1. Things To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do Surviving the awkward extra time at the end of class By: Dani Masnica

2. The Awkward Time The students are finished with their work with 8 minutes left in class. Do you assign them extra work? Do you let them have “free” time? WHAT DO YOU DO????

3. PANIC!

4. Just Kidding! I really enjoy getting to know my kids and getting them to talk about stuff that isn’t always academic. Having a personal connection with them is very important and some of these end of class activities are great ways to have students open up.

5. Plexers A plexer is a type of word puzzle in which a word picture is created to represent a common phrase Great brain teasers for middle or high school students Builds students’ confidence Teach students old and new English expressions Easy to find online, in the newspaper, or plexer books!

6. Examples of Plexers *Answers: “Once upon a time”; “Western Division Champions”; “foreign language”; “an after thought”

7. Optical Illusions Kids go crazy over these!!!! They all see things from different perspectives (this starts great “life lessons” talks) Easy to find online or in a book Kids enjoy explaining what they see or trying to figure out how it works

8. Are the lines straight? Do the stairs go up or down?

9. Give Teenagers GOOD Advice Read short passages from “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff” or “Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul” Most of them will like the stories and they have good morals and values These stories can prompt good discussionsand get students really thinking

10. Other Ideas Tell all students to have an SSR book and give a reward for those who do Get to know your students- chat about the upcoming weekend or school sports Have a challenge problem on the board Tell them a story about your life- past jobs, childhood experiences, fun trips. They really like to know that you are human too!

11. Good Luck!!!! *Pictures found on Google Images