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What Teachers Want Most
Featured Author:
Julia G. Thompson
A graduate of Virginia Tech, Julia is the author of several books for teachers. Her newest book, First-Year Teacher’s Survival Guide, Second Edition, was released in July 2007. She is also the author of Discipline Survival Kit for the Secondary Teacher. In each of her books, Julia presents classroom-tested ideas, activities, and strategies designed to make each school day a successful one.
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Do you catch yourself staring out the window? Are you forgetful? Restless? Suffering from more than a touch of spring fever? If you feel this way, just imagine how your students feel!
The end of the school year is a time when teachers and students tend to squander the brief class time they have left in a variety of ways. Teachers may decide to forgo a tough unit of study for one less challenging or assign less work because their hearts are just not in fighting an uphill motivational battle. Students are also guilty of wasting significant amounts of class time with numerous distractions.
Are you beginning to notice some of these signs that your students are so distracted as the end of the school year approaches that they are really not learning much no matter what you do to hold their attention?
• Increased talking and other off-task behavior
• Lack of serious preparation
• Poor quality of work
• Incomplete class work assignments
• Increased small misbehaviors
• Increased questioning of authority
• Heads down and sleepiness
Between your students’ lack of instructional achievement and your personal distraction lies the potential for a great deal of trouble. As a professional, it is up to you to set the tone for a successful class. The choice is completely yours. School days can seem endless this time of year or you can find ways to keep yourself and your students energized, productive, and on track.
One sure way to accomplish this is to consider how well you use the instructional time allotted to you and your students. Ask yourself these questions.
• Do you approach each school day with the same eager intensity that you did earlier in the year?
• Do you still plan engaging lessons that are designed to help students succeed?
• Do you encourage students to work with purpose? To accomplish the great things you know they are capable of?
If you could not answer “yes” to each of these questions, then you may need to reexamine how you are using your school time.
