Week+1

__**My First Day at School...**__

It was an interesting first day at school. And a very long one at that. Personally there isn't a lot of bell work that appealed to me growing up. That isn't to say that there isn't a lot of value in bell work for others, it is just that I always found myself waiting for the 'actual' class to begin. I suppose if there would have been a better tie in into the subject matter, I would have enjoyed it more. From the viewpoint of an educator, I prefer to have bell work that asks a question directly, or even better, indirectly of the students to lead into the class discussion. If I don't ask the question directly but have it presented the right way, the question will want to be asked but the student will be the one to ask it.

In terms of getting the class's attention, I would like to use one or two of the methods that demonstrated during TRIBES. Either I will have something like a rain stick that creates a unique enough noise that the class will just stop for it, or I will try to use the one where I put my hand in the air and stop talking and anyone who sees me will do the same until everyone's hands are up and all is quiet. I don't think that I will have any issues in this regard as I have quite a presence but I am concerned about other aspects of classroom management. I worry about the times when I find a student who will just not settle down and I won't know what to do. But I think that fear is common amongst all of the Teacher Candidates and teachers in general.

**__Day 2, Apple 2__**

I think that Alfie Kohn is very good at what he does. What he does is sell books. That isn't to say that what he says doesn't have merit, but it must be kept in mind that he is very skilled orator. Another thing that must be kept in mind is that he hasn't actually done any research into the actual field. He has just drawn his own conclusions based on what he has read. I would be interested in getting access to some of his books. I would like to read them and also to read the materials that he references. I would like to draw my own conclusions based on the research. It is an interesting concept, I just fear that it is one of those things that only really works theoretically, similar to communism.

The idea of students contributing to the creation of the rules is quite clever. In this way they (the students) know that they helped create the rules and will have a greater sense of obligation to uphold them. I also think that it should be stated that just like the law, there are a hierarchy of rule sets and that they cannot create classroom rules that would attempt to supercede those of the school. Another good idea in this area is to explain to the students the reasoning behind the rules. The students are smart; if they see that there are logical processes in the creation of the rules they may be more likely to follow them.

As with anything, I think that competition is a great way to motivate some of the students some of the time. Personally, I love competition but I can see how someone struggling with a subject would be even more intimidated and less likely to get involved if those that are strong would dominate, and do so publicly.

I don't think it is possible to make math relevant to the students. It **is** relevant to the students. Nothing I do or say will change it. The key is to demonstrate to them that it is relevant and try to get them to see the big picture. Of course, trying to get a 12 year old to see the big picture is quite the challenge in itself. I would imagine that attempting to use relevant every day examples would help with that. There are going to be some really difficult concepts that would be harder to sell, but I like a challenge.