Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Displaying Student Work

The English teachers have increased their efforts this semester to display student work in the classrooms and the hallways. Through a Parent Council grant we received large rolls of construction paper and bulletin board strips for the halls. The big paper is great for group work and carousel brainstorming activities.

The teachers have noticed that when students realize that the work may be displayed in the hallway, they take greater pride in their products. And we often find students from other classes checking out the assignments. Overall, displaying student work has helped us with classroom management and building relationships with students.

Idealistic Leader Traits

KC West has been using the idealistic leader traits as community builders in her English 10 classroom. Each week she has presented a different trait and students have worked on defining the traits, either with a circle map or an A to Z taxonomy.

Not only have these discussions of idealist traits helped KC build relationships with her students, but also students have reported that they have used information from classroom discussions outside of class, even at job interviews.

The idealistic leader traits from Admission Possible are:

"Strive to be DELIGHTFUL!

ENERGIZE those in your presence.

Keep your EYES ON THE PRIZE.

CHALLENGE CYNICISM whenever you encounter it.

MOCCASIN the lives of others. Imagine life in someone else's moccasins.

Learn to be GRATEFUL.

HAVE FUN!"

Visit Admission Impossible for more information on the Idealistic Leader Traits.