whole class is going to enjoy but most of them end up thinking is really boring? Happens to me all the time.
Back to this bird feeder though.
I thought I'd spice up my back yard by adding this thing. I got the twine, hung it from the tree, and filled it with all kinds of nuts, seeds, and berries that I believed in my heart that the birds would love. In my mind's eye I saw birds of all colors fluttering around enjoying all of the delicious bird food i lovingly poured into this feeder. In my real eye? Squirrels. Lots of them.
The question is, What should I do? Should I be excited that a completely unexpected animal is enjoying the hard work I put in or should I change the food, buy a new feeder, and do everything I can to attract the animal I want? Maybe I should just give it a few more days to see if the birds just haven't caught on yet?
This is a daily dilemma I face in my classroom. How do I get 100% engagement? Sometimes I get it but don't know why and can't replicate it. Some days it's just luck. When I change the activity I've been doing the past few years to try and pull in a few more kids that don't usually participate, sometimes I just get one of them or make a few kids that drift in and out really excited and bore my kids that engage most of the time.
Anytime that any student is excited about learning, that's a victory. The challenge is having as many of those victories a day as you can. I want to win 25 times in my class of 25. A 20-5 record may get me to the playoffs, but I'll always be stuck thinking about those 5 losses instead of the 20 wins. That's a problem in and of itself, but that's a blog for another time.
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Back to this bird feeder though.
I thought I'd spice up my back yard by adding this thing. I got the twine, hung it from the tree, and filled it with all kinds of nuts, seeds, and berries that I believed in my heart that the birds would love. In my mind's eye I saw birds of all colors fluttering around enjoying all of the delicious bird food i lovingly poured into this feeder. In my real eye? Squirrels. Lots of them.
The question is, What should I do? Should I be excited that a completely unexpected animal is enjoying the hard work I put in or should I change the food, buy a new feeder, and do everything I can to attract the animal I want? Maybe I should just give it a few more days to see if the birds just haven't caught on yet?
This is a daily dilemma I face in my classroom. How do I get 100% engagement? Sometimes I get it but don't know why and can't replicate it. Some days it's just luck. When I change the activity I've been doing the past few years to try and pull in a few more kids that don't usually participate, sometimes I just get one of them or make a few kids that drift in and out really excited and bore my kids that engage most of the time.
Anytime that any student is excited about learning, that's a victory. The challenge is having as many of those victories a day as you can. I want to win 25 times in my class of 25. A 20-5 record may get me to the playoffs, but I'll always be stuck thinking about those 5 losses instead of the 20 wins. That's a problem in and of itself, but that's a blog for another time.
Follow us on Facebook; Twitter; iTunes; Soundcloud; Stitcher
Related Articles:
Why do Dallas Teachers do all the grading?
Are gradeless classrooms possible in Dallas Schools?
Differentiated Professional Development for Dallas Teachers
Differentiated Instruction in Dallas Schools
Dallas Education Podcast - Differentiated Instruction
The Science of Education in Dallas Schools
Dallas ISD News and Politics Rundown - May Week 1
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