My first years are amazing!

I have witnessed the most enthusiastically facilitated pictionary game I’ve ever seen. There was jumping, high fives, ENERGY, and of course, biology. It was spectacular, and extremely satisfying to watch. I mean, our kids were ENGAGED! The whole time.

In the past couple of days, I’ve heard three or four fresh, creative ideas I’ve never even thought to try. And they’ve never taught before. Actually, most of the point of this entry is just to document some of their material, for myself and for others, so it’s not lost when the chaos of the school year ensues. So here are a few off the top of my head.

1) Pictionary, of course. (Tried this one already with chemistry equipment, actually)
2) Go fish- students make cards with pictures of organisms on one cards and descriptions on another card, so they review material once that way. Next all the cards go in a big pile, get shuffled and passed out to students, and the class plays go fish. What a great idea.
3) Cue cards with reading. Very insightful strategy. Handing out index “cue” cards stapled to a reading that give hints about what to look for in the reading. This helps students who are not strong readers to learn what to look for. Eventually, students will be weaned off of cue cards. A great way to work on reading comprehension- an area of difficulty- even if it’s not English class, and even if it’s not familiar material.
4) If students are not used to presentations, break them into groups and have them present to each other. This takes some classroom management, of course, and you can’t really grade the presentations thoroughly, but it’s good practice, especially if their shy, and you can observe enough to make sure everyone’s doing the work.
5) Imaginary safety goggles and lab coats- Really entertaining, and puts them in lab-thought-process mode. Could really become “a thing” in the classroom, and I could see kids getting used to it and excited about it.

Each of the new teachers has a different style, but each has a strong presence that I think will serve well when they get to their own classrooms, where sustainability is really importnat. I’m keeping my fingers crossed for their first days- I remember how much those days and weeks mattered, and of course I hope that their experiences will go more smoothly than mine did. (Not that is wasn’t challenging and worth while, but I made lots of mistakes.)

I’m kind of terrified, though, that they’ll go out to their own schools and classrooms missing some vital piece(s) of information that would have made all of the difference for their year. I know I’m no one’s mom, of course. All I can think to do with them is focus, above all, on classroom management, in terms of strict discipline and procedure but more importantly in terms of planning- well planned lessons that keep the students engaged, doing most of the work, paying attention to every detail, especially when giving instructions, and leaving no down time. That includes using time when some students have finished work and others haven’t by making sure they always have another assignment- homework or extra credit to work on. First-years have been doing great with this. Still, I guess you don’t know what it’s really like to manage a class of 33 until you get there on the first day of school. We’ve talked about lesson planning, staying on top of grades, giving specific instructions, staying organized, parent phone calls, coming up with creative ideas, saying no, etc. Only I know I’m forgetting some things and still will be by the end of ths summer. Ahhhh. Their also finding their styles, which is fun to watch. So props to the first years....keep it up guys...I’m impressed.