To the retired folks at the post office who told my friend Annie that we teachers just put our students in front of the computer and tell them to “get to work”:
I would like to share with you a glimpse into my classroom. Today is a typical Wednesday. Our students have Academic Assistance time at the end of the day which means that our class periods are a bit shorter than on other days. That means I feel extra pressure to get through my plans. In College Comp we started by reading a poem together, “This Is Just To Say” by William Carlos Williams. We also read an imitation poem by Erica-Lynn Gambino and then together broke the poems down, stanza by stanza. Next I gave my students a few minutes to write their own imitation poems in their writer’s notebooks. Because I believe in the power of writing with them, I crafted my own example as well. After a few students shared their poems, I led a mini-lesson on “Shrinking a Century,” a writing concept introduced by Barry Lane in his book After the End. (I read this book outside of the school day during my own precious “free time.”) This writing technique will be important for some of my students to use as we continue in our unit on crafting narratives. It’s just day 11 of the year, and my writing students are getting ready to start their third piece of writing. No rest for the weary, as they say. After our mini-lesson, I modeled some brainstorming with my students. We will be starting a place-based narrative, so I shared with them potential topics and scenes I might explore in my writing. (I created this brainstorm last night at my kitchen table as my own children got ready for bed.) Finally, I set my young writers free to work. Yes, for the last eight minutes of class, my students were in front of their computers. They were composing and revising and rearranging their personal narratives which are due tomorrow. At the end of class I assigned an essay they are to read and annotate for tomorrow so we can discuss how place influenced Zora Neale Hurston’s “How To Be Colored Me.” Oh, and by the way, today’s class period was 41 minutes long. College Comp is one of three classes that I have the privilege to teach each day. My time in English 2 and Speech mirrors my previous description. We read, we write, we discuss, we engage, we think. You might be discovering a theme: my students and I are busy. Every minute. Of every class period. We work hard. We rarely take bathroom breaks. And here’s the thing, retired folks at the post office, we’re not alone. Across our district my colleagues are working tirelessly to craft meaningful learning experiences for your grandchildren. Yes, technology is involved in many of these learning experiences because it’s 2015. If you think technology is going away, I’m afraid you’re disillusioned. We are working to build up the world’s future leaders, and that means our students need to understand the nuances of online communication and the complexities of the digital world. Technology is a tool we use to reach that goal. Second grade teachers, history teachers, guidance counselors, ELL instructors, administrators. We are all working hard because we care. We care about learning, about our students, about the future. And the fact that you stand around at the local post office or coffee shop or church basement gossiping about our laziness and poor work standards, well, it fills me with indignation. Step in my classroom. Watch me work. Observe any of my colleagues meeting the standards of excellence our district has set for us. I think you’ll be surprised by what you see. Sincerely, Mrs. Witt
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Part of my English 2 curriculum includes reading from independently selected reading books during the beginning of class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. (Tuesdays and Thursdays are reserved for class journals.) Because I want students engaged with these texts, I also periodically have them create something associated with their selected books. Last semester it was an idea borrowed from Lessons with Laughter and this Highland Virtual Learning Wikispace. My students created book trailers in an attempt to "sell" their book to other readers. We used Animoto (with the educational license) and went through a production process together. Here's the handout of instructions that I shared with my students. After their trailers were complete, students created and printed QR codes for their trailers and celebrated together by watching their classmates' projects. Now their books and codes are displayed outside my classroom in our class "Readbox." Students were engaged and committed to their learning during this project. Not only did they walk away with a greater understanding of their books, but they also learned more about the art of persuasion and the importance of tone. Additionally, they have another technology tool to use in the future. We did this project the week leading into semester tests, so the timing probably wasn't the best. I'm proud of their efforts, though, and I love having the colorful display outside of my room. This is definitely a project I will use again in the future. Here's Marilyn's book trailer for City of Bones. Here's Emily's book trailer for Paper Towns. Here's Jeremiah's book trailer for The Kill Order. Well, I've said I work with the best students and teachers around. Today I have proof. Katie Nissen, our tech integrationist, and I collaborated on a vocabulary strategy as part of my ILP (Individual Learning Plan) focusing on vocabulary. College Comp students worked with partners to illustrate one of our weekly SAT-level vocab words in a 15-second video. I gave the word choices, Katie provided the technology, and the students were set loose. Their videos were submitted to the New York Times Learning Network and Vocabulary.com 2nd Annual Vocabulary Contest. You can see all of their videos here. Today we learned the winners of the contest, and while they were no monetary prizes, this teacher's heart is overflowing with pride for my hard-working, creative students. Keep in mind, this was a nationwide contest with over 500 submissions! Megan, Brenna, and Emily were in the top 10 with their video for the word "malleable." If that wasn't enough, three of the ten honorable mention videos were OUR STUDENTS ("verbose" by Jake and Mallory, "putrid" by Austin and Hannah, and "luxuriate" by Krystal, Kaycee, and Alexis).
I think a celebratory party is in order! I love spending my valuable time at professional development. And I'm not even being facetious. For the past few years, my school has implemented a form of professional development that allows teachers to work on our own Individual Learning Plan (ILP). (We need more acronyms in education, don't we?) I've spent time working on concept-based units, integrating curriculum to the Common Core, and now this year strengthening my vocabulary instruction. I'll be sharing instructional strategies that work for me here at Teach Happy and look forward to the feedback that follows. The Iowa Core states, “Without prompting, they [college and career-ready students] demonstrate command of standard English and acquire and use a wide-ranging vocabulary.” However, other than a brief stint with vocabulary workbooks, I have never been very intentional with my vocabulary instruction. I knew I need to, though, and I am privileged to work at a school that allows me the time and resources to work on that weakness. This past week I used one of my favorite vocabulary activities in two of my classes, English 2 and College Composition. (I also work in a 1:1 school, so when possible, I try to use technology to enhance my instructional strategies.) English 2 students worked with words in context from our current unit on characterization, and College Comp students worked with some popular SAT words. I want students' knowledge to go beyond just studying for a vocabulary test, so for this activity they worked on owning the words by creating an animated dialogue using GoAnimate.com. GoAnimate is a great choice for this project because we can log in for free with our Google Apps accounts. (We also laugh a lot during this activity because of the monotone voices and computerized accents, and as the title of this blog states, happiness is welcome in my classroom. I'm always amazed at how engaged students are when creating these short little videos.) Tips:
What do you think? Would you like to use dialogue animation for vocabulary instruction in your classroom? What other vocab activities have been successful with your students? |
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September 2020
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