If the kids/teachers ARE burned out on stories, we have the April bail out moves of course, and all the other bail out moves. But I’m thinking of doing what I describe below if the kids are rude during stories w/ excessive English, lack of focus, etc. I’m going to try it tomorrow and if anybody else tries it I would like to know how it worked for them:
The moment I feel they lack focus, I’m going to pull out a yellow card and hold it up to the class. One yellow card = one grammar translation sentence, ex. “He doesn’t want to give the windows to the birds.” Any random sentence that comes to my mind in an instant that I say and then write on the board so that I instantaneously leave the story and the next thing they hear me saying is something ridiculous in L1.
This gets their attention. So does the yellow card. We translate the sentence on the board into L2 and the story then continues where it left off. Then if/when they get foolish again, out comes the red card for a TWO translations penalty. Then back to the story. The third time I say, “End of game!” and give a dictee on the story up to that point that I get from my story writer.
Never tried it before. It has potential, though. I do know that weak refs in football get eaten alive. So do we, unless we hold the card out WHENEVER WE FEEL THAT THE CLASS IS BEING ABUSIVE. To do that we have to recognize their abuse of us in the moment it is occurring.
Many of us are weak at that. The kids talk and we keep teaching. That’s weak. Like letting a kid use a cell phone w/o a full stoppage of the class and forcefully telling the kid to put the phone away. That’s just dumb.
Classroom Abuse on Teachers, Ben? Really? Yup! It’s real. It happens when the teacher lacks the personal power to confront a class in, if necessary, a very stern – not angry but lovingly stern – voice, pull the card and make the class show up with the grammar and after two cards do a dictee. Or you could keep going on the story and let them eat you alive some more.
I’ll report back tomorrow. I have just the class to try this out on. My biggest sixth grade class that has been a gem all year, brilliant really, but now has the April Jitters.
Can’t wait to see what happens. But I have decided that just because it’s April I am not going to not do stories, because they are the cream of all our strategies.