Posts by techsupport
Watch for Boredom
Be alert for signs that your students are become bored. Examples of boredom are fidgeting, looking around the room, slumping in the seat, closing the book, and similar behaviors. Break into boredom by asking a question or making a surprise announcement.
Read MoreTransition from recess or PE
Some students become overly excited and even hyperactive following recess or PE. Follow the physical activity with a brief quiet time (five to ten minutes) in which the students listen to calming music. You can also do this after a test or a long period of seat work. Doing this can also have the positive…
Read MoreWord Recognition Bingo
Identify 20 words you want your students to recognize by sight. Prepare Bingo cards with four squares across and five squares down. Call out each word and its spelling and instruct your students to randomly write each word in one of the squares on their card. Then call out the words in random order. Have…
Read MoreMean What You Say
Make sure you do what you say. Before you make a promise or a threat, be sure that you will have the time and means to carry it out.
Read MoreAn Integrated View of Events
Many students view history as just a bunch of events and dates to be memorized for tests. Help your students to understand the circumstances that led to an event occurring at a certain time. Encourage them to identify what followed as a result. Students should view history as a sweeping chronological series of events, rather…
Read MoreStudent Interests
Knowing your students’ interests can help you plan instruction that builds on their strengths, prior knowledge, and natural enthusiasm. Here are some questions you can use to learn about your students’ interests: What are your favorite school subjects? What do you like to do after school? What do you like to read? What are your…
Read MoreSelective Attention
Students are apt to do many things in class that you do not approve of. You can go crazy trying to respond to everything. Some of these things can be ignored without negative consequences. Save your energy for those things that have to be attended to.
Read MoreOccupational Outlook Handbook
The Occupational Outlook Handbook is an excellent government publication your high school students can use to explore careers. Available online, this publication provides an array of information about various careers. As one activity, have each of your students identify a career in which they are interested. Have them use the Occupational Outlook Handbook to decide…
Read MoreCount to Ten
Don’t allow yourself to be provoked by a student. Count to ten to make sure that your emotions are in check when you respond to the student.
Read MoreReducing Math Anxiety
Demonstrate that you are enthusiastic about math. Use students’ mistakes as a teaching tool, not as a basis for criticism. Take the emphasis off of tests and try to avoid timed tests. Deconstruct the idea that math is an unlearnable, difficult subject. Emphasize that math is a sequential subject that can be learned skill by…
Read MoreMaking Math Fun
Here are five ways to make math more fun for your students. Create shopping games in which students have to buy items within a certain budget. Involve your students in math projects. Have your students solve math word problems that relate to their lives. Involve physical movement in your math activities. Utilize the many excellent…
Read MoreDo I Give Enough Feedback?
Ask yourself these five questions about the feedback you provide to students. Work to ensure that you can answer ‘Yes’ to each question. Does my instruction style facilitate feedback? Do I offer objective, non-debatable observations of student performance? Is my feedback aligned to desired outcomes or goals of the learning task? Students must be aware…
Read MoreSeat Students at Tables
I seat my students in groups of four or five at tables. This allows students to face each other and interact in positive ways. Students can work together in a cooperative manner. Also, it is easier for me to manage their behavior since I have to monitor several groups rather than twenty-five to thirty students.
Read MoreSaving Students Work
Provide a file drawer in which you have a folder for each student in your class. Each student can file writing projects and important graded assignments in his or her folder. Encourage students to discard unneeded materials so that the folders do not become overly bulky.
Read MoreObserving Behavior
Observation of student behavior should be consistent and take place in a variety of times and settings. The key is to provide a clear picture of the behavior that you target. You can use any of the following to accomplish this: Time or interval sampling in which you record whether a specific behavior occurs at…
Read MoreLots of Books
A great way to encourage your students to read is to provide a collection of books that is easily accessible to students in the classroom. You can ask parents to send in books that will no longer be used by their children – chances are that many of the other students in your class will…
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