A Few Rules This Time Around . . .

Well, I've survived the first two and a half weeks back at school. It's been really interesting to teach the same things I taught six months ago. Two of the grade levels have completely different lessons this term, but for the rest, I can repeat at least some of the lessons from last term because the students moved up a grade level. It might not be the easiest thing in the world to go back to having a set schedule after traveling for so long, but it's been so much easier than starting from scratch was. I have a general idea of which lessons worked and which didn't, which lets me focus more of my planning time on the few classes where I need to come up with brand new lesson plans.

I changed the introduction lesson this time around. Last time, I wanted to get the students speaking as soon as possible, so they weren't just sitting there listening to me. It was a good thing, but by jumping right into the material, I think I confused a lot of the students about what they should expect from the rest of the term, and about my expectations for them. It's strange--as a student, I always hated the boring "reading of the rules" day each year when school started. But, as a teacher, I'm starting to see how necessary the boring first day is. I gave the students a brief outline so they would know what I'm using to determine their grades. I also gave them a few rules for the English classroom. The two main ones were: "Don't copy homework" and "Don't do homework for other classes," but I included some more abstract ones like "Be creative" and "Mistakes are ok," just so they would know I wasn't going to focus on being super strict. Last term it seemed everywhere I looked I could find students copying homework or doing homework for other classes--which, when I told them to put it away, they would, only to bring it out again when they thought I wasn't looking. It's a little to early to determine the outcome of the "don't copy homework" rule, but I have noticed fewer students doing homework for other classes. Or when they have, I've taken it away and returned it at the end of class (which I didn't feel justified in doing last term because I wasn't sure they'd understand why I was taking it away--but they do this term). Big improvement.

I also introduced the concept of Participation Money. It's amazing to see all the raised hands that come from introducing a fake, photocopied $100 bill. There's a little bit more focus on the lesson, at least. Now if I can just get them to stop shouting out the answer as they raise their hands . . . although I think they'll realize soon enough when I can't give out the participation money because too many people shouted the answer. On with the new term!