quick investment technique

Use clipart on worksheets and slideshows.

It's amazing the motivation and investment that your get from students of any age from such a simple little thing.

using videos in the classroom

You might be scared as a teacher to use videos or movies in the classroom because the means you're 'not teaching' according to some. I completely disagree. In a time period where media like television has the highest impact on our students, how can we not use that impact to our advantage?

Yet I offer some thoughts:

1. Is the movie you are playing applicable to the material you are learning?

2. Is the movie increasing rigor in your classroom?

3. Are you engaging students throughout the movie with checks for understanding and general discussion?

These are the things one must answer yes to if videos are to be used effectively in the classroom. Not all students learn by listening to a lecture. Some need to see it happen and since I can't take my students to the ocean, I have to very graphically bring the ocean to them. Videos are the way I can do that.

Homework Procedure

I have heard every excuse in the book for a student not having their homework complete - everything from my grandmom was sick in the hospital last night and we had to take care of her to my little brother ate my homework. I never knew who handed in their homework late, who had an excused late homework, or who even did their homework at all until about 2 weeks after it was due. There would be hundreds of homework sheets swimming around in my briefcase and I just couldn't stay on top of homework. I also was having a lot of difficulty negotiating my 'no excuses' policy with all the excuses I was getting from students. I frequently wondered if some of these excuses were actually legitimate.

That's when I came up with the homework menu. Like a restaurant menu, the students are given a list of activities they can coos to do for different amounts of points. I tell them how many points they need to work up to and they decide how they are going to do it. Will they do 4 middle school style assignments like copying down vocabulary words and definitions or will they go for the collegiate level assignments like writing short reaction papers to science articles. It's up to them.

I give them this entire assignment every Monday and it is due on Friday -- no excuses. They've had 4 days to plan around any possible emergencies. If they're going to be working Tuesday night, then they know they have to double up on homework Wednesday night.

Students know what to expect every week and they like that. I get one load of papers every week at the same moment and I like that. It's a win-win.