Monitoring and Adjusting

This week I have learned the importance of monitoring and adjusting. I am experiencing this on a small scale level as well as a large scale level.

Small scale level:
On the day-to-day level it is important for teachers to adjust their lessons to the different classes. This week I had a lesson where the students were going to talk about symbols they have been tracking through the course of Lord of the Flies. Every sixth student has a different symbol. First, they were going to talk with their group who all had the same symbol, then they were going to jigsaw out to other students and share their knowledge.

When I had them pull out their symbolism papers, the majority had little to none writing on their papers. I knew I had to tweak my lesson plan or else they would not be able to talk with each other about anything. So, instead of starting them with their same-symbol group, I gave them five to seven minutes to have the opportunity to write down on their paper. After the students had this time, they were able to contribute to their group. I know this is a very small instance of adjusting, but it really shows me how important it is to adjust and not be upset about a disrupted lesson plan.

Larger scale level:
In my class that gives me woe, they are struggling to understand The Great Gatsby. The lexile level is what they are supposed to be reading at, but still they are struggling. The activities I have been giving them are not very effective because they are not reading/not understanding the material. They should have been halfway through the novel, but they are barely at the beginning of chapter one.

After a couple of class periods of frustration, I talked with my cooperating teacher. She gave me a suggestion. Earlier in the year, she had the class read in groups in class. That way they read the literature and you can make sure they are understanding it. So basically, I am starting my Gatsby unit over.

It is frustrating, but with this class I feel that is the best option. We tried this way a couple days this week and it seemed to be effective. The students seem to be getting it. The next couple weeks will help me see if this way is more effective. I'm optimistic.