All I Need for the AP Exam is Harry Potter

 Recently, I had my students working on some prep for the upcoming AP English Literature Exam.  They had recently finished reading a Shakespearean play (selected by student choice, interest, and previous Shakesperience).  In order to prepare for their Shakespeare in-class essay, students were brainstorming possible questions that might be presented for Question #3, the Open Question.  

Students were focusing on part-to-whole ideas that might be addressed in the prompts.  They considered past questions and made their own, and no matter how much they tried to focus on Shakespeare, they just kept coming back to Harry Potter.  

Now, no matter how much I tell them it might not be the wisest decision to use Harry Potter on the AP Exam, there is no stopping the love they have for this magical series.

Some samples from their conversations:

Student 1: The question about a character who briefly appears or doesn't appear at all?

Student 2: Works for Harry Potter.  You could address Harry's parents, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew

The list went on...

Student 1: A question about seeking revenge?

Student 2: Again, Harry Potter!  Could be Snape.  Or Harry.  Or Hermione. Or Mrs. Weasley.  SO MANY.

Student 1: Hmmm...and if we wrote about Harry Potter, would we have to stick to one book? Or could we address action that happens in all of them?  Would we have to limit our knowledge?

Another:

Student 1: We could do the symbol question!

Student 2:  Yeah!  It could be the snitch.  Or the Whomping Willow.  Or the Hapee Birthday Haree cake.  Or Hogwarts itself!

Student 1:  Oooh--and that could be a setting question! Hogwarts!

Other Prompt Creations They Made:

Death of a character

Dysfunctional family relationship

An act of betrayal

Impact of a matriarch

They DID eventually make it back to Shakespeare, but it was fun to see them think of all the different ways that part-to-whole functions...which what I wanted them to do in the first place.  

gifs provided by giphy

Different Approaches to the Same Task

 This lesson was focused on poetry in an AP Literature classroom.  

I gave small groups of students an envelope with 19 slips of paper in it.  The slips were individual lines of the poem The Death of a Toad by Richard Wilbur--plus the title.

Then, based on what we had learned about poetry in terms of syntax, rhyme scheme, structure, point of view, & more, students were to fit the "puzzle" of the poem together.  (NOTE: I did NOT cut the papers such that the students could actually fit the lines together puzzle-style...and I told them this.)

This year, my students were so thoughtful about their approach to solving the puzzle, that I just had to share it with you.

Here are some direct quotes from their conversations:

• After reading over the poem "let's organize it before & after his death." (Focusing on PLOT & STRUCTURE)

• "Let's look at all of the periods so then we can figure out how full sentences fit together" (Focusing on SYNTAX & STRUCTURE)

• "How does the rhyme scheme work? Is it AA BB or is it AB AB...?" (Focusing on RHYME SCHEME & STRUCTURE)

There were more, but these were the few I jotted down as they worked.  I was so impressed with them--pulling together all the things they knew and had learned about poetry in order to figure out how this poem "worked."

Everything I Need to Know About Teaching I Learned From Supermarket Sweep

Okay, okay...so I didn't learn everything from Supermarket Sweep, but the show WAS an inspiration for a recent lesson.

Students were about to embark on their Shakesperience, and to introduce a variety of topics related to Shakespeare, his life, and works, I created a trivia game for my students.  I told them that their success in the trivia game would directly correlate with their success on another game tomorrow.

Here's what I did:

1. Teams with the highest scores got additional minutes for a Scavenger Hunt throughout the school.

2.  All of the clues were written in "Shakespearean language"--with a textual example, integrated properly, of course.

3. For example: The place you go to let your “candied tongue lick absurd pomp” (III.ii.50) Here, you may buy food during a tournament of men and quench your thirst and hunger.

4. Here are the time allowances I provided:

High Score: 2:00 lead time for the hunt

Next Score: 1:30

Next Score 1:00

Everyone else: released after the one minute was up

Ultimately, the times didn't matter all that much. The kids with the least amount of time won...they just did better with the clues.  However--the gradual release time was super helpful in not having all them racing to the same spot at the same time.

