Thursday, October 12, 2017

6th Grade Block Classes: A New Challenge

Switching from Junior High to Middle School creates many new experiences for both students and staff. The leadership and maturity of the 9th graders are gone, and is replaced with the sweetness and neediness of 6th graders. The comfort of having two grade levels of students that "get what our school is like" is gone and replaced with having no one know what our school is like, because we are reinventing ourselves. Teachers who have always done things this way, can no longer always do things this way, because it doesn't fit with the new model.

Part of our new model, six period days were replaced with block classes on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Some training was given on how to teach in a block, but it was generic and lacked purpose. No experts were brought in, and planning time was scarce as we also needed time to discuss all of the other changes coming down the pipeline. I've read excerpts from books and articles online, but without someone that has expertise to ask questions, the tips for success become catchphrases with little meaning.

Included in this transition, teaching a new grade level. I'm a teacher that utilizes investigations, group-worthy tasks, and explorations of concepts daily. So when I read the term "standard algorithm" so many times in the 6th grade standards, my soul takes a beating. I'm sure both can be accomplished, but I, for the first time since the start of my career, don't know where to start.

How do I solidify previous understandings of place-value without just showing them? How do I convince students that long division of decimals on paper is relevant and important when they all have a calculator in their pocket? Multiplication tables, flash cards and timed tests in grades 3, 4 and 5 have not helped 50% of my students learn these facts, so what do I do when the lack of facts hinder progress?

Perseverance. That what this year is all about for me. Seek knowledge from experts, and persevere.

I'm a 14-year veteran, 1st year teacher.

2 comments:

  1. Shoot, I didn't see this until today. Nobody asked! Now I want to know!

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    Replies
    1. wilsonmath4j: I'll write a post on the Sunshine Drill in the future. For now, I changed the content of this post. :)

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