- Forget the group's index card-students taking up CS and EOC under my supervision know that I put their group grades in their respective index cards. These cards are my sole basis for computation of group recitation. NO INDEX CARD NO GRADE
- Make fools of themselves by not showing mastery of the assigned topics-What is the report for if students only read their visual materials or handouts?
- Use visual materials that are hastily made--Teachers don't usually ask students to report immediately. I, for one, give students time to prepare from 15 minutes to one month. I abhor it when students given ample time to prepare present pieces of bond paper with undecipherable handwriting, post them on the board and force their classmates to follow what they are reporting.
- Use crumpled pieces of paper as guides for reporting--crumpled paper goes to the trash. I haven't found someone educated who likes keeping trash in his or her bag for eons of years. If ever I would meet someone like that I am sure I would not like him or her…just a random thought. Point is, students who use crumpled paper look like beggars to me, I am sorry for the harsh word, and they don't have a space in my classroom. Wake up everyone.
Who would want to listen to a discussion that is purely lifted from a textbook? This is one of the sins students commit in class. They are obviously not prepared for the report. They try to mask it by downloading things from the net 1 hour before the presentation. And it's all sugar-coated laziness.
- To ensure that students also study on their own--some students don't study unless teachers tell them
- For variation of discussions--some students get bored when teachers always discuss. And they don't listen. That's a fact.
- For students to PREPARE--which is easier: an impromptu graded recitation or prepared report where they can be assured of getting good grades if they do their jobs right?
- For students to practice exuding confidence(from sir Gozun)--"Students won't stay in classrooms forever. After graduating they will be talking to different kinds of people and the best preparation that they can have is speaking in class," Mr Simon Gozun shares. Need I say more?
Teachers have three reasons for assigning group reports:
Whether students believe it or not, teachers don't make grades. We only calculate. How in the world will we calculate from nothing? Sorry, I won't make an effort going to a different dimension just to look for floating figures. Besides I don't have the passport to go to another galaxy. If students don't comply to my standards then I guess I will keep on getting angry…but of course I have to stop somewhere. Yup, I consider zero as my period. Peace.
