You ever ask your students to discuss something with each other or to think-pair-share and then they um… don’t? At the start of the year, many of my students don’t know each other and jumping into academic discussions can be
Group Project Hogs and Logs – When students say “I end up doing all the work”
I surveyed my students on what they find difficult about working with groups and the most common answer was – you guessed it – something to the tune of “I end up doing all the work”. On a completely unrelated
Common Challenges of Group Projects
The school year is winding down for many of us and most of us turn one (or both) of two end-of-year activities – final exams or group projects (or individual projects). Final exams are usually pretty straightforward, so what about
New Teacher Concern: What if my students don’t respect me because I look really young (or they know I’m new)?
You’re a new teacher starting right out of college and you may not look much older (or taller) than your own students. This was certainly the case for me, switching to teaching high school after a couple years in the workforce, 25
Talk to a “problem student” WITHOUT them tuning you out
You have that student. That “problem student” you always have to talk to. Or maybe you have 50 of them. This is about one of mine. I had arranged to have a little 1-on-1 talk with him. Okay, assuming he shows
End-of-the-Year Activity: Letters to Next Year’s Students (and how I make it more meaningful)
This idea is not original, but I’ve done it for six years and it’s one of my favorite activities because I end up with a bunch of letters I love reading and they make for a great first-day-of-class activity. Basically
Avoid These Phrases and Stop Undermining Your Decisions
When I hear a teacher enforce a class rule or inform students of a decision, it often sounds like… “Don’t make me send you to the office.” “I’m sorry, but I can’t let you turn that in late.” “I’m going
How To Confiscate a Cell Phone in 3 Steps – And What To Do When A Student Refuses
I have used this technique for over seven years for confiscating student cell phones with relatively high success rate and relatively low disruption to class. The heart of this technique is the “broken record” technique.
Speeding Cameras and Project Based Learning
This year I wanted to undertake Project Based Learning. I’ve attempted physics modeling the past couple years, and although it’s effective in many ways, I still feel there are more effective ways to engage my students and have them understand
Reflections on My First Year of SBG
This is my first year trying SBG (Standards Based Grading) after being inspired by a handful of teachers. (ddmeyer, jybuell, ThinkThankThunk, fnoschese) I taught five sections of physics this year and have used “traditional” grading prior to this year. So