Attorney in Training: A Strategy to Cut Down on Arguments in the Classroom through Writing

                It is early Monday morning and you are excited about today’s lesson.  Your students are listening attentively as you state the essential question.  Then Johnny leaves his seat to sharpen his pencil.  You write his name on the board without saying a word signaling to Johnny that he has broken a classroom rule. 

He immediately rebuffs, “Why did you write my name on the board?” 

You know how this scenario will unfold if you tell Johnny that his name is on the board for breaking rule two—raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.  He will tell you that he had to sharpen his pencil.  You will tell him that your rule does not say “Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat…unless you have to sharpen your pencil.”  He will then look at you like you are crazy even though he knows good and well that he is in the wrong.  He will then retaliate once again with why he did nothing wrong.

You might have noticed that I have had this discussion many times with a variety of students.  In previous years and the start of this one, I have wanted to explain my reasoning to students so they would see that I was not being unfair to them. 

When I moved up to teaching middle school, this strategy did not work.  I would explain my reasoning to the student; certain students would look at me like I was speaking a different language, or they would take my correction personal.  So I decided to come up with a way for students to explain their point of view without destroying the positive atmosphere I have worked hard to create. 

Instead of arguing with Johnny, give him an “An Attorney in Training” writing assignment.  (This assignment teaches students how to write argumentative essay.)  You tell Johnny that you really want to understand his point of view.  This writing assignment encourages Johnny to explain his side of the argument, back his claim with facts, state the teacher’s side of the argument, then write a conclusion.  During this process if Johnny really did not understand what he did incorrectly, he should know by the end of this assignment.  Plus, he is practicing writing an argumentative essay!  This is a win-win for an English teacher.

Another way you may use this strategy is if you have two students arguing with each other.  Give both of the students an “Attorney in Training” writing assignment.  This will give these students an opportunity to empathize with others.  Also the fact that the title of this assignment is “Attorney in Training” places a positive spin on a negative classroom behavior.

Please get your free copy of this “Attorney in Training” at my TPT’s store here, or you may download it from my website here.  Thank you for reading and I hope this strategy will help settle some of debates that are ongoing in the classroom. 

How do I Keep Records of Differentiating Instruction? (This goes a step further than lesson plans.)

Hello everyone!  It has been a while since I have posted a blog, but I try really hard not to overload my blog with information unless it is important to me or I have a new perspective on a topic.  Basically, my blog is mostly where I record my "light bulb" moments and I had another one yesterday.

All teachers should know what it means to differentiate.  My dilemma came when I was to record assignments onto an online grade book like SAM 7.  I somehow felt like I needed to have a certain amount of assignment completed by all of my students so I could give them a grade.  Keep in mind, I would still differentiate these assignments by having my more advanced students complete the HOT {Higher Order Thinking} exercises, my lower performing students completing practice problems, and my average performing students completing a little of both.  But on more circumstances than one, I noticed that the HOT exercises were still below my advanced students' thinking while the practice problems might be too difficult for my lowest performing students.  I felt I was not giving my students what they truly needed to be successful.  

Then it hit me after a conversation with a coworker!  I do not have to be too specific when I record these assignments to the online grade book.  (Before, I would be specific when recording my grades into the online grade book so parents would know exactly how their child was doing with a specific skill.)  So my entry with the assignment title in the grade book might be "Factors and Multiples Practice."  Now, in order to assess each child where they need to be, I might label this same assignment as "Daily 1" with other entries being "Assessment 1" or "Homework 1."  Now, I know if you are anything like me, this idea sounds horrifying.  I hate being general with anything but hear me out.

In the online grade book I use, there is a section beside each child's grade to leave a comment.  In this comment box, type the specifics of the assignment.  That way, you may asses each child with skills they need and their parents will know which skills this grade represents.

Here is the next issue I struggled with for this new idea.  How will I record these specifics in my hardcover record book?  Well, I created my own record book.  My co-teacher and I have divided our students into ability groups throughout the 4th grade.  Her homeroom consist of 19 children and mine consist of 20 children.  We meet with our homeroom classes in the morning, and after announcements, we divide our students into our ability groups:  VIP, Super Stars, and Dream Team. (Our VIP group alternates between being in class with the Super Stars and the Dream Team.)   Now, this set up could be another blog post on its own, but back to the record book situation.

I created a record book with enough pages for each group.  (In this case, 3 pages.)  I will record the specifics of the group's assignment onto their own page in the record book.  Then, I can record the assignment as "Daily 1" onto the online grade book.

So there it is.  I hope you find this idea helpful.  I am including a free copy of the record book I created below.  If you would like the full version, please visit my TPT shop here.

For the freebie version, go here and download.

Also, keep looking back if you are interested in how my amazing co-teacher organized our ability groups across the 4th grade.  :)

How to Self Publish for FREE!

I hope this tutorial helped you, and if you would like this as a PDF file, please click here for a free download.