This year I’ve came up with A LOT of ridiculous ideas just to get the attention of kids.
Have you found yourself experimenting too?
One of the silliest things I’ve done involves a really big envelope and a really tiny announcement.
Here is the whole story…
I had to take a sick day (because sometimes we get sick, ya know)
And as we all know, as teachers, being out of the classroom is HARD and sometimes when there is a sub, kids go CRAZY!
Well, to combat that I use a very simple system.
In the sub notes I ask the sub to rate each class period on a scale of 1-10. 10 being BEST CLASS EVER and 1 being PLEASE DONT ASK ME TO SUB AGAIN.
I don’t ask for detailed notes.
Just a number.
When I return I ask the kids 3 questions:
What do you think the sub rated you?
What would you rate yourself?
What would I have rated you if I were here?
This simple ranking system keeps the kids in check.
They know they are getting a number.
They know I’m going to ask.
They know they are going to have to be honest.
IF they get a 10 (and truly they normally do because this strategy works) then they get some kind of reward.
Sometimes it’s as a simple as a piece of old man candy
Sometimes it’s they get to pick a fun activity for Friday
But the way I revealed the number this week was
I had an envelope from a card. You know, one of those massive 4 feet cards?
And because we as teachers don’t throw anything away, I kept it.
To reveal the rating from the sub I created the worlds smallest piece of paper and put it in the worlds largest envelope.
I dramatically turned the envelope upside down and nothing came out. I shook it around and nearly put the envelope on the upper half of my body. And then one tiny piece of paper, like a snowflake, fell out.
I got the piece of paper off the floor and examined it with my massive magnifying class.
TEN
The class went wild.
Friends, sometimes ridiculous works.
And what really works is a simple but significant expectation for kids.
I expect a 10 when I’m gone.
Because I know they can do it.
My students are awesome.
Yours students are awesome.
You are awesome.
This idea is awesome.
And I wanted to share this idea with you so you are ready when you have a sub next year.
Here is the Tik Tok video link to save and share with your teacher friends:
https://www.tiktok.com/@monicagentaed/video/6940361963687955718
Here is the Instagram video link to save and share with your teacher friends:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CMFOO7PB-vR/
Enjoy the video!
PS- If you like ideas like this, you will really love these!