Thursday, November 10, 2016 (Day #56)

Post date: Nov 10, 2016 10:28:30 PM

If you're a child of the 80's, you would get this reference - "I love it when a plan comes together!" (A-Team) Today there was a lot of "punting" with my lesson plans. I didn't intend to switch things up, but some things were going so well, I just went with it. Because of that risk, I had some amazing teachable moments today.

In Literature 9 I had the first of those awesome teachable moments. I was going to just discuss whether there was enough evidence to convict Doodle's brother of his death. Then I just started "winging it" and divided the students into two groups - the prosecution and the defense. I sent the prosecution to another room, gave them 12 minutes, and helped them construct arguments for/against the narrator. They had to provide opening statements, intent, motive, and opportunity. They found evidence within the text, and each had a part. There was also a time for them to ask each other questions. We then discussed what Doodle would have a wanted, and that led to a great conversation about the "dash" in our names. It was a wonderful lesson that didn't require me to lecture about the story. They were exploring, explaining, and arguing, and it was wonderful!

In English 10 I gave my personal experience speech. Then everyone had eight minutes to rehearse. Two individuals in each class gave their speech, and believe me they set the bar high. I'm also trying a new thing with taking notes with a google form. I just keep resubmitting the form, and when it is all said and done, I'll just run off their results and hand it to them. It's great.

In American Literature we spent about 10 minutes discussing the fact the Mayflower Project is only 13 days away. I showed them Museum Box, so they understand the role of the sophomores. Then each group had a chance to review the vocabulary words. I played a little password (I provided one word clues and they "shouted" out the vocabulary word that related to it.) Finally we took a few notes on the Age of Reason. We'll finish that up next Tuesday.

Again, I love my job. I love my students. I am the luckiest woman alive.