Grading. Mentoring. Giving feedback. Giving emotional support. Giving snacks. (The list goes on, but time is limited.)
Teachers have a lot on our plates.
I recently started planning through the next Monday (or even Tuesday when I'm on a roll) in order to avoid the Sunday slam. This has given me a little more time to reflect on what we're doing in class. When I looked at the assignments, they were good.
Challenging. Structured. Balanced.
But an element of fun was needed.
We're doing literary analysis on a diverse collection of poets, essayists, and speakers. The texts are great, but I don't think many of them are pieces that students would choose to read during leisure time.
So, yesterday, we watched "Stressed Out" by 21 Pilots. As we watched it, we noticed visual metaphors, symbols, and other literary devices. Then, for our final literary analysis, I challenged them to pick a song, story, poem, or TV episode. (I know, nobody watches TV anymore. Stay with me.)
One student said, "So, we can write about anything?"
I said, "Yeah. Maybe try to choose something you like because you're going to have to read or watch it several times. Probably, you should choose something that's saying something that matters to you."
We're starting this analysis tomorrow. Hopefully, it's a little more fun.
Teachers have a lot on our plates.
I recently started planning through the next Monday (or even Tuesday when I'm on a roll) in order to avoid the Sunday slam. This has given me a little more time to reflect on what we're doing in class. When I looked at the assignments, they were good.
Challenging. Structured. Balanced.
But an element of fun was needed.
We're doing literary analysis on a diverse collection of poets, essayists, and speakers. The texts are great, but I don't think many of them are pieces that students would choose to read during leisure time.
So, yesterday, we watched "Stressed Out" by 21 Pilots. As we watched it, we noticed visual metaphors, symbols, and other literary devices. Then, for our final literary analysis, I challenged them to pick a song, story, poem, or TV episode. (I know, nobody watches TV anymore. Stay with me.)
One student said, "So, we can write about anything?"
I said, "Yeah. Maybe try to choose something you like because you're going to have to read or watch it several times. Probably, you should choose something that's saying something that matters to you."
We're starting this analysis tomorrow. Hopefully, it's a little more fun.