Teacher Tips—What Works!

Patricia A. London, D.Ed
Bermudian Springs Middle School

As we begin a new year, I teach my eighth- grade health classes about social/mental/emotional health first. This includes bullying, being responsible, time management and self-esteem. A culminating project for my eighth-grade students is to create a booklet on any of the aforementioned topics for our new fifth-graders in the middle school. Many of the fifth-graders are timid and worried about moving to our building. This project is meant to help the fifth-graders be successful, and provide them with a buddy they can turn to during the year.

This finished product is graded (I use the performance assessment and rubric from a booklet provided by Glencoe) and then given to a fifth-grade Language Arts class where the fifth-grade students read the booklet and write a response to the ideas, tips, and hints. The teachers and I have found this a wonderful way to do cross-curricular work and give meaning to writing. The eighth-graders feel responsible for the younger students and enjoy helping them be successful in the middle school.

We have presented this idea and booklets to the school board and received their enthusiastic support.

Patricia A. Lia
Union Park Middle School

The students in my seventh- grade health class are a diverse group of children. Many of them are exceptional students (ESE), or English learners of other languages (ESOL). Trying to engage them in more complex health concerns is sometimes difficult. Retention is another problem. I found a book in the library, "The Immune System: The Magic Doctor," that was kind of a cute, fun presentation on the immune system, with lots of illustrations but very factual. I scanned the entire book (75 pages) into my computer and made a power point presentation out of it, complete with page-turning animation.

I introduced the lesson with "Today I am going to read you a story." Several kids groaned but, by the second page, there was complete silence. By page 10 there were hands in the air asking if they could read the next page-wow! Reviewing the content of the lesson was a snap. Students easily recalled the difference between a helper T cell and a killer T cell, what is the role of the B cell, etc. Test scores were extraordinary, even for my lower grade level learners. I used this lesson as the introduction to communicable diseases, including HIV and STDs. Understanding the basic immune concepts made the knowledge stick as we carried on into the next lessons. The fun illustrations and presentations made a normally dry subject interesting. This was such a simple solution to engaging all students, encouraging classroom participation and retention. Check out your school libraries and see what you can do.

Ivy Kurland, M.S.
High School Teacher

What works for my teens in Florida? On Monday through Wednesday, we work on vocabulary from the chapters on the reproductive systems in Glencoe Health. We discuss notes that the students are required to take per the board work assignments. In addition, the students have several drawings to label and learn (Female and Male Anatomy). Then, on Thursdays and Fridays, the students are assigned groups of four to complete:

1. Questions/Answers per STD assigned (example: HPV-Genital Warts)
2. Oral Presentations on the STD (symptoms, bacterial or viral, treatments)

The students learn best from each other (peer education) and they enjoy doing the work together. This instills social health collaboration and, as teacher, I can facilitate/work more closely with my students (one-on-one). It's important that my students have fun and LEARN!!!!