There are few things hard-working high school students dislike more than ambiguity. We’ve taught them to master “right” answers, and it frustrates them terribly when there isn’t one. For the past week, I’ve been preparing my econ students for something called the International Economic Summit, which is a one-day Model UN style event (created at…
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Let them laugh (at least a little)
“I love subbing for your classes. Your classroom has such a great culture; you must be doing something right.” A colleague who has filled in for me six times this spring (so far) gave me this unexpected compliment today, when we crossed paths in the early morning copy room. It was a great start to…
Read MoreAdvice students don’t want to hear
“If a student got 100% in your class by delegating all his tasks/homework and papers to a virtual assistant and spent under $20 for the entire semester, is that bad? … Because in the real world, you are the most efficient employee of all time.” Will Tjernlund, a former student, posed this question to me…
Read MoreWhat students learn from each other
I’ve always been reluctant to let students teach other students, for a few reasons: First, how much do students really know? Second, will they give each other honest feedback? Third, are the “teaching” students losing their own opportunity to be challenged? This year, I’ve seen how powerful students teaching students can be. I’ve been so…
Read MoreWe need to create independent learners
One of the major changes I’ve seen in 20 years of teaching is the subtle shift toward more scaffolding, step-by-step instructions and detailed scoring rubrics. Today every major assignment — like a paper, presentation or debate — requires an almost legalistic explanation of what is expected and how students will be evaluated, point by point.…
Read MoreYes, I love my job, but…
One of the drawbacks of blogging about your work is that there’s so much you just can’t say. The situations I cannot write about — because they might irreparably harm relationships or violate student privacy — are often the very problems we need to discuss. Because I self-censor day-to-day frustrations, I know that in my writing,…
Read MoreSmall effort, big impact
Earlier this semester, in her regular economics class at Tartan High School, teacher Lori Raebel enlisted three students to act as workers in a brief simulation. In the lesson, each worker can pick one unit of carrots, but they can pick different amounts of apples — one, three or five units — depending on their…
Read MoreYou can’t spread your wings on a multiple choice test
One of the best parts of teaching is watching your students surpass what you’ve taught them. It’s like running next to your 4-year-old holding onto the bike, then finally letting go and watching them ride off, confidently, alone. We usually don’t experience this in a traditional classroom, when students are just listening, reading and repeating…
Read MoreEven a great lecture isn’t good enough
What’s one thing you could do tomorrow that would definitely engage more students? That’s easy. Inject your lesson with more opportunities to participate. It sounds too simple to be true — how could asking a question, giving a formative quiz, or allowing five minutes to think/pair/share really make any difference? And doesn’t everyone already do…
Read MoreIdeals or reality: What should civics teach?
I learned last week — from this funny but scathing commentary in our local City Pages — that Minnesota may soon require high school students to pass a “citizenship test” in order to get a diploma. According to the article, students would take a test similar to the naturalization test, which 97 percent of immigrants…
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MARTHA RUSH 