Strategies

‘Bone diagrams’ help solve problems

You walk into your classroom and trip over a backpack—again. Even though your rules state that backpacks should be stored on the shelf by the window, students leave them strewn all over.

A “bone diagram” can help you solve this problem. Draw two circles on the board, connected by a thin strip. In the left-hand circle, have students describe your classroom today: backpacks on the floor, chairs in the aisle, hard to concentrate, messy.

In the right-hand circle, ask students to describe the classroom they would like to see. Their descriptions might include: backpacks along the wall, chairs pushed in, easy to focus.

The middle strip is the transition. Ask students what it would take to move from the left circle to the right. You may be surprised at the answers. One teacher discovered the backpack shelf was missing most of its hooks.

Your discussion will help you and your students solve the problem. It will also help them learn how to solve other future problems.

Reprinted with permission from the March 2007 issue of Better Teaching® (Secondary Edition) newsletter. Copyright © 2007 The Teacher Institute®, a division of NIS, Inc. Source: Brenda Dyck, “Thinking Outside the Box,” Middle Web, www.middleweb.com/MWLresources/dyckarticle1.html.