Inquiry+Project+Ideas+TE+802-08

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Lisa & Lizzie Katie H., Katie L., and Chelsea Lindsay & Laura Doren & Alison

- How to address all students in daily class activities, and not just the students who are the first to raise their hands and respond. - How to engage native speakers in the classroom in a productive way - Dealing with classroom management, being more consistent user:darkcait

__user:alyxx__
 * As a female teacher, what to do when male students hit on you or try to act too familiar with you, but will not desist their behavior even when told to stop
 * What to do with students who cannot control themselves in class (throwing things, talking non-stop, not listening to directions) and KNOW that they cannot control themselves, so automatically ask to be sent out in the hallway (not on a plan or IEP or anything)
 * Students who refuse to give up their cell phones and act belligerant, even when they know that they will face an automatic in-school suspension
 * NEW: How to handle students whose cultural background is having a HUGE effect on their schooling in a negative way (example: high schooler being forced by her parents to marry a much older man because it is part of their culture)


 * Recovery for 4th year students who are essentially at level one. How can you move on when the majority of students can't use the verb "to be"?


 * Classroom procedures when dealing with excessive tardies/ absences. (One student just missed 5 days in a row, with no means of contact.) How do you grade those students? Do they automatically fail or do you make exceptions? Also, with teenage mothers- I feel like I constantly bend the rules for them. Is this fair?

user:adamolau
 * How to handle disrespectful students- talking back, throwing personal insults, etc.

1. How to keep professional relationships with colleagues but when you feel they want to make them personal relationships and you don't, how to avoid or guide the relationship back to purely professional?

2. If students need four years of a language to graduate, and fail one year, what are possible ways to recover that year of language credit lost?

3. If sending students to the office for disciplinary issues is highly looked down upon, what are my options? user:litwins5 - I would like to work by myself! Gracias :)

1. (Although this is mentioned above, I am considering this as well) What to do when students (male and female) verbally harass a female teacher and Ss do not stop after being warned and reprimanded/What should a teacher do when students do not look at her/him as an authoritative figure 2. What to do when a class has a lot of students failing in it. 3. How to manage classroom disorder without kicking students out of class. user:doren


 * How to gear your teaching to different types of classes (lazy vs. energetic, etc.)
 * How to go against the curriculum -- research shows that textbooks can cram too much into too small of a period. How can we as teachers compensate for this? user:L2teach

1. This issue is kind of similar to Doren's "teaching to the entire class," except my issue is a little different. My focus class has a very diverse classroom make-up as far as target language knowledge. What do you do when there is such a large gap between what your students know? How do you keep the more advanced students engaged while also catering to the less advanced? 2. Two of the most important things necessary for a language learner are //patience// and //motivation//. How can we invoke these into our students (especially internal motivation rather than external) when they don't seem to have either of them? 3.Personal relationships: how much should we share with our mentor teachers and other professionals at our school? user:Obstinada02

user:lemonhe1
 * How to find a balance between teaching those who know nothing about the material and those who have already mastered the material. How do you know when to move on? What do you do with those advanced students who are bored out of their minds therefore not paying attention (doing other homework)?
 * How do we help non-native English speakers to understand what we are saying when explaining a grammatical point that they do not know in English let alone in L2?
 * How can I make lessons more interesting and "fun" for students to become involved in their own learning? How to make the teacher/student relationship of learning more balanced in the classroom?

1. Students with special needs - I have a particular student who has outbursts/tantrums due to his autism (groaning, scratching his arms, rocking in his chair) and he sometimes can be very disrespectful (disobedient and then completely unresponsive when I talk to him). How do you work with this student yet keep the rest of the class on track and not distracted by him? 2. Bad relationships between teachers of different departments - At my school, those who teach core classes (math, science, etc.) are considered full time when they teach 4 classses, yet those who teach the other classes (languages, art, foods, etc.) have to teach 6 classes to be full time. This causes a lot of bitterness and gossiping. How do you keep peace with everyone? 3. How do you work with a student who is literally just not trying? He participates in class, yet he never does the homework and even leaves half of the test blank... user:KathrynHin

1. Dealing with a student in a high level class who does not do their work and has an attitude issue in class. 2. Dealing with multiple levels in and advanced class (some students who are ready for difficult material and others who have trouble remembering the previous levels). 3. Reaching out to a class that has a weird chemistry. 4. Seating charts - effective ones, non effective ones, opinions. user:gerouxje

1. How do you deal with tragic events that happen in the school community without being insensitive in order to still be productive (i.e. a death, an accident, etc)? 2. How do you gauge students' prior knowledge without wasting too much time trying to explain material you expect them to already know? (For example, if you are teaching verb conjugation and students have trouble identifying the subject or don't know how to conjugate verbs in English.) user:ZirollerCoaster

