Captain and the Crew

I taught yesterday’s lesson today to my other classes and I saw an improvement after each class. I realized that each time I taught the lesson there were less interruptions and I had more time to give instructions and model difficult skills.

I added a new aspect to the lesson by comparing my computer lab to a control center of a spaceship. I first asked if the students ever watched a movie with a spaceship in it. Then I had them describe the features and characteristics of a spaceship control center. They stated that a captain and crew worked together in separate workstations to accomplish different missions. The captain gave orders to the crew and the crew worked diligently in their positions. Crew members were never off-task, eating and drinking in their workstations, or participated in any type of foul-play. I explained to the class that the teacher of the computer lab is the captain and the students are the crew members. They learned that they should behave in my classroom the same way crew members behave in the control center of a spaceship.