A Supreme Dedication

Q: What do Rick Astley














and Carl from Up

have in common?




A: They come together in a perfect marriage to create this joke:

















One of our classmates posts a Joke of the Day EVERY. DAY.  His dedication is supreme.  And while he knows that his classmates during his single period enjoy the jokes, I have the benefit of seeing students enjoying the Joke all day.  Even students who have class in our classroom--but are not my personal students--make comments about how much they love the Joke of the Day.  One of my juniors admitted to logging the jokes in her notebook each day.  I absolutely love how one student is affecting others' happiness all day.  And what's best about it--I didn't ask him to do it.  I had this student last year in Junior Honors English, and he joined me this semester (the last of his senior year) for our Studies in Lit and Film class.  At some point last year, he and a friend just started putting jokes up on the board.  And they didn't do it for my benefit. They even wrote them when I wasn't present (and they had a substitute).   Happily, on Day 1 of our class this semester, he marched right up to the board and picked up where he left off.  In truth, I'd like to relegate some other fun tasks and responsibilities to students.  I think it would be really fun to have, say, a Birthday Liaison.  I celebrate my students' birthdays--but maybe it would be more fun if their classmates did the celebrating?  This is something I considered back when I read ReLeah Lent's book Overcoming Textbook Fatigue.

(https://www.amazon.com/Overcoming-Textbook-Fatigue-Revitalize-Teaching/dp/1416614729)


In this book, Lent suggests a variety of ways to let go--and give students control, such as creating teams.  She suggests the following types of teams:

Current Events Team
Writing Team
Social Team (they'd be the ones in charge of birthdays, secret pals, Jokes of the Day)
Other Special Teams such as: art, technology, book, logistics.


Overall, this student has not only given me a daily laugh, he has inspired me to attempt to release the reins for a variety of tasks to my students.

All Part of the Shakesperiance

In addition to students' Presentational Speaking and Listening Summative Assessments, students also engage with a close reading of Shakespeare as a part of their summative experience in this unit.  To prep, (in addition to reading & close reading Hamlet) students practice "translating" several sonnets and speeches from other Shakespeare plays.  In the photos below, you will see students engaging in their Meet and Greet (or Move, Pair, Share) to discuss their progress with a sonnet.  In prepping with these several formative experiences, I have students approach the readings in a variety of ways, including, but not limited to:

1.  On their own
2.  With a partner
3.  On their own and then moving to meet with a partner
4.  In a trio
5.  Students approach different sonnets on their own and then go discuss them with students who had different sonnets
6.  Groups of students tend to the same sonnet on their own--and then go meet with people who had the same sonnet to discuss their progress


All of the practicing and close reading paid off!  Nearly all students met or exceeded expectations on the Summative Assessment!
 
 

Show; Don't Tell

Ah...the writing mantra that swirls the halls of many a high school...SHOW; don't tell.  Our classroom is no exception, and contrary to the erroneous belief that we're simply playing the Thesaurus Game, "Show; Don't Tell" does get to the heart of good writing.  Show; Don't Tell helps language come alive and make the words dance off the page--in a way that allows a reader to experience what the writer hopes to express.

In preparation for our What's Your Story personal essays, students worked on some Show; Don't Tell phrasing today.  And while, yes, many of them used the thesaurus to produce their sentences, I'd argue that playing the Thesaurus Game alone cannot craft the beauty that is present in a carefully developed sentence/image.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1tOqZUNebs



Check out these beauties:

Listening to her children, she paused and began to rub her temples.  Looking as if she was thinking hard, she decided to get Advil from the cabinet.

The water rushing against his small feet, a smile peaked on his face as he felt a sudden tug.  Struggling against the weight, he hauled in the slimy creature out of the waves.

As the bright light raced against the meadows, the flowers upon them awakened from their sleep.  The explosion of light filled the darkness.  Nothing could hid in the shadows.

On the corner of her daily stroll, waiting to cross the street, her head spun towards the sound of screeching tires and metal colliding.

A meadow, lifeless and still, was illuminated by the bright orange ball of light.

Birds began to sing and inspire, with the first winds swaying and rustling the bristling pines.  

What________Loved: A Valentiny Exploration

In homage to Valentine's Day, our film students wrote lists of what characters loved.  Inspired by the Academy of American Poets' list "What Sylvia Plath Loved", I assigned my students to come up with a list of what a particular character loved.

First, check out the Sylvia Plath list:  https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/what-sylvia-plath-loved

Pretty cool, right?

So, students were tasked with creating a list with examples of what, say, Forrest Gump loved.

Here they are at work:

 
 




Here are a few student examples:

Forrest Gump:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1vJwLiFsRDuukAJowHpSd5UD8XACNMrlTAOQZ5abfMrE/edit

Ron Burgundy
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YnKavOEduv3s_yB8X711duZn6hGZtp-NH59snk-8SI8/edit

Cher Horowitz
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TpVde8Acq-gtQNCTM4B-jscBEs6rNmK4QWbtuoTKWBo/edit