1. How do you change the pessimistic mind set of students in a classroom, when their previous teacher fostered this negativity. Although I have made it very clear that my expectations are higher and my teaching habits are different these students still have no desire to learn or to efforts are learning. As soon as a challenge piece of material is presented they all enter into shut down mode instead of stepping up. How do I address this issue when it is not my class in the first place? 2. How do you approach an administration with exchange program ideas if they consistently reject them? Although we have presented the information thoroughly, they refuse to take the time to read or watch the material given. As soon as they hear one thing they might not agree with it is an instant no, when there could be an easy solution to the issue. Is it alright to get students and parents involved when it most likely will be rejected no mater what? 3. Working relentlessly to prove to your district that your language is important as they continuously cut your program almost to extinction. In a job that is already tasking and you are doing everything to improve your teaching skills, how do you prove that your class is important for high school students to take. I hate to say it, but repeatedly throughout the state German programs are being cut to make way for Spanish and Chinese. Is this right? How do can I work to put a halt to this trend? user:Jadehuff

1. How to make accommodations for a hearing impaired student, particularly for activities like dictations and song quizzes that are dependant on listening. 2. How to assign work for in-school suspensions that keep students caught up with the rest of the class, when many of our activities include instruction from the teacher, communication with other students, etc. 3. How to keep native speakers in Spanish I (particularly those who already have decent writing skills) motivated as the year goes on. user:hether12

How do you handle situations where students have crushes on you? How do you keep healthy/civil relationships with your colleagues when you strongly disagree on certain things when it comes to language teaching and the skills that are important? user:maestraH

1. How to motivate students that don't care/even try in class? 2. Dealing with two language teachers that don't agree on anything-but one is your mentor... 3. Boundaries-what can I say to students who aren't my own in dealing with inappropriate behavior/language? user:pumer30

user:LRobertson1386
 * Helping students that you have an idea that they are hanging out with the wrong crowd and want to get them in the right directions.
 * What else can I do to help failing students besides offer all the time I have before and after school to help them, how to motivate them to see Spanish as beneficial to their education, right now they just are empty, they don't do anything.
 * When you have district guidelines as to where you are supposed to be in a textbook but another high school is 5 chapters behind you in a level 3 class what do you do?
 * How do you break students of their habit from previous Spanish classes of automatically directly translating and therefore always waiting for the translation from me as well?

1. Motivating studednts to want to hear Spanish and to speak it - so it doesn't feel like I am forcing them. 2.Motivating students who won't do homework and are satisfied with Ds, even if I know they can do better. 3. When translation can be a good thing, or where is the middle ground between all translation and all target language usage. user:barnar18

1. Teaching to different skill levels 2. We are moving very fast because we need to complete a full year of Spanish in one semester (block schedule). What are the best ways to maximize time in class and provide students with multiple forms of meaningful practice? 3. Dealing with a student with ongoing behavioral/motivational problems. How to keep this from affecting the whole class and how to salvage your relationship with that students without backing down on your stance. user:burhopam

1. With classroom management, how do you know when to use traditional methods of discipline and when is it okay not too? For example, one student has had a particularly difficult life (like lived on the streets at age ten and fled his own country for fear of death) and it seems that being "stern" is completely ineffective. What other options are there? What is appropriate? 2. How to avoid the " I have NO idea what I should be saying or doing" moments... still along the lines of classroom management. 3. What is the polite way of handling other teachers sending their work into our classroom so we can help their ELL students? For example, during our English class, students come in with Biology tests, Health tests, Interior Design, etc. and the teachers expect us do accommodate even though we have class. user:lucasme2


 * 1) Working with situations that are unpredictable:
 * 2) Students swearing in front of class.
 * 3) Students challenging the language.
 * 4) Creating lesson plans that are not so teacher fronted.
 * 5) Using technology
 * 6) Learning Centers
 * 7) New ways to introduce grammar and vocabulary
 * 8) Effective ways to help special educations students.
 * 9) Test/Assignment accommodations
 * 10) Seating arrangements
 * 11) Ways to teach a FL to students so they feel that it is important and something they will actually use. user:beechlau

1. How to motivate students who refuse to do an activity unless they are required to turn it in for a grade. 2. How to deal with colleagues when their language skills aren't as good as yours (and they teach students incorrect constructions). 3. How to deal with native speakers who: distract other students; translate things automatically for other students without them having to figure it out or use a dictionary for themselves; do group projects (dialogues) for the entire group and use constructions the other students don't understand; think they know everything but then don't do well on quizzes; need to stay motivated throughout the class. user:sarahew

My ideas... - Motivation -- students motivation to learn and how to get them motivated more - Diversity -- race used in the classroom -- derogatory terms -- how to handle it - Quiet students -- how to not overlook them when other students are interrupting - Differentiation of lesson plans to help students with special needs. user:deutchma Diversity & The Hierarchy of Oppression

1. How to keep professional relationships with both other colleagues AND students- how much personal information is okay and necessary for building relationships, but how much is TOO much?? 2. How to get every student to participate in class, instead of just those few who volunteer all the time, and without forcing them to particpate by calling on them all the time. 3. How to work well with mentors or other collegues and keep good relationships when you disagree on important issues. user:kendal53

1. How far can you go in reaching out to students who are failing? Where do you draw the line between trying to be understanding and giving them a nearly-free pass? Some of the students that desperately need to be reached out to refuse to pick up a pencil or show up to after-school sessions. 2. Evaluation: Should we really settle with the "bell-shaped curve?"/What to do with students who are happy with an 80.1% because it's "not a C?" 3. Cheating: How to handle suspected cheaters, when there's no hard evidence...your word against the student's. user:Katie23