Benji taught me this creative approach to configuring the classroom.You get an old deck of cards, too shabby for the poker table, and write the names of your students on them. These then become flexible classroom management tools.
- You can deal the cards out on the desks to create certain pairs or teams.
- Early-bird students can be given the enjoyable task of dealing them out.
- HH refined this idea by using all red for girls, all black for boys (or vice-versa). This comes in handy when you are looking for gender balance.
- For me, having a little deck of name-cards actually helps me design my teams/pairs. I deal out my groups of 2, 3 or 4 and then re-arrange when I see one group is getting too strong.
- Benji even customizes his cards, using pictures that the students bring in: baby pictures, pets.
This has been a simple and fun way to ensure that inertia doesn't have too much influence in classroom seating.
Card sharks! Villains! Spawn of the Devil! Immoral promoters of gambling!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea.
My students also like it when I shuffle and then use the cards to determine who gets to answer the next question if we are going over something. It helps to assure that the same people don't always go first or commandeer the conversation, and it keeps everyone on his/her toes, knowing that his/her card could be the next one up.
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