To Keep Busy

One of the more difficult tasks while subbing is keeping students quiet and in their seats, especially during homeroom. I love when students have a daily writing requirement in homeroom. This keeps them working and quiet(er). It is particularly effective when students are required to have their work checked; if they do not complete the assignment there is a consequence such as silent lunch. Writing assignments vary by teacher and grade level as well as the length required. Although the importance of learning to write and reflect on multiple topics is undeniable, for myself the best benefit is that a routine is provided which keeps students working and focused.

You can see examples in the image to the left.

Skits

Today I split the class into groups of about 5-6 to prepare skits. They were to explain a part of the government of Saudi Arabia to the rest of the class.

It went OK. However, there were a lot of issues within the groups. I split them by having the students count off 1-5. So, first student says 1, that's their group. Student next to them says 2, that's their group. And so on. I thought it would help randomly assign then and keep the friends away from each other. I not sure how well that worked, because then people who didn't get along were together and didn't want to work.

I did two Minor Incident Reports (when the student has 3 of these they get a referral) while the students were in their groups. One was for a girl who called another student "gay". And, the other was for a student who told another to "F off". Of course he didn't just say the letter F. They will both get to enjoy silent lunch.

Some of the teams did really well. One student did a great rap with the support of his team. Most did not do so well, and I am pretty sure most of the students did not learn much. There was also a writing portion of the class where they wrote home while on vacation in Saudi Arabia, about how different Saudi Arabia was from the United States. By reading their letters, I know that most of them learned that women cannot vote in Saudi Arabia.

So, I learned a lot from the experience, and if I do skits again it will be done differently.
Tomorrow I am trying a jigsaw. More on that later...

Silent Lunch II

So, I gave out my first silent lunch today. Students have received silent lunch when I noticed them doing something inappropriate and told Mr. Dorray about it, but I never gave the punishment. Today I did.

I was telling the student to stop talking to other students behind him and turn around. I'd told him a few times to focus on his work, but he just wasn't working. So, I told him to turn around, then to put his book on the table, and then to scoot his chair so that he was sitting at the desk. He did so, but grudgingly and then mumbled under his breath, "you're not even a teacher." I asked him to repeat himself, but he wouldn't. I didn't think I could let that slide, so I told him that I was a teacher and that he would have silent lunch tomorrow.

When I told Mr. Dorray about the incident he said that giving silent lunch for that situation was good, and that I did need to make sure they understand that they have to listen to me.