Peter+Avriett's+Teaching+Tips

By Peter Avriett **
 * Some Helpful Tips For Your First Week Of Class

Learning students names

** Self Portraits **
 * Have students take digital photographs of each other
 * Print them out and cut them in half
 * Have students sketch the other half of their face
 * Mount them on the wall with their names in large print.
 * Adaptation: How the world sees them vs. how they see themselves

** Speed clay **
 * Break students into manageable size groups
 * Give them clay, play-dough, or paper and markers
 * Give students a prompt and two minutes to sculpt/draw their response
 * Have students share their name and their creation
 * As the teacher, rotate around to a different group, and repeat the process until you have heard everyone’s name.


 * Get to know you role **
 * For the fist week, have students answer a specific question when you call out their name. (Who is your favorite artist)
 * This helps you get to know the students and they get to know each other

How to successfully begin a class

** General Ideas ** In order for students to begin work immediately students need...
 * To have an assignment ready when the enter
 * Know where to find the assignment
 * Know why they are doing the assignment
 * If ten minutes is wasted every class --> one month of instructional time!

One good strategy is to have students complete a work sheet at the start of the class. This can create an easy routine where students know exactly what is expected of them, where it is and why they are doing it. There are many sources where you can purchase pre-made worksheets such as [|thedailybite.com] or you can just make your own. **
 * The Daily Bite

This is an idea from the book __The First Days Of School__ for how to create a daily routine that uses presentations to start off the class. "The Constitution Minute" uses actual transcripts from the NBC radio that were broadcast during the bicentennial of the US Constitution **
 * Constitution minute
 * Preparation**
 * Each student is given a copy of a transcript and a date
 * Transcripts are memorized
 * Effective presentation ideas are discussed


 * Delivery**
 * One minute after the bell rings the presenter starts
 * The rest of the class is seated, ready to listen and take a few notes
 * One minute later the presentation is done
 * The class checks the board for the schedule/assignment for the day.

Sources **How to effectively start a class** __The First Days Of School__ by Harry K Wong and Rosemary T. Wong The daily bite: http://www.dailybite.com/products.html

I learned this project from Molley Crocker while substitute teaching at [|St. Joseph School]
 * Self Portrait Project**

Original Idea HOME
 * Speed Clay**