Helping Students be Responsible Members of the Learning Community

Mary Jane Caffey, Grades 11 and 12 English Teacher, Valley, Nebraska

Purposes:
To help students establish personal responsibility
To teach students to develop organizational skills
To set the tone and goals for the class period.

Materials:
Attendance book
Loose-leaf three-ring notebook for each student
Weekly divider sheets
Daily handouts

Procedure:

1. Prior to class, prepare an activity on the board or a worksheet that relates to the day’s lesson.
   
   
2. As students enter the classroom, they each initial their daily square in the attendance book.
   
   Thus, roll is taken without distracting from class time.
   
   
3. On Mondays, each student picks up a weekly divider sheet, which helps organize all class work in chronological order.
   
   
4. Every day, each student picks up the worksheet or begins working independently on the board activity. This procedure provides for a quiet transition into class work and gives the students time to organize and reflect on the goals for the class period.
   
   
5. During this time, the teacher is greeting students, visiting with them about school activities, answering questions, and making sure each student is ready to learn.
   
   
6. With this daily routine, students begin to settle into the class period quickly and focus on the class objectives, It develops a partnership between the teacher and the students, a team for learning and sharing responsibility in the process.
   
   
7. All returned papers go in the appropriate weekly section of the notebook. Class notes and in-class assignments are all grouped together in the weekly sessions. If an assignment or any notes need to be retrieved, it is a quick and easy process.