To inject some fresh blood into either College Comp 1 or College Comp 2, I've wanted to do a different type of essay. For a couple years now, we've done a hyperlink essay. I've said that I've wanted to do a digital essay, but I was lazy and didn't get around to it.
Now, I'm thinking about a photo essay.
Here is a great example that is near and dear to our hearts in this area: the county fair.
I'd love to see what my students could do with this. I have a colleague who does something along these lines with her seniors when they do a senior presentation. Maybe I can pick her brain for some ideas.
Here are my favorite pics from the essay
I love this one for the contrast.
And I love this one because after riding the Super Shot with Kenzie, I know well the terror captured here!
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If this doesn't inspire us to get back to school, I don't know what will: This is What 5 Motivated Students Can Accomplish.
These kids are amazing! Take that Bauerlein!
I couldn't imagine being in college before I turned 15 like most of these kids. Absolutely amazing.
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I love this blog post about projects. I don't spend enough time building teams and culture in my classroom. If I spent more time on that, I'd have a better feel for the individual students I place into groups.
Also, it's a great reminder to break down the overall group project process into smaller tasks that teach (or reinforce) some of the basic skills needed to complete the overall project.
I especially love the last paragraph - (I know I can never do enough of this in my classes)
One last thought: while you’re building students’ skills for working in a PBL environment, don't forget to build the right classroom culture. Do lots of team-building activities so students feel comfortable with and supportive of each other. Get to know your students so you can place them in effective project teams and anticipate what scaffolding they’re going to need. Let students know that you expect them to work independently from the teacher to some extent. Let them know that it’s OK to not know the “right answer” to an open-ended question, OK to propose out-of-the-box questions and ideas, and OK to fail as part of the process of innovation. Let them know you’re excited about PBL and that, while you expect much of them, you’ll be right alongside them on the journey.
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A very interesting discussion of Grammatical Errors. I know that sounds like an oxymoron, but if you teach English, you'll find this interesting.
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In College Comp 2 we analyze the concept of 'beauty' and try our hands at personally defining it in a definition essay. I've used the Washington Post story on Joshua Bell, Pearls Before Breakfast, in the past. I might add this story to the unit this year.
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There are some really great resources here (Padlet and Audioboo are a couple I use, but Smore and Remind101 have great potential) The 9 Best Web Tools Teachers Will Use This Year.
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I love this. Make a trailer to get students hyped for you class. Then push it out via social media. Brilliant!
Here is the blog post explaining this in greater detail.
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I've come across Brickfilm, which is similar to storify, as a way to turn various social media into a multi-media stream.
Here's my initial attempt.
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I saw this video, which is a mashup of the trials and terrors of high school life depicted in films.
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