Tips+for+Teachers

=Tips for Teachers= This is a wiki, so teachers are invited and encouraged to add their teaching tips to this page. Just click on EDIT above, type in your suggestions, and make sure to SAVE before leaving the page.

(Or how I survived teaching a class of 16 students, mostly boys, ranging from 8-13, and working with fire, chemicals, explosives, and other dangerous materials*)
 * Carol’s Top 10 Tips for Teaching**

I don’t plan a 75 minute class. I plan a series of activities of 3-4 activities, each lasting from 10-30 minutes. And I try to keep some emergency resource around, just in case all my planned activities end faster than I thought (which never happens, but still...). Mostly, I don’t get around to everything that I’ve planned, but I would rather be prepared for more than less. Basically, I keep my classes so busy that they don’t have time to mess around or create problems.
 * 1. Break Up Your Class**

I try to make my activity segments different. Some of the types of things I’ve done in class include:telling a story related to the topic, doing hands-on experiments or activities, lecture, watching a video, having a class discussion, doing work on paper (coloring in a map, doing a word search, matching terms and definitions, etc.), having student presentations, doing some journaling or quick writing, playing a game, reading aloud from a book, or making art. Not all those techniques are applicable to every subject, but every subject can incorporate most of those instructional components if you think creatively.
 * 2. Diversify Your Class**

Particularly for 9 and under students, I try to have them physically move around the room if possible. So we might start sitting on the floor in a circle, talking or reading a book, etc. Then we might move to the board to work on problems or take notes or draw or such. Then we might sit at the tables to do experiments, art, or paper-based projects. If you can have them move around at least once per class, that helps them release energy in an intended way.
 * 3. Have Your Class Move Around**

Don’t be constrained by activities that will only fit into your classroom space. If you want to do something messy or loud or highly active or requiring lots of space, take it outdoors. The kids like the change, and it can be an incentive for them to work efficiently if they know that if we cover the material in time, we have a fun activity to do outside. Of course, have a back up plan in case it rains....
 * 4. Have Your Class Go Outside**

Again, especially with younger students, it can take them a while to settle down and get into “class” mode unless you capture their attention in a compelling way. The teacher talking rarely does that. So I almost never start a class with a lecture. In the hands-on science or history classes, I’ll often give them an experiment or hands-on project first off, and then talk about today’s topic AFTER they have completed their projects, incorporating what they discovered from doing that activity. Other classes have begun with a book, a story, or an art project. Or sometimes I’ll have some kind of ritual or game/interactive exercise to begin the class.
 * 5. Start With A Bang**

In many of my classes, particularly the science ones, I either want or need them to work in groups. In most cases, I put those groups together to match student abilities rather than student preferences. For example, I try to have at least one task-oriented, sequential, “follow the directions” type in each group to make sure someone is sticking to the activity that I planned rather than going off in a tangent. But I also want at least one more right-brained student in each group to ask those “what if?” questions. I want at least one strong reader and writer in each group, hopefully one who is good at communicating verbally, and so on.
 * 6. Consider Assigned Seating**

In short, I put them together in ways that maximize their effectiveness at accomplishing the work I’ve designed for them. But I also tend to intentionally break up close friends. Putting friends in different groups not only reduces their tendency to socialize, rather than do whatever we’re supposed to be doing in class, but allows new members a better chance to get to know older members and vice versa.

The way I handle this is that I print up names on card stock and place them at the tables in the groups I want students to work in for that week. When they come in, and tell them to find their names and to sit there. (But you have to watch them--sometimes they will try to switch names to other tables!) That just gets the job done without any discussion, etc. I usually switch the groups up some over the entire course to give people changes to work with/get to know all the other students in the class.

One of the first large hands-on science class I did, I wrote up the first experiment as a lab with step-by-step instructions, places to record data, places to write their theories about what happened, etc. I told them we were going to do the experiment, handed out the pieces of paper, and told them to get started. Every student had the paper in their hands, yet they all looked at me and asked, “What do I do?” “Read your instructions,” I told them. “That tells you what to do.” (Obviously, I wouldn’t do that if people were actually having trouble with reading, but that was not the case with this class, which were upper elementary and middle schoolers with no reading issues.)
 * 7. Make Students Do the Work**

The point is our kids are used to us just being there to answer their questions, and we are used to just answering our one or two or four or whatever. But it will make you crazy trying to answer 10 or 12 or 16 people asking questions. Also, I think one of the benefits of these coops is training them to find out information on their own. So if you have written instructions, have them follow them and/or figure things out with their group.

Another aspect of this is student presentations. Rather than you researching and presenting everything, assign or have them choose to present on specific topics you want to cover. Again, making presentations in front of a group is a great skill, and one that is hard for us to do on our own at home, so that is a valuable thing to build into your classes.

I expect students to bring supplies to classes. Once again, to me this is sort of a training thing. I don’t think students should expect they can walk into a class and have everything provided for them. I’m trying to have my son develop a habit where he always takes at least a pencil, pen, and paper to any class he does. It is easy enough for me to bring pens for everyone (and I usually do as back up), but I think it is better for the students to learn to be responsible for that themselves.
 * 8. Make Students Responsible**

This was particularly true among the science classes I’ve done, especially those where I required safety goggles. I told them they were responsible for bringing their own goggles, and if they didn’t have goggles, they wouldn’t be able to participate in the experiments. So, between the students and their parents, they all had their goggles every week. Again, not only did that save me having to lug 16 pairs of goggles back and forth, it teaches them to be responsible for their own safety and their own supplies.

