Friday was the market day hosted by the first grade 8 group. It was also Funky hair day. That meant that students could come to school in any hair style what so ever. Only a few actually had their hair funky, the others especially the girls, just had their hair blown out.
What I noticed about having functions or special occasions at school whilst still having normal class periods has a huge influence on how learners behave in class. My grade 10 class did not want to have a lesson. Learners who normally just sat and ask questions were talking and having conversations not linked with the work. I allowed for 3 learners of the other grade 10 Life Sciences class to sit in as they did not start with the topic yet. Later on in the lesson it became a problem, as 1 of my class learners kept talking to the learner from the other class. Also, I gave them a crossword on Biomes to prepare them for the test they have in a few days. That worked well as they were kept busy even though there was talking in between it was about the work.
I feel that one needs to be more strict with learners when it comes to such functions. However, functions in their eyes is a time to relax. Thus to benefit both the learner and the teacher, one could give a fun activity relating to the work and create a relaxed environment but stil one in which learning takes place. I feel that the crossword was a fun learning activity especially since my class felt that the Biome concepts were not as fun and stimulating as the other concepts we deat with. It is also complicated to set up questions as it is plain theory work. Most of the learners said that they enjoy doing crosswords and thus I incorporated it into their learning process.
I'm glad to say that the market day was a success. The learners enjoyed it alot and the grade 8s enjoyed making money.
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Beautiful decorated cupcake    |
Discipline is really a huge problem when it comes to fun activities, and learners tend to take full advantage of the fact, but keeping their minds stimulated in a fun way is a really good idea. This way they are having fun and learning something in the process.
ReplyDeleteThe week was really slow, but I guess we made the most of it. 3 more weeks to go then we say goodbye to HTS, bitter-sweet moments.
Good luck with lessons this week, "Candy-Crush" :D
I think it is a very good idea to try and do something 'different' during a lesson when students are involved in either a 'civvy day' or perhaps other functions. It does not always work, however, so one would need to think carefully of creating a learning activity that is fun, but does not have the potential to become even further disruptive. Thanks for the pictures :)
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