CDD Class Report Cri-Help 5-4-10

WEEKLY CLASS REPORT
Cri-Help / May 4, 2010

1ST TOPIC COVERED:
I covered the 1st topic for the lesson. I spent about 5 minutes reviewing Module 1 with the students, and I asked them to follow along in their manuals. Then, I went over the outline. I was surprised to hear from several of the students that they already started the outlines in the previous lesson, and one or two of them wanted to turn something in. I told the students to hold on to their outlines because they were due next week (not today), and we would be working on them during the lab sessions. I went over the “Making an Outline Lesson” in the manual, emphasizing the “Say it 3 times” rule, and explaining each section (opening statement, body, closing statement). I also created a handout with a simple outline example, which I gave each student to keep and use as a reference/guide.

2ND TOPIC COVERED:
Dwight covered the Computer Discovery Terms. He quickly reviewed the 1st 6 terms from the previous lesson, and then went on to lecture the next 6 terms. He brought in examples of each of the new 6 terms to show the class. By using an already open computer, he showed the class where they were located on the computer. Some students had questions about the computer parts, and so Dwight explained each term in more detail.

ADDITIONAL TOPICS:
None.

LAB TIME:
During the lab, group A was first to use the computers, and group B was the 2nd group. Dwight worked with the students who were on the computers, and I focused on working with the students to develop their outlines.

Dwight worked with each student on the computer. He showed them how to minimize/maximize and how to work with multiple windows open on the screen. Some students who already had Mavis-Beacon accounts started the typing lessons after the minimize/maximize exercises. The computer lesson went smoothly and each student seemed to be getting used to the computer. One student that didn’t know about dragging and dropping was excited that he could do it now, and he was even more excited to be able to minimize/maximize.

For the students working on the outlines, I had them get into their teams and discuss amongst themselves their outline topics. I went from group to group to talk about the outlines in detail, and I spoke with each student one-on-one to make sure they understood how to do an outline. As it turns out, several students didn’t know how to make an outline and didn’t understand the concept, so working with each student was very important. I gave an analogy of a skeleton to try to help them understand what an outline was. It helped for most, but there were 1 or 2 who still seemed confused. They wanted to write paragraphs and long sentences, so I had to keep telling them that they just needed to list their ideas in the outline. I also kept reemphasizing that this was their plan for the future and to try not to talk about the past, and also to incorporate the computer skills they were learning into the paper

FINAL NOTES:

Overall, I thought the lesson was successful. The students continue to show excitement and eagerness to learn, and working on the outlines opened up a lot of the students. They started to reveal a lot about themselves, and I felt touched that they were sharing this information so freely.