Chapter 8

This chapter gives the facts: if the students are engaged in the learning process, they are less likely to act out. I know that is not possible 100% of the time but some educators have not figured it out for 1% of their teaching. Sure does get the students excited about coming to schooland gets you excited too. Again they say that you have to teach academic and behavioral skills simultaneously. Always: differentiated instruction is a given. Provide choices for the students. THIS ONE IS GOOD: Embed interests and preferences in the learning. I tutored one boy in 5th grade that knew about 10 sight words. I found out that he loved Star Wars and he learned more words from those Star Wars books than the 3 previous months. He wouldn't even open a book before that. It doesn't have to be the content that is an interest. It could be the final finished product that motives the students such as creating a video from the information learned. Technology will get the students going in about every instance. It also says to evaluate them through oral questioning, asking the student for ideas and welcoming their thoughts. You can enjoy the students' communication through teacher-created blogs. They love those. I have found some very literate students embedded in alternative forms of evaluation! The authors give a few tips on writing and handwriting engagement. They help but you need a week-long seminar on writing anxiety and making it work. Is cursive writing still taught in public schools? Knowing that failure is not an option we need to remember that includes correctly their work in a timely fashion and allowing the students to learn from it.