ALL DONE
It's hard to get students to complete homework assignments consistently, but Laura Baake
of El Paso, Texas, has found a simple motivator for her students. If 100 percent of the
class completes the homework assignment, there is no homework the next day. "It is
common now in my classroom to hear students telling each other not to forget their work. I
love it!"
SUPPLY LINE
Middle school teacher Chris Laforet keeps a basket on her desk for extra supplies she
finds left in class. Students are welcome to use these materials and return them after
class. She also keeps a box of golf pencils handy--they come already sharpened in a box
and are quite inexpensive. "Kids even return these pencils," she adds.
MEMORY BOARD
Each year math teacher Linda H. Conway takes two or three rolls of film of all her
seventh-and eighth-grade math classes. Over the past five years in mid-May, she has
covered a large bulletin board in her classroom with a collage of photographs she has
saved over the years (so far, she has 16 years worth of pictures). Upperclassmen love to
come back to see their images from years past, and frequently a student will recognize a
sibling, neighbor, aunt or uncle. "There is literally a waiting line to get in the
room to view these oldies," she says.
