Herding Cats? Use a Weekly Packet!
How could blank boxes in a graphic organizer help SO MUCH with everything in my teacher life? I couldn’t function without this tool starting the year.
The weekly packet I use is nothing fancy to look at; I make it using Google Slides and it’s super easy to edit.
Here’s why it’s so magical.
Routines!
I train my kids to take out their folders, notebooks and packets every day and start the bellringer first thing
Bellringer is incorporated into the packet
Using the target language, we progress through the boxes of the packet
Great way to incorporate classroom jobs (packet manager, grader/stamper)
Nervous kids feel grounded and know what to expect - lowers affective filter
Follows Lesson Plan Framework
I use Tina Hargaden’s Daily Lesson Framework as my guide, and the boxes on the packet line up with each component of the framework
The slides I make for each lesson line up with the boxes on the packet, so it saves me think time and prep
Shared writing and reading can be done right in the packet (my kids do keep a composition notebook for this, but if I’m short on time the packet works perfectly)
Keeps things moving in class with seamless transitions
Tip!
Grade as you go! After each section go around and give students a stamp for completion of the activity. No stamps? No problem! Do a colored pencil check or highlighter star!
Flexible, Student-Interest Led Input
I can be creative, spontaneous and student-interest led when giving input, and still stay on track.
Some days I feel like making the kids draw while they listen, some days they take notes, some days they create a comic, some days they make it into a bingo board–this can all be done spontaneously in Box C!
Behavior Management - Escape Route!
Kids not listening during input? Side-conversations, blurting and other bizarre interruptions getting out of hand? Redirect them to a box on the packet and have them take notes or draw during the input. Calms things right down!
Built-in Exit Ticket
Easy to tell who’s interacting in class or not
Less transition time needed to pass out and collect paper
Easy to grade; I walk around and stamp each box or the top of the page for done-ness (students LOVE to do this job!)
A Few More Things
What do they do with the packets when they’re full? I collect them, and enter them as a classwork grade. They are the best formative assessment tool around; it’s obvious to tell who’s making progress toward acquisition by the work done in the daily packet.
As the year goes on, I change the format. While in September, each day gets a whole page, by January I often try to condense it to save paper. By this time, we are doing other things like FVR, reading novels, Señor Wooly, or using movies for input and the resources I make for them.
Do the kids ever complain about them? Yes….but I try to change the activities often to keep it novel. And kids tend towards pessimism, don’t they? One thing is for certain: take the packets away and it’s like herding cats.
Download an editable copy of the weekly packet here. Feel free to adapt it to your needs. If you use it or a modified version, let me know! I’d love to know what strategies you use to help keep the cats calm during input!
