What are the Five Finger Rules?
1. No notetaking
2. Nothing on the desk
3. No repeating after me in any language
4. Signal me when you don’t understand
5. Everything I say is interesting, so if you understand, then let me know
So, if a child is in anyway breaking one of the rules, I am able to just hold up a finger and thereby stay out of English, which is the key. Just smile and look at the kid, walking over if need be, and hold up the finger of the rule not being followed.
If I had to point to the most important three things a teacher could do on the first day it would be these three, based on my own experience today, and in order of importance here:
1. Go SLOW-Li
2. use and exlain in English the Five Finger Rules
3. Circling
Yes, in my view on the first day, FFR is the key to a great start for the year, right behind SLOW and just ahead of Circling.
[Credit: Linda Li, Annick Chen, Abraham Lincoln HS WL team]