Use Student Music to Build Rapport, Increase Engagement

One of the things I love about National Public Radio is listening to the bumper music between segments. After the program, I often visit their online site to find out just what the music was and whether or not I can find a copy of it.

Music is universal. It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t like music or who doesn’t have a preference for a particular sound. For a teen, his music is synonymous with his group of friends and his clothing. It’s a part of his identity.

Shutting Down Brainstorm Session Saboteurs

The purpose of a good Brainstorming session is to have a shower of ideas from which to choose. I like to use Brainstorming when I’m asking the class for input on a project rubric, project topic ideas, and possible endings for the novel we’re reading.

Like anything else, good procedures make the Brainstorming session go smoothly. I set down the procedures early in the year and use a transparency to remind the class of my expectations every time we Brainstorm. Sure, it’s redundant, but I think that the sessions go more smoothly when everyone understands what to do.

Do You Grade Class Participation?

Grading class participation or giving students a daily grade is beneficial because these grades hold students accountable for their learning in class. If a student is chronically absent from class or sits in the office for most of the period, her participation grade will suffer. These grades also reward students who come to class and stay on task.

But, grading class participation can be tedious. It’s also tough to make it fair. What makes good class participation and what is just merely warming a desk?

Teaching Advice: Don’t Smile until Christmas

I remember when I entered my classroom for my first teaching position. I had 24 mismatched desks (I needed 28) and the only supplies in my closet were paper clips and ditto masters for a machine that was long gone.

That first year can be a really tough year and veteran teachers in my hall stopped by to give me bits of wisdom. Some advice was great, some was lousy. One gal told me to be myself. Yeah, well, myself wasn’t a teacher, so I didn’t know how to act.

Managing the Stack of Ungraded Papers

I have a collection of old student essays that makes me smile. One of those essays is, “Taxidermy Changed My Life,” by Pete. (I am not making that up.) Another gem is from Kevin who wrote about wanting to become a math teacher. Kevin wanted to teach math because he could leave work at 3:30 and be at the country club for a round of golf by 4 p.m.

Kevin didn’t stick around after school long enough to see the lights on at 8 p.m. in his teachers’ classrooms, didn’t watch as the teachers left the buildings with their briefcases full of papers to grade, and didn’t come to school on the weekends when teachers set up labs or planned lessons. Kevin was a smart kid, but he had an inaccurate picture of what a teacher’s workday looks like (and paycheck, too).

How Do You Handle Extra Credit?

I’ll be honest. I don’t handle extra credit well. In fact, I’m so lousy at it, I offered just two projects each year. If you’ve ever tried offering extra credit, you know the problems it can cause:

• Students might focus all their energy on the extra credit project and neglect their everyday work.
• Students will ask for extra credit projects the night before grades are due.
• Too much extra credit can skew a student’s grade to the point where you’re not sure if she mastered the material or just knew how to play the game.
• You get slammed with extra credit projects in addition to your end-of-quarter grading and have no time to sleep.

No Big Deal: Providing a Classroom Environment Where It’s Safe to Participate

I remember sitting in my high school chemistry class and praying that the teacher wouldn’t call on me. I made no eye contact, sunk low in my seat, and tried to hide behind my long hair. It worked pretty well. The times that the teacher did call on me, I was so hopelessly lost that I just mumbled some answer. He learned not to ask me questions and I learned how to master that queasy feeling in my gut. Chemistry? I didn’t learn very much of that at all.

As a teacher, I know better. If I have a student who’s hiding from me and unwilling to answer a question, I have a problem. That’s not a kid who’s learning; that’s a kid who’s miserable for an hour each day.

How to Redirect Chatting Students

I remember as a new teacher I had trouble with what I perceived as the whole class talking. Sure, this was the problem – at the end of September. The talkers had taken over to the point where I felt like I had to hold the entire class after the bell – never a good idea.

However, if I could have looked back at the beginning of the school year, I could have picked out the major talkers. But, I was new. I didn’t know that to stop the problem of the whole class talking, I had to redirect those big talkers right away.

How Do You Handle Passes for Destinations outside Your Class?

I admit it: I was one of those teachers who would give a student a pass to come to the journalism room out of another teacher’s class.

In my defense, I always asked the other teacher ahead of time to send Amanda, JoAnna, Matt, or Jason to the journalism room if they were finished with their work in class.

Last week’s post was about restroom passes. This week, I’m tackling passes to destinations unknown. How do you handle a request to go to the library/media center? The nurse’s office? The parking lot?