In the end:

gifs provided by giphy

Back to School Night--a Different Kind of Open House

This is the first school year where I attended a Back to School Night that was similar to the one we host at our high school.  My son is now a 6th grader in the same district where I teach, so it makes sense that the set-up was similar. 

Confession: I didn't like it.

Here is the set-up:  parents move from class-to-class, going through their students' schedules just as our children do during the day.  Parents are then subjected to sit through whatever 12-minute spiel each teacher has prepared for them.  Invariably, these are focused on: 1) who the teacher is, including his/her credentials; 2) what the class is about; 3) what sort of work to expect for your child; and 4) how your child is graded.

Admittedly, parents have the same experience at the high school--including their time spent in my (our) classroom.  Not this year, my friends.

 

Inspired by my experience as a parent, I decided to change the focus for the parents of my students.  This year, I decided to set up stations for parents to rotate through.  Stations included:

1.  Books we will read (with samples)

This station included the books students will/could encounter throughout the year--and a list of questions for parents to ask their students about their reading experiences.

2.  Writing focus/assignments 

This station provided a variety of types of writing that the students will encounter, student samples, rubrics, etc.

3.  Reading Conference station

This station reviewed our process with the students' reading journals.  It included student samples, including a sample conference video playing on an iPad.

4.  Word Gaming station

This was just for people who needed to fidget--or for parents who brought along younger siblings

5.  Write A Note To Your Student station

After reviewing items from all of the stations, parents were invited to write a note to their students.  I shared these notes with students the next day.

Here is the document I use:

Welcome, Parents! 

Thank you for being a part of your child’s education.  Your involvement helps your child succeed.

Name_____________________________________Student____________________________

1. In your experience, what have you found best helps your student learn?

2.  What do you think you could do at home to help your child practice the skills assessed in this course?

3.  Leave a comment for your student. I will share it with him/her tomorrow as a surprise.

***************************************************************************************************

I also have a Google Slides show running that includes information that they may be interested in, (like my credentials, my contact info, my hopes & dreams for their students...) but they are not subjected to a lecture listing all of this info.  

Any other information that might typically get shared at this type of evening is on the class syllabus--which gets sent home during the first two days of school.

Honestly, I don't know if parents thought this was beneficial or a better format...but I sure felt a lot better about it!

Here are some photos of the evening in action:

  

  

Play like Pixar

As mentioned in a previous post, I recently finished reading Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull, co-founder and President of Pixar.  While I found the beginning of the book a bit of a slog (mostly dedicated to biographical history and development of the company), the last 1/3 of the book served up exactly what I was looking for: direct implications for the world of education.

Below are some of my favorite nuggets of wisdom from Catmull (other than the one discussed in the previous post: Try Something New).


"Give [people's] potential to grow MORE WEIGHT than their current skill level."
There has been a lot of discussion of growth mindset in the last few years, and I find it heartening that even a powerhouse company like Pixar considers this axiom worthy of focus.


"If there are people in your organization who feel they are not free to suggest ideas, you lose.  Do not discount ideas from unexpected sources.  Inspiration can, and does, come from anywhere."
Catmull spends a good amount of time discussing the central tenet of Ratatouille.  As Ego asserts in the end--not just anyone can cook, but good cooking can come from anywhere.  Catmull echoes this idea here, and I think it's an important one to consider in schools, too.  We need to listen to people's ideas and provide easy avenues for them to do so.

"Further, if there is fear in an organization, there is a reason for it--our job is (a) to find what's causing it, (b) to understand it, and (c) to try to root it out."
I draw attention to this one because so many people's actions in education can be run by fear.  Fear of messing up. Fear of failure.  Fear of being fired/getting a bad evaluation.  And, thus, this can result in educators to simply play it safe.  However, playing it safe rarely produces great, invigorating results--and much less: great, invigorated teachers.  We need to promote environments where educators will feel safe to take healthy risks--all the while supporting teachers when their risks don't pay off and, of course, celebrating them when they do!


