Civics Review Store

University - 7 years, Private education - 3 years, Public Middle School - 2016 - current

Distance learning and blended classes has only given me more reason to enlist a student as laptop-cameraman for activities. So the world can know the events that transpired.

"Chairs have feelings too" - active students moving about keeps energy and retention up. It's okay to take 60 seconds to stand up and give someone a high five, or compare how tall your socks are, or figure out who's ears are larger, or which of us has a hitch-hiker thumb. The chairs need a break sometimes too. Be kind, stand up and stretch and then get back to work. To all the hard working chairs out there, on the front lines, never asking for a day off; We salute you.

'Ultimate accountability or how I learned to love the Doomsday clock" - to promote total interaction of every student in class, I enlist the help of a random number generator, an additional remediation assignment, and a doomsday scoreboard. I ask a question based on an important standard, alert everyone that the doomsday clock is active, and give the class 30 seconds to ask someone in class to explain it to them or to help a student that doesn't know. I then roll a random number (oftentimes before the time limit, keep it spicy), and ask that student to stand and deliver the answer and the explanation why. If the student fails, they all fail, and must complete the remediation assignment based on the standard. If you're thinking I totally ripped this idea off from Dwight Schrute and that one episode of 'The Office', you are totally and completely incorrect. And it absolutely works because peer pressure is real and no one wants to be 'the guy' who just gave everyone extra work. And everyone learns a little bit more, falling right into my educational trap. GOTCHA!

'Talk data to me' - data driven. Use my bellwork guide to use data to achieve measurable success or know when to go back and review.