Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Be Silly.
Sometimes a different teacher needs to show up to your class. She looks like you. She talks like you. She has the same keys to the classroom door and even dresses in the same outfit you‘ve been wearing for three years.
But she’s not quite you. Sometimes you have to shake things up and be someone you’re not used to being.
When I needed to get the attention of thirty seventh-graders to drive home a new idea or make sure I had everyone’s complete and undivided attention for a set of complicated instructions, nothing worked better than a funny voice. Even if my students had never seen Dr. Strangelove, my Dr. Strangelove voice sure got one, two, three eyes on me! In fact, I had an extensive repertoire of silly voices that I could call upon, depending on the situation.
Tricks. They’re not designed to fool the student; they’re designed to help you control a classroom situation for any number of reasons.
Tell us, what are some of your favorite tricks in the upper grades classroom and under what circumstances do you use them? Do you have any you’ve seen a colleague use or that you have in mind but haven’t used yet?