My class came back from winter break ready to play with their friends and have a good time. It has taken me an entire week to get them under control again. They have been running in the halls, yelling down the halls, talking during announcements, talking during read aloud (that is me reading aloud), talking, TALKING, TALKING!
I finally had to keep them in during recess and really lay down the law. I finally got them to quit talking when they are not supposed to be talking. However, they still have that completely blank look on their faces. How do I get rid of that?
How do we get kids excited about learning? It can't all be fun. It can't all be hands-on either. When do they finally realize that they have got to buckle down and do some of the learning on their own? When do they learn to study? I write the actual tests on the board (without the multiple choice answers etc.) and they don't even bother to study that! They think if they write it down, they are done. I tried reviewing in class to show them how to study. Yeah, that worked. Here come the blank looks again. They don't bother to listen to the correct answers and even try to remember them. I feel like since they are going flunk the test anyway, why bother studying with them. The ones who get it are going to study anyway. But I can't seem to give it up. I so bad want to impart the knowledge that this is their future they are screwing with.
How do I do that? They don't even know what a future is. They are not abstract enough.