Ten Quick Review Ideas for the End of the School Year

By this time in the school year, many of us are out of fresh ideas when it comes to reviewing for exams or standardized tests. While you may already know some activities that will appeal to your students, you may want to break up the routine just a bit. Try some of these activities to increase retention and have fun at the same time. Ask students to:

1. Use individual whiteboards to write and then share responses to questions.
2. Have students make three dimensional graphic organizers with main ideas. See who can make the most complete graphic organizer within a set time limit.
3. Divide a paper into several blocks and write a review fact in one of the blocks. They then ball up the paper and toss it to a classmate who adds a different fact. This continues until all blocks are filled.
4.  Create flashcards and study them together. Quizlet.com is a great online site for this activity.
5. Write captions to photos, cartoons, and other illustrations about the topic.
6. Play board games based on the topic or create and play their own board games.
7. Tell classmate two facts. That classmate has to repeat them and add two more. Continue around the room
8. Hold a contest to see who can write the most about the topic within a time limit. Share with the class.
9. Create their own “legal cheat sheets” to use during a test.
10. Have students record a series of facts or other important information on their phones and listen to the facts over and over until they know them.

 

HOW TO CREATE A POSITIVE GROUP IDENTITY

One of the most important things that all teachers should do at the start of the school year is to direct their students' thinking about themselves. A class that perceives itself as filled with toublemakers will, without a doubt or any hesitation cause trouble. If, instead of allowing students to create negative images of themselves as a group, think what would happen if you teach them to think highly of themselves. Here is a brief excerpt from THE FIRST-YEAR TEACHER'S SURVIVAL GUIDE to help you get your students headed in the right direction.

Unless you create a positive identity for your class, students may take your smallest misbehavior

correction to mean that you think of them as troublesome. This will happen even more quickly if

students in your class have struggled with school in the past. Once a group starts to think of itself in

a negative way, it is almost impossible to change the group’s self-perception into a positive one.

            Sometimes students have been dragging this negativity around for years. If you can eliminate the negative image and give your class a positive self-image, you will all receive the rewards. But this is no easy task. What you must do is make a conscious effort to praise and reinforce your class’s positive group attributes. Thus, you will promote the group’s desirable behaviors and extinguish their negative ones.

            Even difficult classes can have positive attributes. If a group is very talkative, for example, you can put a positive twist on it and praise the students for their sociability. Further, focus on students’ strengths, rather on what they do poorly. To create a positive group image, you must find and reinforce their positive attributes. Here’s how:

Step One: If you learn that your class has a negative self-image, let students know that you disagree with it.

Step Two: Observe two things about your class: how your students interact with each other and with you and how they do their work. Find at least one positive attribute that you can reinforce.

Step Three: Begin praising that positive attribute as often as you can. In a few days, you will notice that your students will accept it as truth and will start to  bring it up themselves.

            Think of a positive label or two for each class and use these labels frequently. Each of your classes should believe they have a special place in your heart. Here are a few positive labels your students should hear you use at the start of the year:

·       Caring

·       Motivated

·       Intelligent

·       Prepared

·       Successful

·       Friendly

·       Polite

·       Accurate

·       Efficient

·       Reasonable

·       Adaptable

·       Reflective

·       Adventurous

·       Energetic

·       Creative

·       Studious

·       Realistic

·       Cooperative

·       Industrious

·       Likable

·       Helpful

·       Dependable

·       Ingenious

·       Determined

·       Thoughtful

·       Deep thinkers

·       Punctual

·       Curious

·       Inventive

HOW TO PRESERVE YOUR STUDENTS’ DIGNITY

Students are particularly sensitive people. They spend their lives in a push-me-pull-me world longing to be independent and part of the crowd at the same time. Whatever sets them apart from their peers in a negative way can be exquisitely painful.


With this extraordinary sensitivity in mind, it is easy to see how quickly an unintentionally demeaning word or deed can wound our students’ fragile pride. The dilemma for educators is that we have to correct our students’ behavior while protecting their self-image at the same time. While this is not always an easy task, it is one that is vital to the cooperative relationship that should exist between teacher and student. In the two lists below you will find advice on what you should be careful to do and what you should be careful not to do help preserve your students’ dignity.

To preserve a student’s dignity, be careful to

• Take the student’s concerns seriously

• Use a kind voice when talking with the student

• Be as patient and understanding as possible

• Listen carefully to your student

• Try to be as fair as possible when delivering a reprimand

• Ask sufficient questions to be sure that you have an understanding of the incident

• Work to resolve problems and not just punish the student

• Assure the student that you believe that the misbehavior will not happen again

• Make every effort to see the entire child and not be affected by brief moment of bad judgment

To preserve a student’s dignity, be careful not to

• Call a student a name, even in jest

• Compare one student to another

• Reprimand a student in front of the class if at all avoidable

• Allow a confrontation to build in front of others

• Ignore a student who needs your attention

• Raise your voice

• Be sarcastic or insulting in an attempt to have the student learn from a mistake

Activities that Can Energize Your Students

Are you in a teaching rut? Are your lessons just a little blah? The winter months can be long if you and your students are stuck in routines that are all too predictable. If you find that your students are taking a lackluster approach to their assignments, try something new and fun to help them achieve more. Here are five easy activities that will make learning fun for your students.


Tingo Tango:

Students stand in a circle rapidly passing a soft ball around the circle as the teacher repeatedly says, “Tingo.” At random intervals, the teacher will say “Tango” instead of “Tingo.” The student holding the ball at that point will have to answer a question or call out a fact.

Two Minute Questions:

Pose a question and give students two minutes to write responses before sharing with group members, the entire class, or study buddies.

Whip Around:

Seat small groups of students in circles. Hand each group a sheet of paper and ask one student in each group to write a response to a question or idea about a topic. That student then passes the sheet to the next and so on as quickly as possible in a specified time limit.

Word Splash:

Students generate a list of words associated with a particular unit of study before beginning the unit to increase background knowledge. Students can also be given a list of words to be alert for as they begin studying.

Work Stations:

Students work in various areas of the room at the same time. They perform different tasks at each station. Students do not have to complete the same work or complete it in the same time period. Even older students have fun with this approach to their work.

Now for readers everywhere: what do you do to add a bit of interest to your classes? Share  learning activities that you use to energize your students!