Teaching Ideas for Secondary Education
As a secondary school teacher, you want to teach lessons that go beyond subjects such as math, English and social studies. It is also beneficial to incorporate real-world skills into your instruction so that your students will become responsible, stable and well-rounded adults in their later years. If you're looking for ideas, you can read your local newspaper and read articles on issues that relate to teens such as developing careers, building relationships and choosing the right college. Also, talk with your students and find out what types of lessons they might be interested in.
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Middle East Politics
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With the constant focus of Middle Eastern conflicts in the news, you can assign students a 10-page research paper where they have to write about a certain Middle Eastern country and discuss its origins, culture and religious and social issues that play a role in American and international politics in general. You can also suggest specific books, magazines and journal articles for students to use as research materials. On the due date, each student will give a 15-minute summary of her research papers, and you'll ask each student five questions about how her research paper helped her understand Middle East politics and culture better.
Job Search Etiquette and Tips
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If you're interested in helping your students have an effective job search, you can dedicate a class period to teaching about job hunting. Mention how the students should format and write their cover letters and resumes, and discuss how they should dress and behave during a job interview. Then, during the last 30 minutes of class, divide your students into groups of two, and let them prepare scripts for mock interviews. Finally, let each group sit in front of the class and conduct the interviews, and you can give feedback on the students' presentations.
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Lessons in Independent Living
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Another good idea is to have a guest speaker come to your class once a month to talk with your students about living on their own when they become adults and what to expect during that phase of life. For example, a guest speaker may discuss the basics of looking for apartments and how to deal with difficult landlords and roommates.
Student Mentoring
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If you want to incorporate community service into your lessons, you can contact some local elementary schools and ask the principals if they would be interested in setting up a mentoring partnership between the students in your class and a class of students at the elementary school. Your students and their students can visit each other's classrooms twice a month and attend educational field trips together once a month.
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References
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