Today’s post comes from a recent email (used with permission, of course) from a member of our community. For privacy, I changed her name.
Hi Laura,
I hope your summer is going well. I’ll be starting my third year as a Freshman English teacher this year. My question, however, has more to do with my students than content area. I have a few students who will be repeating my class this year because they did not turn in work. I was wondering if you had any advice about how to motivate these kids. I know a few of them have things in their personal lives that they are having trouble with. Do you know a way to help them focus on school when they are in the classroom? Continue reading
I’m not even a minute into my right-after-lunch sophomore class when it starts – the quiet tee-hee of laughter among a handful of students, clearly the cool kids enjoying an inside joke.
“Okay, okay, let’s go,” I say, directing attention back to my vocab warm-up on the whiteboard.
Soft snickering continues. Undaunted, I launch my introduction of the word “tenuous.”
“Tenuous, an adjective, means really thin or insubstantial. If something’s tenuous, it’s definitely in need of strengthening.” Like my hold on this class, I think. Continue reading
In my quest to wisely use those last few minutes of class time and bring joy to my little Room H-9 learning community, I’m adding a new element to my classroom routine this year – Quarter Trios.
Here’s the plan: At the end of the second week of school, I’m going to announce Continue reading
