This is something I wanted to post a long time ago, but it was a busy fall, so I’m just getting around to it now.
I had my first student teacher this year. He was PHENOMENAL. Get this: he takes students to developing nations and they do all kind of agricultural and water-related projects. I loved this kid. It WAS like having my son teaching with me! I’m going to call him Steve.
One of the assignments I gave to Steve was to do a lesson on The Stamp Act. Exciting, I know. Steve was stymied. He said, “How should I do this?” I told him the way I do it is to do some sort of a role play. The one he came up with was brilliant. He came into the classroom and said, “Maestra! OMG! You have to SEE this!” He then gave me a “memo” for the kids. I read it out loud:
Effective immediately: All students must buy and affix a school logo stamp to EACH and EVERY article of clothing, including shoes. Stamps cost 25 cents each and can be purchased from any principal’s office. Once the stamps are affixed, they are permanent. If students are caught without the stamp, they will receive, first, a warning, second, a fine, third, school on Saturdays. Signed, the Principal
The reaction was immediate and furious. The kids went NUTS. “NOT FAIR!!!” “I have to call my mom!” “Mom? No way! I’m calling the PTO!” “Maestra, can we use the phone???”
At this point, the phone rang. (Happy coincidence.) I answered, and it was the nurse, but I faked like it was the principal. When I hung up, I looked at the kids and said, “That was the principal. I don’t know how he is doing this, but he says he can hear us and if we don’t stop talking about this, he’s going to give us all detention for a week!”
Tiffany stood up on her chair and said, “I DON’T CARE IF HE GIVES US DETENTION FOR A YEAR! THIS ISN’T FAIR! WE ARE NOT DOING IT!”
I looked at Steve and said, “There’s my Patrick Henry.”
We had the kids calm down a bit and together we wrote a response letter to the principal about why this “stamp act” was a bad idea. Then, we asked each of the kids to come up one at a time and sign it. One boy held up his hands and begged off. “I don’t want to sign. I don’t want any trouble with anybody.”
I said to Steve, “And there’s our Loyalist.”
The conversation that we had was wonderful and informative. We finally told the kids that the whole thing was a set-up to teach them about The Stamp Act. Tiffany looked at me and said, “You PUNKED us, Maestra?”
No, Patrick. I would never punk you.
Way cool! These are the lessons that kids will remember and leave a lasting impression. I had a student teacher year before last and am happy to say she’s finally passed her final exam. I had her when she was really green. She likes to update me on all the progress she’s made. It was a great learning experience for me as well.
Thanks, Jan! Having a student teacher was wonderful, although I’ve told my principal I never want another one. He said, “WHY?” (I guess he’d be a little confused, after all the praises I heaped on this kid.) I said, “This student teacher was TOO good. Everyone who follows will have to live up to him. He’s ruined me forever.”
Happy New Year!
I did an activity like this with my kids on voting rights. We told them that the principal was asking us to vote on a new uniform shirt color, and that ballots needed to include their name, birthday and what they wanted the shirt color to be. Then, we opened a letter that had been “left” on the projector for us from the principal. It said that she had come to realize that students born in even months had terrible taste in clothing, and so they shouldn’t be allowed the privilege of voting, and instructed us to throw away those ballots. We even had it printed on our principal’s stationary, and had her sign it, so we could pass it around to the kids. They promptly freaked out, and we ended up having a really good discussion about why the group who has power would like to keep it from other people, and why it was so important for people to vote. It was a ton of fun, and I think it really impacted the students.
Nice! I’m using that one next year! Thanks!