Wow this week flew by! I cannot believe the weekend is already here (although I'm glad it is). Now that I've gotten to know my students and introduced them to all my rules and procedures, this week was time to introduce the Cognitive Tutor.
The lab schedule at our school gives each teacher 1.5 periods a week in the lab (a total of 2.25 hours a week). It's not the ideal 40%, but it is all we can do with the lab space we have. So Monday I'm in class for 45 minutes and then in the lab for the 2nd 45. Wednesdays we stay in the lab for a whole 90 minutes.
Monday I spent the first 1/2 of class introducing students to the lab. I used screen captures of 2 carefully selected problems to make a hand out for students. I hooked my laptop to my projector and then showed students how to log into the tutor. Next, I used the curriculum browser to find the problems on the handout. We went through the example problem together while I pointed out the features of the software. Then students took turns being the "teacher" and typing the answers on my computer while other students volunteered to give answers.
This really helped my students prepare for going into the lab. Everyone had an idea of what they would be doing and many students soared through the first section of unit one. This left me free to help the students who really needed it.
By the way, did you know that you can now change the font size within the tutor? Just go to view while logged into the tutor and click change font size. This made the projected problems we did in class much easier for students to read. Also, I was surprised how many of my students changed the font on their computer while we were in the lab. I'm loving this new feature!!!
A blog written BY teachers FOR other teachers. Learn more about the Carnegie Learning curricula: best practices, pacing, classroom management, and more!
Subscribe To This Blog
Posts
Posts
Note: The opinions expressed in this blog are those of the writer(s), and do not represent those of Carnegie Learning, Inc.
3 comments:
I'm lucky if I get 45 minutes of computer lab time per week! So the students have the option of working on Cognitive Tutor at home or during tutorials. I give them goals to reach. Otherwise, some students would be on Unit 1 or 2 for the whole semester!
Thuc-Khanh, do a lot of your students work on it at home? Most of my students do not have internet access at home but a few go to the library for extra time and I stay after for tutoring/lab time on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
I am fortunate in that at least half of my students have internet access at home. They don't all take the opportunity to work on Cognitive Tutor from home. I probably should offer an incentive. I did mention it during Open House and plan to advertise it again in our weekly newsletter to parents.
Post a Comment