Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Review: an under-rated "Time-Filler"

In the regular classes that I teach, I have freedom to teach whatever I want based on "Top Notch 2."  However, in of the extra programs that I teach in, we use "Smart Choice" and are assigned 1-4 pages for each 50 minute lesson.  For anyone who has taught Smart Choice before, you know it can be a little hit and miss in terms of quality pages (although I generally like the book). 

And what to do when you have only 2 pages assigned for that day, 1 takes about 7 minutes and the other one is complete crap?  My coworkers seem to bring in random puzzles and activities unrelated to what the students are studying, based on the worksheets I see left in the classrooms when I go in there.  Others, youtube videos, or something of the sort. 

Me: Review.  And lots of it.  Students need to hear things like 37 times (my scientifically based guess!) before they remember it for good.  Why don't you help them reach this number?  My goal is to have the students groaning "WE KNOW IT ALRIGHT! NO MORE!"  when I start to go over the grammar concept or vocab "one more time."   If you know it, you know it and you've walked away from my class with something solid to take with you for the rest of your life.  A little random puzzle or youtube video?  Will the students remember anything (helpful!) from that 2 minutes after class ends? 

1 comment:

jinks said...

I seem to remember students need 14 'forgettings' before they really remember something. Review is a good opportunity to practise fluency, but it can be boring to do the same activity/page over and over. Check out 4/3/2 (google it!) it is a great wat to review AND practise fluency at the same time.