Today I was able to finish up my socials lesson from yesterday. I first had the remaining three groups present. After each presentation, we did a little something different, I had the students in the audience guess the presenter’s roles. In a sense, this was testing what they had learned yesterday and they were on point for each presentation! I was again pleasantly surprised with the tableau performances, the students were still very engaged and did not even need any prep time before presenting – they were ready to go. For me, this was such a moment of pride, seeing my students participate so enthusiastically. Honestly, you could just tell from their smiles, really makes the teacher’s job so satisfying. And there was equal participation amongst all the group members. We had actually discussed this during the class meeting today. One of the topics the students wanted to talk about was “some students being bossy in groups.” I explained that group work is a privilege and it is actually supposed to be a learning experience for all the students. A time for building not just academic skills, but also collaboration skills. The students had great ideas to add to this as well.

We then moved on to the short review activity. I posted true and false statements related to the Aryan heritage content from yesterday on the Smart Board. I then asked the students to discuss these statements in their groups, and be prepared to provide their input, as I would be asking each group to share. This went really well! To control for the usual people answering from each group, I said at least two group members have to speak. This way I was able to get input from the low participating students as well. In terms of their input, all the answers provided were correct. So it not only helped the students to review the material; however, it also helped me understand their comprehension and understanding of the material – in a way a form of summative assessment. I would definitely use this closure activity again. I could even switch it up, when I would really like to formally assess, by individualizing the activity – having each student record their answers on paper.

After this, I asked students to write me an exit slip describing their experience of the tableau. I explained we would be doing some more forms of drama and role-play in art, in the upcoming weeks, so it would help me plan for that unit. I asked them to write about what they liked, what they found challenging, if it helped them understand the Aryan social structure, if they would like to try something like this again, etc. And of course, there is always that student or students who are just sitting there; but, I was firm in my instructions that I have to get their exit slip before they can be dismissed for home. This worked! The responses on the exit slip were interesting – it’s always neat when students write something that you did not even think about. For example, some students commented on other groups’ tableaus – something I did not even mention. All in all, I am so glad I took the time today to close off this lesson. I truly understand the importance of doing this – it ends off learning well and conveys to the students that the stuff they are learning is meaningful and important!