Two things. First: because it is the last quarter and senioritis has set in, the attendance problem in my fifth period class (seniors) has gotten worse. I've had 4 students from that class I haven't seen since the quarter started. So I sent an email to their administrator and the Attendance Specialist (I'm not exactly sure what his job is, but he seems to be effective) about it. The next day, each of these students were in class. That was kind of amazing, though I wonder how long it will last.
Secondly: With the same class today, we finished up reading Macbeth and I wanted to do an interactive activity with it so I explained that the classroom was now a courtroom and divided the class into two groups. One group was playing the Prosecution, proving Lady Macbeth's guilt and sanity, and the other group was the Defense, proving that she was just an accomplice, and that she was insane. I told them to make their cases they had to find textual evidence from the play. I was anticipating groans when I said this, but there was nary a peep.
With this class in particular, I am weary of trying anything the least bit nontraditional, even something where students get to argue (and they LOVE to argue). Plus, this activity did not go as well as I had hoped with my previous senior class, the one I use with which to gauge the effectiveness of activities, since they seem to be generally less apathetic. So I was a little concerned when I introduced the activity, but they were totally into it. Even the students who weren't saying anything were interested in the arguments. It was a fantastic class. I hope the attendance and the interest will not completely dissipate before the end of the year.
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