Today’s post is dedicated to Miss Teacha. Despite the challenging times she has been going through, she has taken the time to keep posting. One of her posts literally saved my day.
Yesterday was the last school day in our ‘old’ building. Next week will be spent on extra-curricular activities, and after winter break we will move into the trailers. On Wednesday my colleagues and I have been packing our belongings. At the end of the day the entire school was empty, except for some tables, chairs and the xerox-machine. Some students had already started writing graffiti on the walls, doors and windows, despite the announcement of the principal that such activities were not allowed.
And then it struck me. How on earth would I be able to keep control over my classroom on the last day of school before winterbreak, the last day of school in the old building, with students trying to leave permanent or less permanent signatures on walls and furniture? I started getting desperate. When I came home, I suddenly remembered a post of Miss Teacha, in which she described new interactive lesson ideas that she took home from a seminar. I immediately went over to her blog, and that’s how my day was saved.
With my freshmen I rehearsed some material that they have to know for a test after winterbreak. After that we did a quiz. All kids had to stand up. I posed facts (‘Zeus was the king of the Greek gods’ or ‘Plato was a scientist’) and they had to sit down if the fact was correct, or remain standing if the fact was wrong. After a while, one student remained standing, and I asked him to come up in front of the blackboard and be the leader of the next round. I expected the game to become a mess. Many students in my class have problems to remain focussed. But I was wrong. It was the best activity (so far) on the most difficult day of the year.
In the other classes I tried to be creative too. At one point, I invited a group of students over to take my place and teach the class the material that I had wanted to teach that day. These students already went over the material in a different class, and they complained that they were bored. This was a great challenge for them, refreshing for the rest of the class, and it gave me some time to relax and sip my tea. Somehow, I managed to teach much more than I had expected and my students had a nice day. Amazing! I treated my last period to cake and hot chocolate, so we had a nice party going on to officially say goodbye to the building that delivered generations of new citizens.
