Today Was a Good Day Volume III

Well...it wasn't really today, but I didn't have time to write about it on that day, so here it is now! Today was a good day volume III:


I have this particular class of 5th graders who, let's just say, are very difficult to teach. They are usually 5-7 mins late to class (not really their fault), which makes my lesson more rushed. When I only have 40 minutes, being 5-7 minutes late (plus 1 minute to get seated and organized) is a significant time to lose. They are a noisy bunch so it takes me (and my co-teacher) longer to get through the required textbook exercises (really boring, but apparently necessary to learning English). They know when they finish the textbook exercises, there is a game/activity. Yet, they still take forever to do the textbook exercises. Basically, this class is challenging in many ways. The part that is significant to why this day was a good day, is the part where...they walked into class 4 minutes early. Yes, I looked at the clock because I was SHOCKED they were early.


I always have a short interesting/entertaining video to show classes when they arrive to my classroom early. Some classes are always early (because in the previous period they were only next door and not in P.E. or a classroom 2 buildings away) and after giving them a couple minutes of playing/chatting/whatever it is those boys do, I start a video. Some students choose to talk quietly, go to the bathroom, or whatever. For the most part, all the students want to watch the video. 


Let's just say...this particular class hasn't seen a video in months. So when they walked in early, I said, "everyone sit down...I have a fun video to watch!" They looked at me like I was crazy...they weren't really sure what I meant. I pressed play on the "art with sand video" (Check them out--they are amazing) and watched the students watching the screen. The entire class was focused on the screen. They were quiet. They were entertained.  The best part is...when the video finished...I told them, "I always have a video before class. If you come to English class early, you can watch a video." Then the bell rang. We started class right on time. They finished the textbook exercises in record speed and efficiency. I gave them a "+1" on their class point chart for being such a good class. They had plenty of time to play the game. It was an amazing class. I reminded them that when they come to English class early, they get to watch a video. 


Cross your fingers that the next time I teach this class, they are at least 2 minutes early.