Just checked out my class rosters, and in addition to my three classes of returning students (105 returners–we are at capacity!), I have 72 new faces that will walk through my door next Wednesday. The big question is… how fast can I learn their names? Learning student names is serious business. There are few things…
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Fast Finisher System
I learned this strategy from my mentor teacher, Nina Bonito-Romine. Activity and Purpose I have 49 colored, laminated file folders that have worksheets glued inside with answer keys on the back for students to work on if they finish any given classwork assignment early. This is so that they always have something to work on…
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La Campanada
The Campanada is a core routine in my Spanish classes. My high school Spanish teacher called the daily bellwork/entry task for her classes the “Campanada” (the ring of the bell), and I like the way it sounds, so I use it as well. The daily Campanada is an important part of my daily lesson plans…
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Seating Chart
I use my seating chart for much more than knowing which student goes where! After some observers visited my class on Tuesday and had some questions about what I kept writing on my clipboard, I realized that this is an important part of my instruction that I should probably put on the blog. As you…
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P.A.T. Games
Here are two great games to use for Preferred Activity Time that I found on the Spanish Playground blog: 1, 2, 3, Calabaza – Similar to “Red Light, Green Light”; A great game to play while the weather is still nice enough to go outside! If you are not a Spanish teacher, you could pick any…
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Clear Tables
I was reminded recently (I thought that I read it on Michele’s blog, but can’t seem to find it now…help? anyone?) of Ben Slavic’s management strategy of not allowing students to have anything on their desks during storytelling. When I first started TPRS, I pushed all of our desks to the edges of the room,…
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Woofing
Oh, coaching group…how I love thee! Cara O’Brien-Holen shared this management strategy from the “Disrupting the Disruptor” class with us on Friday night, and I tried it out today with great success! This strategy is called “woofing” because you are establishing that you (the teacher) are the top dog in your classroom. All you need…
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Celebrating students
Celebrating student success is a huge contributor to creating a positive classroom culture. Traditionally, teachers have used many different kinds of reward systems and incentives to motivate and celebrate students. Often, these systems have unintended and problematic consequences. This is something that I am aware of and working to minimize! In this post, I’ll share…
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