- The Rule of Secondary Side Effects. This rule acknowledges that your curricular choices have important
side effects. Your dittoed worksheet will not only provide students opportunities to learn
their subject matter, it will also serve as a "mantra," soothing nerves and
calming students.
- The Rule of Vague Directions.
Make your directions vague and don't repeat them. Most students will figured out what to
do anyway and the others will need special, individual help anyway. ( The alternative is
to have 30 students ask you the same question 30 times.)
- The Rule of Frames.
Whatever you assign, some students will want to do something else. Your response:
"No, you don't have to do this, but you'll have to make individual arrangements with
me. No, not now. After class."
- The Rule of Shared Authority.
To understand this rule, announce to your class Adolph Hitler was the 33rd President of
the United States . If you're lucky, one student in class will question whether this is
true. Your point is that you don't have to be the expert on everything, and they better
bring something to class that they know, too.
- The Rule of Procedural Specificity. A good example of this rule is instructing students to put their names
and period number in the top right hand corner of their papers. This lets students know
that this is a serious, important assignment. To not do so signals students it is not
important.
- The Rule of Pretense. For
students to have some prospect of being successful, you must communicate to them that
"you can already do this." "We are just going to practice it so you do it
better." Whether it's true or not.
Free. An Addendum. Homework is a cultural statement.
Whether your students plan on doing any homwork or not, they expect to be assigned some.
It tells them you care about them. It tells them what you are expecting of them is
important. It offers them the comraderie of facing your unrealistic expectations together.
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