Miss Art of Teaching

How do you protect your teacher's voice? Here are a few strategies that I use in my classroom: NOISE CARDS I designed this system to encourage my classes to monitor their noise level. Every time the class gets noisy, I flip a letter. They need to be quiet for a set amount of time depending on the penalty that is shown behind the card (E:1 min, S: 2 mins, I: 4 mins, O: 8 mins and N:16 mins). You can carry out the penalty during class time and since the first few cards carry only a few minutes weight, it should not slow down your lesson.  I find that I can utilise the 'quiet' period to give out instructions or to give a demonstration. Students usually start monitoring their noise level when a few cards have been flipped. I have shared this system with a few teachers, and some of them warn students about detentions if the letters 'N' and 'O' are left on the board. If all five letters remain unflipped then students will receive 5 Vivos (whole school virtu...

After two work meetings in the afternoon, I drove to my local shopping center to hunt down a 'squistle whistle'. These things are harder to find than I had imagined. I tried three sport stores and none of them have them in stock. I then tried Kmart out of desperation. I happened to walk pass the bike section and had a look at the different bike horns. I ended up purchasing a pink/purple bike horn for $3. It pretty much sounds like a dog toy but louder. When I got home, my dog was overly excited and I had to keep it away from her. I plan to use it tomorrow when I have to round up the Year 7 cohort for a meeting in the school hall. I need to get the classes ready before directing them inside the hall. I have prepared a 'bullying' PowerPoint to address important concerns and to help students understand the perspectives of both the bully and the victim.