CAT's are the key
I plan on using the CAT concept as much as possible. I know one concept that has been working well for me is that I make my students take weekly chapter quizzes over the weekend. Once we meet back into the classroom the following week, I break the students down into teams, and they engage in interactive activities that I’ve created. The student’s love this concept, because they all are very knowledgeable in the subject matters at hand, which tells me that they did read the chapters; and every single one of them participate. I’m always thoroughly impressed by how they know the answers to the questions. The participation is so good, that we always have to be told to keep the excitement down from other classes. Now with using this process, I will engage the students that scored low on the quizzes more to make sure they’re taking notes of the questions and answers provided from their team members during the interactive exercise.
Wow Stacie- Active learning at its finest! Nothing says we are doing a good job more than watching our students engaged and excited about learning! Best wishes- Susan
Stacie, I find the "Minute Paper" another great CAT. It is an effective way to see if they are getting the main points of the lesson.
Hi Stacie,
I like you examples of using CAT's. I do something very similar by breaking my studenst down into small groups and having the group collaborate on subject material just covered. After a few minutes of team collaboration, I ask that one team member do an oral presentation explaining the groups findings.
I have had good results with this technique. It often engages students who would otherwise be complacent about the subject material.
Joe
This is a very good idea. I will have to see if I can apply it to the students that I have. I suppose if I broke them into two groups it would give the winning one bragging rights.
