Blog — I Teach Kids

Getting this new class halfway through the year is forcing me to revisit some of my "back to school" routines and plans. A large part of that comes from the book, "Teach Like a Champion". It's full of great and manageable techniques to use in the classroom.

I'm going to spend the next few weeks looking back through the book to see if there are any that would work well with this new group of students.

Technique 1 - No Opt OutA sequence that begins with a student unable to answer a question should end with the student answering that question giving the right answer.

I could have used this today for sure. We were reviewing some math concepts and there were a handful of students who replied with, "I don't know" or "Umm..." that would have benefitted from this technique. By using this strategy, the class will soon understand that they do not have any other choice but to try.

Doing this tomorrow!

I got a new class this semester. It's a year course and another teacher started with them back in the fall. For reasons that I'm not going to explain here, I've been switched to be their teacher for the rest of the year. Normally, it wouldn't be a big deal.

It's an 8th grade class.

I've never taught 8th graders before. I've hung out with them at youth group and taken them on mission trips, but in all of those situations, I wasn't expected to teach them stuff.

My teaching experience spans 4th, 5th and 6th grade. And that's where it stops.

I'm pretty nervous about it, but I'm also really excited about the new challenges it will present me. I am looking forward to seeing what works with them and what does not. What motivates them and what bores them. I'm also interested to see if my management techniques, which I had originally developed for 8 & 9 year-olds, will translate to 12 & 13 year-olds.