Chapter 10: Going Beyond The Classroom

On page 176, there were two students who talked about how they went outside in science class and played dodgeball to learn about mass and motion. This was a weird concept to me.

I feel that activities such as this will not help the students learn. I, for one, would probably end up focusing on playing the game and not the science behind it. Games that are normally used for recreation should no tbe used to teach. Games that are normally used to teach are okay to use in the classroom, however.

Chapter 9: When Things Go Wrong

On 164, there is a list of things to ask students before the grading period ends and after the report card arrives. An example of on for each is, “How do you feel you are doing so far?” and “What can you do to improve next time?”

I liked this section because the questions given were all valid and encouraged a meeting between the teacher and student. When I am a teacher I want to have portfolio conferences that will have these and similar questions addressed. If teachers and students can not give each other feedback then the education system is not working right.

Chapter 8: Teaching Teenagers who are still Learning English

On page 154, Andres says that when teaching, do not be afraid to let them use their native language to figure things out.

I feel that this is very important because the confusion factor is taken out of the learning in this case. This is especially a good idea for a teacher who has some background knowledge in the student’s native tongue. Bilingual teaching may help students learn English faster and help them succeed in school while learning the language.

Chapter 7: Teaching Difficult Academic Material

On page 124, there is a small section called “Find out what we know already”. It talks about pre-assessing the class so you don’t go over material they already know.

I liked this section because I plan to do this at the start of all my units. If the teacher does this, it could potentially be a time-saver and could mean that the students could learn even more about the topic at hand.

Chapter 6: Motivation and Boredom

On page 101, Andre says that he goes to school because he likes to learn new things and even though there are classes he doesn’t like, he takes them so he can reach his full potential.

This caught my attention because it reminds me of myself. I loved going to school to learn and be social but I took classes I didn’t like so I could better myself and graduate from high school. All kids know that they have to learn subjects they do not like if they want to learn more and become better people in the long run.

Chapter 5: Teaching to the Individual, Working With the Group

At the very beginning of Chapter 5 there was a list of types of students in the typical classroom. These types are: the eye-roller, the wallflower, the hand-waver, the dreamer, the con artist, the goof-off, and the workhorse.

This jumped out at me because this ties into MI and DI in my opinion. I feel like if you can categorize students into these types along with the strengths in MI you can better reach this student. I will keep this section handy when I go back into the schools.

Chapter 4: Creating a Culture of Success

On page 64, a student named Mahogany says, “If a teacher doesn’t think you’re smart, they won’t call on you. They’ll pay you very little attention.” This is something that I have unfortunately seen in a classroom.

I hate teachers that are like this. These teachers either hate kids or have lost the will to care anymore. A teacher needs to pay attention to all students because maybe that one "dumb" kid has the potential to be a great student but is just falling through the cracks.

Chapter 3: Classroom Behavior

On page 40, a student named Vance talks about the importance of the hook in a lesson. “We were prepared to get on my teacher, but he grabbed our attention from the start, and we were with him for the rest of the class.”

This jumped out at me because Dr. Grace has stressed the importance of having a hook in our lessons. This book just reinforced that idea and I’m glad to see it reiterated. I’m starting to feel like the hook is as important if not more important than the lesson itself.