Have any of you ever used a Phantom Pupil as a strategy in the classroom? “Brendan” (who incidentally doesn’t have a surname!!) has been my phantom pupil for the past few years. For some reason, he keeps staying with me in 6th class. However, he doesn’t manage to make it into class very often, or rather at all!
I use “Brendan” when I want to illustrate a point or when looking for an exemplar of a good piece of work that I am looking for.
At the moment, I have started teaching my class about how to write a Book Report. So, of course I had to ask “Brendan” to write an example of the type of Book Report that I am looking for. He duly obliged and submitted an excellent review of a book he had recently read on our class blog.
In this way, “Brendan” can be used for modeling writing and giving other pupils ideas on how to structure a piece of writing.
“Brendan” can also be relied upon to post some words of encouragement to others on our class blog who have submitted some good work.
Although pupils know and understand that “Brendan” is a figment of my imagination, they still accept him and find it humorous that he is part of our class!
Have a go at introducing a new Phantom Pupil to your class and see how you get on.
