Blogging Too Far: Top 5 Passive Aggressive Lessons

5 Passive Aggressive Teaching Experiences that will Make You Feel Better and Make Interesting Learning Experiences for Students

• 1.       Your handwriting is a nightmare to read, thanks to FontCapture http://www.fontcapture.com/  .  All other sites charge $9 per customized font, but this one is free, and easy to use. This simple site allows you to scan your own handwriting and make your own font out of it.  It’s a simple activity, which you can do as a whole class with each student having their own paper template to record their handwriting.  Then you can process all of the fonts and save each student’s fonts on every computer under their own name, so the students can write with each other’s handwriting (or just train 2 students to do this for the whole class). 

  For the student's next piece of work, they must write at least one page, and swap handwriting files in pairs - eg: I use you handwriting, you use mine.  And it will become painfully obvious that it is near impossible to read more than a few worlds in some of the handwriting.  You can see my example below.  “See, this is what I deal with every day!” you can say.
  

• -UPDATE - the technology is no longer free.  You can preview your work for free though.
  
   
  

• 2.       Copyright Art Competition. Every student in your class works on producing an entry for the school art competition (if you want to go that far).  Otherwise, you can just keep the art competition to your class.  Arrange for another class (or the library or office foyer area) to post your class’s artwork in their windows, possibly after changing the works slightly and putting new names under the works.    The winner, 2nd, 3rd and 4th prize have a ribbon and a $100 gift voucher from the local shopping mall.
  
  Maybe warn the class at the start of the day that you have a surprise for them.  This may help calm down any anger afterwards.   Discuss how this feels.  Maybe asking an aide to take students out, 5 at a time, to 'accidentally' walk past the display might be more manageable. 

  This can easily lead into a discussion about stealing software, music, videos etc from the internet.  A great idea is to get a popular DVD and print out screen shots of the credits at the end.  Every pair gets a screenshot and counts the number of people involved in making the movie from their section.  As a whole class, you add the number of people counted from all groups, which will actually be around 100.  You can do the same thing with a music CD, as these usually list 50-80 people to 'thank'. 

  The inference to draw here is by breaking copyright, you are ripping off all of the people involved in a movie or a music track, and the feelings they felt, when they saw their work being ripped off, are the real feelings of the people involved, and it's not just a lesson for them - it's their way to pay for their rent, food and family Christmas parties.
  

• 3.       Finishing something off.  Rent or buy the latest kid’s DVD, make a copy, and cut off the last ten minutes or most exciting climatic part. Then turn everything off.  Students will complain. Ask “How many times have you handed work into me that was not finished?” or “How can I mark your artwork if it is only every half finished?”  "How useful is something if it isn't finished?"  "What will anyone think of you and your work if they every have to read it?"  "What if your mother asks you to do a job, like hang out the washing, and you only half finish it, the remaining clothes going all smelly?"

  Set the class a challenge – if they can come up with 15 ways to check that something is finished, you will play the rest of the DVD.
  

• 4.       Yes, it’s coming.  Promise your class a special treat at the end of the week.  At the end of the week, say it has been delayed until Monday.  On Monday, say that you there has been a problem, and it will be the next Friday.  On Friday, ask “Why it is so important anyway? You don't even know what it is!”  Call the ruse to an end, and ask if/when they have ever made someone wait for something but keep promising it anyway.  "How does it feel to keep being told to wait?"  "How do you feel about the person that keeps telling you to wait"  "Are there any instances where you have told someone to wait for something?"  Hand out the promised treat.
  

• 5.       You’re late.  Setup a shared event with another class, where a shared special guest will make a presentation and give out a small gift to each student, which may or may not be bookmark, a brochure etc.  Have your class involved in another very engaging event in your own classroom, which will run about ten minutes overtime.  Suddenly realize that your class is late, and rush them to the event, at the exact time that everyone else is clapping for the special guest and leaving with their ‘showbags’ full of ‘stuff’. Discuss how being a little bit ‘late’ can have unforeseen consequences, and its not just rude, it can lead to the loss of benefits.  Then reveal the showbags were empty all along, or hand out the equivalent of the showbags.  The special guest can then talk to your class about what it feels like for them to have half of their audience turn up late, and the class can work with the special guest to come up with 15 strategies to keep track of time and never miss important events again.

It’s probably a good idea to have these setups with a partner class, where the students can take a fun role on acting out the scenario, then when they get tricked, they don’t take it too hard.  This is a new view of an actual government lesson plan I used once, to good effect.