Don’t you love that feeling when your class is running
smoothly, the kids are all on task, and your grading is caught up? Me, too!
Finding a management system that works feels like such an
accomplishment, cause Lord knows I’ve tried my share of duds.
So, today, I want to share with you a system that I’ve been
using for the last ten years. You know
how the greatest inventions are born from necessity? Well, this was necessary for me! As an English teacher, I have way too much
student writing to look at, edit, comment on, then grade. To be honest, I often
feel that even if my time was spent only
on grading essays, there still wouldn’t be enough hours for me to get the work
back in a timely manner (not to mention hang out with my family). Factor in other student work (homework,
vocabulary practice, independent reading, and more), and the paper load is
overwhelming. So here’s where it gets
good. I knew that if I expected students
to do all these other tasks, then I needed to give them credit for their work,
after all, these guys are smart and they wouldn’t see value in working for
free. But, I didn’t want to be a human
grading machine. So, what to do, you ask?
Creating Class Leaders!
I came up with the idea of class leaders to help manage the overwhelming
paper load that is inevitable with 200+ students. I knew that the students were capable of
handling more responsibility and I knew that students thrived on
competition. An idea to merge the two
started forming.
First, I needed some guidelines. I usually divide my room into 8, either by
rows of desks or groups, so I knew I needed 8 leaders per class. Then, what did I want them to do? Much of our homework is independent practice
to help reinforce skills that will later be assessed. I needed the students to practice, but didn’t
want to give them tons of points to overinflate grades. I decided to put the class leaders in charge
of stamping and recording these small assignments, averaging the points, and
managing their groups.
The first time through, during first quarter, I ask
interested students to apply to be a row leader (and I always get several
applications). I pick the remainder of
the leaders and then create the seating chart.
For subsequent quarters, I again asks for applications, and then choose
the remaining leaders based on grades or effort. After the first quarter, I send the selected
leaders outside to draft their groups, giving them a bigger buy-in and making them
think critically about what types of group members they want to work with.
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| An awesome group of leaders on Halloween |
Each week, my student leaders turn in a chart with several
assignments listed across the top. Each
group member gets a check mark for each complete assignment (it’s all or
nothing, as these points only amount to 10 per week). The class leader counts each person’s checks,
then records the total. Then, the leader
averages the group’s points and records the percentage. This is the percentage of completed work for
each row, and leads to the competition.
I add each group’s weekly percentage as a running tally on my side
board, so that each group in each period can see the score. I run the competition through the quarter,
and the winning team at the end of quarter gets extra credit and a sweet treat.
My students love this system! They like the extra responsibility that comes
with being a group leader and they like the competition aspect, which motivates
all the students to do their work.
I'd love for you to download this freebie and let me know how it works for you.
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