Maybe I shouldn't have started this blog now, not with everything that's been going on.

Yesterday I printed out onto acetates a copy of the tables the students are supposed to use for answering the questions on the zodiac constellation calendar in the exam this Monday. Considering how the class last Wednesday reacted (or didn’t’) to the practice where I just wrote the relevant bits of each example on the board, this time I’m projecting the transparency to the whiteboard and writing the answer to each question down on the board just like they have to do it the test.

In my 920am class, even though most of the students warmed up to the idea of getting partial points per item instead of all-or-nothing on the final answer, there was one student, the first to submit his paper during the first test and got a high score, who suggested not having partial points at all. His classmates voted him down, obviously, although I would not have acceded to his lone request.

I saw the student trying to sleep in his chair the rest of the period with his head down in his desk, although every once in a while he would look up when I mentioned how a particular type of question could be answered.

When one of the more inquisitive students (who usually has a follow-up question after I’ve dismissed the class) asked if they could verify their answers using the original calendar I had them make. I said I would not allow that, and I gave the real reason, which was because I have had students before who wrote their notes on the constellations on the zodiac calendar.

Anyway, I reiterated that they would be allowed to use pencils to minimize erasures on their test papers.
My 1250pm class was more receptive, because the usage of the calendar became clearer to them with visuals shown in front of the class, instead of just instructions for aligning the months, times, constellations and directions. One of the students even remarked that this should have been the way it was done during the first test.

Now I’m thinking of using this whiteboard calendar table from the start, when I introduce the topic next time I teach astronomy in the succeeding terms. It’s just a question of whether I’ll use this self-same demonstration or make the sliding columns on the acetates. But that’s a decision for at least three month’s time.

Their comprehension was relatively faster than the other classes that besides providing examples, I also asked for volunteers to answer the rest of the questions on the whiteboard, and gave them recitation points for it. Even with the practice questions on the constellations afterwards, we still finished the hour-and-a-half class with almost twenty minutes to spare. I think they deserve the early dismissal this time.

In the 230pm class, I gave them group practice/review, just like before the last test. In answer to one question about clearing up (again) how the questions were supposed to be answered, I said that’s what their teammates were for. I also gave them the opportunity to use the transparencies, which I didn’t have the Wednesday before. We also had the sample questions on the constellations just like in the 1250pm class.
I’ll stop here for now. I’ll continue relating some of today’s events tomorrow.