08.07.13For SLANT & STAR Teachers, a Mini Upgrade
Do you use STAR or SLANT as an acronym to help students know how to sit in class?
If so try this simple tweak we picked up during practice lab at North Star today. Instead of saying “Everyone in STAR” or “Scholars in SLANT” try “Back in STAR” or “Show me SLANT.” The first, “Back in STAR?SLANT” assumes the best… it reminds students that they were recently in STAR or SLANT and that you know they can do it…. just go back to what you were doing before. It makes doing right seem so simple and MUCH more positive. “Show me SLANT/SAR” is also more positive, assumes students know how to do it and just need a reminder and even sounds a bit like a challenge….
Small upgrades with big muscles!
Here’s a more HS version for you: “Minds on” posture. We struggled for a while to find a phrase that allowed for more collegiate variation and we landed on that. It allows for furrowed brows, cocked heads, hands on foreheads, and deep paper-tracking. Our non-example to make it uber clear is “face smush.”