Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/859531
Field trips: Go to college SPENCER HOLMES, Heritage High, Liberty Education Association: "Every year I take my entomology students to UC Davis. We cycle through four tours throughout the day: Bohart Museum of Entomology, the Museum of Wildlife and Fish Biology, a geology and pale- ontology tour, and a self-guided walk along Putah Creek. The first three are led by students ranging from under- grads to post-doctorate researchers. "It 's a great opportunity to see an amazing collection of 7 to 8 million insect specimens, see what opportu- nities exist for college students, and reinforce life science and physical science content that my students have learned throughout their high school experience." KIM ALLEN, Temple City High, Temple City Education Association: "I take my career technical education classes on several field trips each year. I teach fashion and business with food. This year we went to Homeboy Industries, Los Angeles Trade Technical College, Woodbury University, and downtown LA to tour the fabric and garment districts. We have added more classes to create a pathway, and the field trips will continue to evolve." Classroom nuts and bolts CHRISTINE HESTER, Liberty High, Liberty Education Association: "I clean my whiteboard with good old-fashioned water and old-school brown paper towels. They get my board extra clean without the stinky Expo spray smell. A cool DIY storage container for small school supplies is a cute spice rack — it 's small, can be labeled, and the items can be sealed." MARY BERELSON: "Keep your whiteboards white and shiny by first wiping clean with a regular white- board eraser to remove the majority of ink, and then use a little rubbing alcohol on a tissue to restore a like- new appearance. Ta-da!" Build respect, handle defiance STEPHANIE GUINN: "I call students 'sir ' and 'ma'am' and try to establish a tone of respect from the start. More often than not, the kids will see I treat them with respect. I also try to use the phrase 'I need you to (fill in the blank with desired action)' when asking for a student to follow a rule or obey a request, instead of saying, 'Do it now .' " JIM GOBLE: "My most defiant students usually just need a quick five-minute walk to the restroom to recharge. In fact, all students need this. So through- out my day, I schedule brain breaks where I put on a video with activities from Go Noodle, which has activities to stretch or dance, and they 're only a couple minutes long. This usually helps my class recharge and get ready for the next activity." JIM GOBLE: "I build in about 15 minutes at the end of each day for the stu- dents to clean up their own desk area as well as the classroom. This creates ownership for our classroom. As they get good at it and faster, I start setting a timer. If they can get everything cleaned up in a certain amount of time, then I take them out to get extra PE minutes." 42 cta.org Back to School B R I G H T I D E A S