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Ok... I am totally stressed from so many intensive days in a row and no real rest!
And I didn't wimp out! I didn't tell myself, "oh, you can just do like some of the other teachers, and let the kids sit where they want." Kiss of death for control of a middle school classroom. That let's them think THEY are in control and not YOU.
So, after getting my rosters at NOON, I managed to set up a seating chart (make sure you always do this with post-it notes so you can make changes easily), and then put large post-it notes on the desks in use, labeled with the people sitting there each period. Something like this:
1st period: John C.
2nd period: Mary D.
3rd period: Joe E.
etc
It's a Wong thing (_The First Days of School_) and it's well worth the effort. I'll also have index cards on their desks before class. Here's how tomorrow will look: I'll greet them at the door, check their schedules to make sure they're in the right place, and then tell them to look for their seat and begin work on the index card. That is, they won't have "free time" to goof off while I'm busy at the door. They need to get RIGHT TO WORK!
It's a day mainly for policies and administrivia; not a lot of Latin. I think I will talk in Latin as much as possible to the 8th graders to shake them up a bit. heh heh heh.
Don't ask me my plans for the rest of the week....
;)
And I didn't wimp out! I didn't tell myself, "oh, you can just do like some of the other teachers, and let the kids sit where they want." Kiss of death for control of a middle school classroom. That let's them think THEY are in control and not YOU.
So, after getting my rosters at NOON, I managed to set up a seating chart (make sure you always do this with post-it notes so you can make changes easily), and then put large post-it notes on the desks in use, labeled with the people sitting there each period. Something like this:
1st period: John C.
2nd period: Mary D.
3rd period: Joe E.
etc
It's a Wong thing (_The First Days of School_) and it's well worth the effort. I'll also have index cards on their desks before class. Here's how tomorrow will look: I'll greet them at the door, check their schedules to make sure they're in the right place, and then tell them to look for their seat and begin work on the index card. That is, they won't have "free time" to goof off while I'm busy at the door. They need to get RIGHT TO WORK!
It's a day mainly for policies and administrivia; not a lot of Latin. I think I will talk in Latin as much as possible to the 8th graders to shake them up a bit. heh heh heh.
Don't ask me my plans for the rest of the week....
;)
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index card
Date: 2005-08-16 11:45 am (UTC)Re: index card
Date: 2005-08-17 12:19 am (UTC)The index card is really not what you ask but what you get. This is more or less what they had:
Last name, first name period
parents/guardians' name
working phone number (hard to get with poor families/illegal aliens)
email address (of kid or parent) (most don't have but a few do)
birthday (I always swear I'm going to do a calendar...)
Then a question about, say, why are they in Latin. (The most interesting response I got was from a young lady of partial Afr Am descent who said she wanted to impress her grandmother!)
Last, I ask if they have any questions for me. In the past there have been some interesting questions, but nothing much this year.
Here's the real reason why I do the index card, and it's not for the phone numbers. I want to see whether students can:
1) follow directions (see how their name is written)
2) how good their English is or whether I have LEP (ESL) kids in the room
3) write in complete sentences
4) take a risk with a question or volunteering personal information.
THAT'S why I do the cards. And if I don't lose them, it's handy to have the phone numbers. :)