"Don't wait for things to be perfect before you share them with others.  Show early and show often."
Of course there is always the sentiment that "too many cooks in the kitchen" can cause problems.  But that isn't the case here.  I think the more you invite people in (to your classroom, in this case), the better your teaching becomes.  There must be complete trust for this to work, but if both parties want to see the teacher grow (and both have the faith that the teacher can grow), then visiting each other's classrooms to give honest feedback (positive and room-to-grow comments) can only result in positive growth over time.

Try Something New!

I recently read Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull.  I had intended to read the book with my School Goggles on--trying to think about how the culture of Pixar could be a model for culture in schools.  In the first two-thirds of the book, I felt a bit discouraged.  However, as I continued to read, determined to glean some nuggets of wisdom, I found more and more of the information on the day-to-day operations--and the merger with Disney--in the last third of the book to be most helpful.  Catmull even closes the book with a list of handy bullet points (nuggets of wisdom) that are meant to be a guide and review of the most important tenets of life at Pixar. 

While I have much to reflect on from those (and will--in a later post), right now I want to focus on Catmull's point about failure:





Inspired by this quote, I got to thinking about the last time I tried something new...I'm a pretty picky eater, and I don't try a lot of new foods.  That idea spiraled into the video below--created on an app I hadn't used much before (Clips for iPad).

Try Something New

I'd love to hear about what you've tried new lately!

New Year's Resolutions

It's mid-February, so it's a good time to check in our New Year's Resolutions.  So far, I'm doing okay.  Here are my 3 main resolutions (this is the wallpaper on my computer, by the way):

Right away in January, I contacted a local non-profit to see how I could help.  I anticipated they'd like me to tutor local students or something like that--something that spoke to my current strengths and profession.  However, I was asked to chair a golf outing.  I said yes, and boy, will it certainly fulfill my goal to volunteer...all year long.  On that note, if you have any recommendations for Silent Auction items--or are willing to donate an item or experience for the Silent Auction, let me know!

To further my meditation practice, I paid for the full access to the Headspace library when it was on sale.  I was doing pretty well with this in January, and I was definitely feeling the benefits.  I've let things slide a bit in February, so it's time to get back at it.

Finally, to get off of my phone, I've taken a few measures to help reduce my attraction to my phone.  They include:

1. reducing the number of notifications I receive

2.  using the Screen Time tracking on my iPhone to help me set goals to reduce my screen time

3.  deleting the twitter app--a major time-suck for me

There are some other great suggestions at these sites:

Distraction-Free Iphone

Configure Your Phone to Work For You--Not Against You

Of course, I wanted to work on the whole get-healthier-exercise-more thing, but those were my top three.  I also wanted to read more.  

I read an article like this: Listen to Audio Books While You Work Out.  It wasn't exactly this article ( I can't find the one I read), but this one addresses the same idea.  

I always thought it was dumb to listen to an audio book while working out.  That wouldn't get me pumped up!  I needed music to really get me going!  But...I thought I'd give it a try, and I was surprised by the results.  I was actually more motivated to get back to listening to the book than I was to get on the treadmill.  But...since I was so intrigued by the book I was listening to, I wanted to listen to it more and more--and made it my habit that I would only listen while I was on the treadmill.  I couldn't believe that that worked!  I even got up early just so I could walk and read!  Yes, at this point, I am only walking and reading.  But walking briskly.  And sometimes on an incline!

Elizabeth Graves, Editor in Chief of Martha Stewart Living magazine, stated this in her Editor's Letter: "I'll focus lesson the things I think I should do, and make more space for what I want to do."  That really struck a chord with me because it helped me think about my treadmill reading in a new way.  I wanted to read.  I knew I should exercise.  This was such a great way to get me to do both.

How are your New Year's Resolutions coming along? I'd love to hear what they are and how you are progressing.