First off, I hope everyone's year is starting off well. I know how hectic this part of the school year can be for a teacher and the students. I even had to have my computer tech and assistant principal help me bend some rules a bit to allow my students to take their online survey before they signed their acceptable computer use policy. I was very excited and eager to get my kids started. That was when I had a learned, or should I say relearned, something from one of my students. I may have been excited and ready to begin another adventure in ActionScript but my students were not necessarily as eager or excited.
Having been in this venture for two years, my familiarity with the program and how great it is colored my perceptions a bit on that first day. So, I stepped my verbal game up a bit. I couldn't tell them a lot about the program details until after the survey, but I could hide the stress of getting everyone logged on for the first time this year, getting them all on the right website, and dealing with all the minutia of the school year start-up process. I kicked up the tone and excitement in my voice about the survey and how great this approach was going to be for them. That was all it took to get them really into just taking the survey. Now, I really can't wait to get them into Flash.
The big lesson is: don't just expect the students to be excited because you are. They have as much going on as you do this time of year and we have to get into the role of cheerleader sometimes to help them get their energy flowing and get on board with something new.
2 comments:
This post could not have come at a better time for me. I literally said the words today, "The first few weeks of school I spend my days being a cheerleader and a policewoman". My students that participated last semester are excited, but my newer students are a little nervous.
I agree. In fact many times with this program I feel like I am more a cheerleader then instructor. I think Idit needs to buy us some poom pooms.
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