So, usually JT shows disinterest in what we're doing in class. He will sit and stare at his work, but not do it. He will complain that he doesn't know any of the answers or he doesn't understand. A couple of days ago, I posted some notes around the room and had my class moving around to find them and write them down. JT was very engaged in this process. He was working the entire time. Even when it was time to take those notes to their desks and copy them onto post-its (to eventually put them in order of the events that take place in the circulatory system), he kept working.
In addition to that, yesterday he was in at lunch to complete some missing tasks. He actually came and ask me if he had written enough! Normally, he would just try to submit something unfinished because he doesn't want to put any more effort into it.
Today, the class did mini skits to act out certain events from our novel and he participated without a single complaint!
Hey Lauren... small improvements can be big strides ahead. Very cool how J. responded. It will be interesting to see if other activities like this produce a similar response or not. Sometimes when you get a little taste of success -- in this case the success of completing something, it can start a different way of thinking about yourself as a learner. That would be great.
ReplyDeleteGreat to read your blog.