Industrial Revolution Solution!

I have been working on my industrial revolution unit, creating it for my eighth graders. Now, I have some fantastic ideas that I think may really work. But I thought I should write them out first.

1. Hold class with no lights, except for candles. This may be a problem, solution = electric candles. Boom! My students will totally respond and understand the importance of light bulbs. Second problem? Getting electric candles.

2. Morse code activity. Learn morse code for some sentence or phrase. Give my kids a sheet with morse code letters with their morse code code, then tap it out on the desk. First student to get the phrase wins a prize. Then have student learn to do their names, friends' names, etc.

3. Inventor day: have students come in with a prepared presentation, they are the inventor (can dress up) and at the end we all guess who it is. This will involve fun times and will teach my kids how to research.

4. Menlo Park day: students will pick one of Edison's numerous inventions, draw it, and we will create Menlo Park on a wall in the class.

HOW FUN ARE MY IDEAS????!!!!!!!! I am so super excited to be able to work with kids that are younger. I think they will appreciate all my ideas and learn at the same time. I have never been more excited about being a teacher, than I am at this exact moment. Woot!

Women, Eighth Graders, and Test Reviews--oh my!

So as I was transitioning into my second teaching placement I realized my new students were learning about Women's Suffrage. This is interesting because compared to my high school students, my new eighth graders were really glancing over the topic. They skimmed over the topic as if 80+ years could be discussed in a total of ten years.

I wonder how I can expand lessons to meet my students needs, yet at the same time not bog them down with information that is too in depth? And that begs the next question, what is too much information for eighth graders? They need to expand their critical thinking skills so that high school isn't too hard. But how do you transition students into higher levels of thinking when most students are apathetic toward pushing themselves further?

I want to motivate students to challenge themselves, but I am stuck on the how.

I helped my eighth graders review for their Suffrage test, yet most of them got a 5 out of 10. I just want my students to love learning, like my love for teaching!

Any advice would be ok with me fearless readers.

Topics for next time? Maybe, a little sushi and a discussion on standardized tests.