you guessed it: im the future educator.

i want some way to foster a sense of responsibility in my classroom -- civic responsibility. the hope is that if i promote this responsibility within the classroom, not only will the class run much more efficiently, but the kids will have learned something much more important than the math theorems in the class. they will have learned something about respect for other people and their particular roles.

so i was pondering in one of my classes today (not listening to the instructor -- do as i say, not as i do) the possibility of putting a sort of "code" behind my desk on the wall, suitably framed (to lend a sense of officialness). not anywhere blatantly obvious, but somewhere where its legible from almost everywhere in the room. the theory behind that being that if you put something written in english in a room where people will be spending a significant length of time, they will read it.

heres what ive come up with.

i feel its okay to be long-winded because im not forcing them to read it; they will simply read it as part of taking in their environment (which people do naturally).


so what are your thoughts? corny? possibly useful? awkward wording?

EDIT: i will be teaching high school math

Ummm, you mention "kids". What age group are you talking about here?

my fault. i should have specified.

i will be teaching high school math

Okay. I was thinking that'* pretty heavy if you were teaching younger kids. I don't see anything wrong with displaying it. There will be some who appreciate the message you are trying to convey but I'm not convinced the ones who need it most will.

I'm going to be a future educator myself too, (high school science but I'm going to teach at an all-deaf school)

I'm planning on letting them know who'* boss and then be their friends, friends do listen to firiiends.

I think that if you think it'll help in your classroom, then by all means, do it.

That'* what i think too.. But it certainly won't hurt... might as well put it up

ive always like the good old "We can be buddies, or enemies - it will be up to you" speech. straight and to the point.
i always chose to be respectful, and got to know some teachers. Others won't chose that, and there'* nothing you can do about it.

I can tell you from a student standpoint(since im still in high school) it doesn't work lol. My math teacher tried that and all the kids and im guilty of it to just talked no one really respected him becuase they looked at him as a pushover. just my two cents. hope it helps

I was a highschool teacher, and now a counselor working with teens, you can try it and see what happens. But if anything, be hard from the beginning and then loosen up later, if not, you have no chance. Might also use this paragraph and somehow intergrate it into math, kinda of like Numerbers. Stand your ground, tough teachers are hated now but loved later.

I don't advocate being a jerk (and I'm not suggesting that you were) but there is some merit in what you're saying. I had a grade 11 Social Studies teacher who was, for lack of a better term an a$$. He would do daily homework checks, walking from desk to desk. If the homework wasn't done, he'd stand in front of you lecturing and ridiculing for everyone else in class to witness. I was less than a stellar student but I can tell you I never got such good grades in any other class.

I'll never forget this guy but I'd like to think there are better ways than my Social Studies teacher used to achieve the same result.

I would agree, I wasnt a jerk or an a#$. To be honest i wasnt hard from the begining and paid the price. I think a balance between jerk and nice would work