InClass

One teacher shares an easy tip for getting kids to open up.

I show my personality through goofy items on my desk! I have a Magic 8 Ball, a small plasma ball (it's a middle school kid magnet), a toy dinosaur, a bendable, poseable 12-inch wooden mannequin, a talking Minion, and a few wind-up dinosaur toys.

The kids like playing with the toys at the end of the period as they walk out the door to their next class. It's a great ice breaker to get a middle schooler to talk about something, anything, and they begin to see me as someone other than the "computer teacher."

Leah Jaynes
Seventh/Eighth Grade Computers, Cartwright School District