Departments : Your Middle School Classroom :
Tricks of the Trade
By Peter Barnes
A few harmless hoaxes here and there can keep your students on their toes and at the top of their game
"The principal has created some new rules," I say to my class. "He has developed some ways to make money for the school." I post the following new rules:
- Every trip to the bathroom costs 25 cents.
- Every time you use the pencil sharpener, you have to pay 50 cents.
- School lunches are now $3.50 instead of $2.10.
"Why don't we take a few minutes and write to Mr. Wilson with some of our thoughts?" I suggest.
Little do my students know we have just started our unit on the American Revolution and they are experiencing many of the same emotions felt by American colonists toward King George III. Their reactions vary from indifference to anger, just as the colonists reacted to British taxation. Their solutions, including bringing their own pencil sharpeners and packing their lunches, mirrored the boycott of British goods by Boston's Sons of Liberty. Yes, they're mad when I reveal the new rules are fake, but they quickly recover when I explain my reasons for tricking them.
Too trusting?
Students are very trusting of their teachers. They are taught that we are authority figures who must be followed and believed. I don't want to lose their trust by abusing this privilege, but playing tricks can enhance learning and reminds students they shouldn't believe everything they're told.
Just have fun
At the end of our division unit, I celebrate with the Balloon Tower Challenge. Groups of students build the tallest possible towers using only balloons and masking tape. I like to introduce this fun stress reliever by putting on my sternest face and telling the class to number sheets of notebook paper from 1 to 50. I tell them that I am very disappointed with their progress in division and that we'll have to start the division unit over from the beginning. After the groans have died down, I pull out the balloons and explain the real activity. The students tear up their notebook paper with joy, symbolically leaving division behind them.
And finally, there is April Fool's Day. No learning opportunity here, just plain fun. I report that the cafeteria staff is extremely disappointed with the students' behavior at lunch. I start talking about lost recesses and cancelled field trips. When they look properly scared, I say, "I have just one more thing to add." Dramatic pause. "April Fools!"
My students groan and complain, but they know I am only having fun with them. I'm just glad they don't take themselves too seriously and can appreciate a good joke.
Peter Barnes teaches fifth grade in New Albany, OH.