But that leads to the next tip, which is...

It’s really good if you can sent out a weekly email summary of what you did in class that week. It may not be true for your child/ren, but many of us (especially if you have boys) have children who don’t communicate what goes on in class. I’ve tried talking to mine directly after class, driving home after coop is over and he’s had a break to play with friends, that night, subsequent days, etc., but my son rarely can or will tell me anything specific about what went on in his classes.
 * 9. Communicate with Parents**

So if you send out an email with a short recap and some specifics of what you covered that week, it helps parents to assist with related learning at home, or to connect your lessons with other things the students are learning at home or in their leisure activities.

This is particularly true if you have assigned homework, student presentations, or specific instructions for the following week (wearing old clothes if you are going to be painting, bringing in some special tools or supplies for that class, etc.) As much as I’m trying to get them to be responsible for themselves, some of them definitely still need that parental support to remember these things. If you are counting on them doing or having something, you had better make sure the parents know about it, and sooner is usually better than later.

//I’ve saved the best for last. This is truly the secret to my success. So, finally, what is probably the most important tip of them all.....//

I couldn’t have done the classes I’ve done if I hadn’t had great support from my assistants. I’ve always asked my assistants to do things for my classes, and they have never let me down. This allows me to really concentrate on the curriculum and deliver the best possible class that I can.
 * 10. USE YOUR ASSISTANTS!**

Some of the things that I’ve asked my assistants to do include:
 * //Running experiments//--I prefer to have an assistant work with each lab group I have (so 3 assistants for a class of 12, 4 for 16, etc.) This allows me to float between the different groups and to trouble shoot if things are going wrong or to answer content-specific questions that the assistants can’t answer because they haven’t researched the topic.
 * //Running discussion groups//--Likewise, in history, literature, or other humanity topics, I break them up into groups and have the assistants run the discussion. Again, then I can float between groups to answer questions or to give some data or raise a point for them to consider, etc.
 * //Running hands-on activities or art projects//---Same as above
 * //Doing craft or other prep work//--Often I don’t want to waste class time cutting out things I want to do for a craft, art work, hands-on model, etc. But even if it only takes me 3 or 4 minutes per item, that ends up to be an hour if there are 15 kids. Assistants are often glad to do that for the teachers so the teacher can spend that hour on getting ready to teach instead.
 * //Buying supplies//--Again, making a trip to Michaels or Ace Hardware or something can eat up time. Assistants can often run those errands for us.
 * //Bringing in tools or supplies//--In the science classes, for example, each lab group often needs a set of common items, like one or more plastic or metal bowls, a measuring cup and/or measuring spoons, a large spoon, etc. Rather than finding and bringing all those in on my own, I ask each assistant to bring a set to use with their group of students. Less for me to lug in and out and make sure I’ve gotten them all back, etc.
 * //Making a particular food or dish//--I like incorporating food into my classes when appropriate. Assistants often enjoy cooking some relatively simple but appropriate dish. So let them make the rice while you research ancient China or whatever. Just make sure to check the child allergy list to make sure your food plans are safe for everyone, or to alert the parent and/or provide an alternative if you have one or more students who can’t eat that item.
 * //Reading a book//--Students get sick of hearing us, and enjoy a new face/new voice doing part of the class.
 * //Leading a part of the class//--Sometimes assistants are interested in leading a particular activity or exercise, etc. If so, let them!
 * //Leading the entire class//--Everyone has to miss a class eventually. So groom your assistants so that they can teach the class without you if necessary (with the expectation that you would probably be providing the curriculum).

See why I love my assistants? I couldn’t do all these classes without them. But there is a downside to using assistants. In most cases, it means you can’t come up with your class plans at 1:00 AM on Wednesday morning and expect much help for that week’s class. However, if you are up at 1:00 AM Wednesday morning planning next week’s class, that can work out well because you can brief your assistants at the end of the class about what you would like them to do for the following week. Or if you are up at 1:00 AM Monday morning, so that you give them at least a couple of days to get things done, that can work as well.

The bottom line is, in my experience, the assistants are glad to help out in any way they can, and are intelligent, talented, responsible, and wonderful people with lots to offer. But it is up to us as teachers to get our act together to take advantage of their gifts. We need to figure out at least part of our class with enough lead time to let them help us. And, of course, we have to give up this Superwoman idea that we have to do it all ourselves.

WITH all that said, these are just suggestions of what has worked for me. All teachers have their own styles, and you should follow the practices that match your personality, teaching style, topic area, etc. However, for newer or less experienced teachers, or even for experienced teachers who are having some kind of issue in their class, here are some things you might want to consider using in your own classes.

I look forward to hearing what other teachers have to contribute, because we can all use some new ways to enhance our effectiveness when teaching!


 * In case you think I'm exagerating...see [|this video] of our year of [|chemistry classes]. You may recognize several of the Learning Arbor students, although they look SO young in these photos.


 * To see some of the things we incorporated into our history and literature classes, see [|this video]. Again, you should see some familiar faces...except that even though it was only a couple of years ago, they look so young.... Or [|here] is another year of [|history studies], where some Learning Arbor students look a little less young.