A is for Excellent Teachers

School has started for teachers, long before their students arrive on that first day.
Is there anyone who doesn’t have a teacher on their short list of heroes?
With that in mind, today’s column is dedicated to those current heroes of our culture, the hard-working men and women in classrooms and home schools across East Texas.
If you are a teacher, here’s a list just for you. Think of it as a small thank-you for all your hard work, hopefully there will be something new you can use.
-“Class, I hope some day, you will come back and be one of my guest lecturers,” you say as you introduce a guest speaker once or twice a semester.
-“Anyone can be a public speaker with a little practice,” you say as you assign important points to different students throughout the year and have them “teach” the class.
-Have each student glue the same items to a paper plate. Then, have each student explain the concept with their plate to the whole class, so that they hear the concept repetitively twenty times. It sounds crazy, but the older they are the more effective this is.
-Have the students wait in line as each student does the same role play from memory. Watch them pay close attention, realizing that their turn is next!
-Put things on the overhead backwards to get their attention.
-Point out difficult info and say, “Everyone always misses this on the test.”
-Have students act out words and definitions, like charades, while the class guesses the concept.
-Settle in and tell a “yarn” that seems unrelated to your subject until the punch line.
-Have the students put away their pens and paper, stand up and repeat everything you say. Then, have them sit down and speak the same concept quietly to themselves as they write it.
-“You don’t need to know this ‘til college,” you say as you challenge them with stuff that is interesting, but a little beyond their grade level, just for fun.
-Give them the question, but not the answer. Offer rewards for the kid who comes to class with the best solution tomorrow.
-“You know how to use a dictionary,” you say as you use the tough, new vocabulary without explaining it. Let them figure it out along the way.
-Add hand motions to a concept and have the students do the hand motions each and every time that concept is reviewed.
- Review flash cards in the first five minutes of class daily. Redundant? Rote? Out of style? Yes, but effective.
- Make corny jokes. Why not send them back into their world with a smile on their face?
A teacher who works to make unfamiliar material manageable is inspiring.
You bless your students and their parents. You deserve a pat on the back.

Cathy Primer Krafve, aka Checklist Charlie, lives with her family in East Texas. She welcomes comments and lists at CaeKrafve2@aol.com.