Cool idea for business attendance

I just had a business teacher I talked to talk about how he has his students "punch into" class (like in some old businesses. They have a slip of paper with their name on it that has a square for each date of the month...They punch in just like you see in the movies and then move their card over to the "in" slot...this is an easy way to see who is absent and the students kind of get a kick out of it intitially. He becomes blase after awhile but then hopefully you know everybody by name and don't need to use it for a system anymore....Try it!

"Whats in my pocket"

I got a really cool starting class idea from one of my good friends who has been in this racket for awhile. He plays a game called "whats in my pocket" where students are given 20 questions to guess what he has in his pocket. Sounds kind of silly but it really does get students to think about forming good questions and how to narrow down options. The students really get into it and I can tell they are learning as the number of guesses is going down...try it!

Civil War

Hello all...I'd like to get a sense of how people teach the civil war in middle schools. I see lots of different units that focus on 6 to 8 or even more individual battles. It seems like there is a lot more than remembering battle sites and who won which battle...any ideas?

Jury Duty

This post is a quick description of a method I call "Jury Duty." Basically you form groups 6-8 students called "juries" and a foreman (spokesperson) is elected. You then give them a fact pattern (good or bad, guilty or not guilty, for plaintiff or defendant, etc.) and have them deliberate. Key is ALL jurors MUST agree on the verdict (it must be unanimous). It is great for lively discussions and getting students to come to a consensus. Try it sometime.

Sharing teaching methods

I am in a masters teaching program and currently doing my student teaching. I set up this blog primarily for a class project but am interested in sharing various teaching methods regarding any topic that have worked for any of you. Please feel free to comment and/or share