New teachers might find it useful to bridge important educational and school related issues such as the pros and cons of school uniforms directly with classroom material.
Now that I am on sabbatical, I am taking the time slowly to wake up in the morning, to fix myself a nice cup of coffee, and watch the kids go to school from my window. Many of these kids wear uniforms and lug their heavy bookbag (some wheel it). As I kid walking to a public school in New York City with no dress code, there was some secret hidden desire to wear a uniform too.
Now, years later I have attempted to bring this subject into the classroom. And the forecast for children's school uniforms still looks strong. In many schools, the debate of dress codes is still an ongoing talked about issue among administrators, parents and educators alike.
Going back to my previous support for school uniforms, new teachers who find themselves siding with wearing uniforms might still be pleasantly surprised to find the debate is prevalent in their schools. But as a new teacher, have you given any thought as to how you can bridge these educational issues with the subject matter of your class?
What you can also do as a new teacher is to bring these ongoing debates and issues into your classroom. Kids appreciate it when you go beyond the 'box' . Here are a few classroom tested ideas:
- For teaching important writing skills, have them write a paragraph about the pros and cons.
- For speaking skills, kids have one minute to brainstorm with their partner the pros and cons. The teacher then can gather all the ides frontally on the board and full lesson can be devoted to a class discussion.
Read previous articles on New Teacher Support.
