Friday, October 10, 2008

"Tour of Europe"



We spent 4 days (from Thursday 10/2 to Tuesday 10/7) in room 704 where students worked in groups at stations. They had approximately 10 minutes at each station to do things like: build a gargoyle out of playdough, play a game of concentration, listen to some music on a cd, pretend to be a monk in scriptorium, among others. In addition to the different activities at each station, the groups also read together out of the workbook and completed the reading notes for chapter 3 in the workbook. I am lucky enough to be able to use an empty room in the 7th grade pod for these group activites and simulations. Rather than having to spend time moving desks around in my room, I can have everything ready to go in room 704, which gives the kids more time to do good work. All in all, I have been impressed with the way the students worked together in the groups. There was minimal conflict among students, and most goups were productive. I recently read an article in an educational publication that quoted the CEO of a major company who said that his employees have to be able to work well with each other because the company is structured in teams. I hope that I am doing my part to help train your children to work well together.