Friday, April 25, 2008

Performance in the classroom

I just wanted to comment on today's class. We were talking about a lesson can differ each year or even each class. I do agree with Dr. Luongo about how the environment can affect a student. I know when I was sitting in class and it was so hot, I just couldn't wait to get out of there. I wouldn't pay attention as good as I would have if I was comfortable in the classroom. Also, the lighting can affect students because if it is a little dark students will start to get sleepy, but if its too bright it might cause headaches and cause students not to pay attention.
I also think that the time of day affects a student. When I was doing my student teaching I had three classes, one at 8, one at 9:30, and one at 12:30. Each class was a little different. My first class was an honors algebra 1, the second was pre-algebra, and the third was accelerated algebra 1. So my first and last classes would eventually be learning the same material but one lesson would go better in one class rather than the other. My first class never talked, it seemed like they were still sleeping when they came to my class. It was so hard to get volunteers. My second class was very antsy because lunch was right after class. So they would start off quiet but halfway through the class they would get very loud. I learned I couldn't start to begin the next section if I had 15 minutes left because no one would pay attention, they were to worried about getting to lunch on time. Finally, my last class was right after lunch so they were all very hyper. They would come into class laughing, joking around, and non-stop talking. But they were probably the ones that wanted to learn the most because they had the energy. They were always asking questions and volunteering. Maybe that was just because they needed to get up and talk!
I just think every class will be different because of the weather outside, the atmosphere in the classroom, and the time of day you have that class. Each thing has a different impact on the students performance in the classroom and every teacher needs to be aware of this. Just because your lesson doesn't go well in one class it may in another.