I have been teaching for 15 years and have never before seen such impressive results at the completion of a unit. I am a fifth and 6th grade enrichment teacher and I used the program with 161 students; including regular, gifted, and learning disabled. My room arrangement is five round tables and students sit together and work in groups. In one of my 10 classes, I have 3 inclusion boys sitting at one table. This makes it easier for the inclusion teacher to offer them assistance all at once. These sixth graders also enjoy sitting with their friends. I have to say that these three boys, I\u2019ll refer to as Joe, John, and Jim, are rarely seen as leaders or positive role models. They struggle, find it difficult to remain on task, and at times, can be silly. They do not experience much success.<\/p>\n
When I introduced this new unit to the class, they really seemed to perk up and be interested in what I had to say. As we started through the lessons, THEY were the ones who were \u201cgetting it\u201d and solving the problems accurately. They were quick. They would stand up and clap, smile, and dance after they checked their problems. They were the ones who listened to my directions, watched my modeling, and learned from my steps. Other kids who normally excelled, tried to do things their own way, take short cuts, and were making careless mistakes.<\/p>\n
Soon, my three new shining stars, Joe, John, and Jim, were my \u201cteacher\u2019s helpers\u201d and checked other students\u2019 problems for accuracy. I enjoyed watching them look over the gifted students\u2019 papers. Quite a reversal of roles! In their reflection statements at the end of the quarter, they would write, \u201c\u2026I made so much progress in Hands-On Equations, \u2026I felt like a leader\u2026 I was so fast\u2026I felt good.\u201d<\/p>\n
I wonder if they\u2019ll have any more experiences like this?<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I enjoyed watching them look over the gifted students\u2019 papers. Quite a reversal of roles! In their reflection statements at the end of the quarter, they would write, \u201c\u2026I made so much progress in Hands-On Equations, \u2026I felt like a leader\u2026 I was so fast\u2026I felt good.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":219,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n