Over
Winter Break, I couldn’t stop thinking about my classes. First, the sophomores
continue to stress me out as I doggedly look for ways to engage them in
something, anything, other than instant gratification (for the love of God—can
they do anything but play games, watch movies, and/or hit each others
butt/crotches. Seriously, what is that?!). I didn’t have any epiphanies for
them, so for now we’re tackling Night.
It’s required for 10th grade, and it’s the first sustained piece I’m
trying. It’s…going…not horribly.
(On a
side note, it’s amazing when, as a prolific and voracious reader, you view
pieces through a non-reader’s eyes. Suddenly you realize just how slow the
first chapter of Night is. Or, you
think, “Man, some of To Kill a
Mockingbird is excruciatingly detailed.” It also makes me again wonder why
we do so much classical literature, which was written for ADULTS, with teens.
No wonder they hate to read.)
Back on
topic: in this post, I want to focus on the odd things I did dream up for my AP
students. These students are smart, but they were seriously ill equipped for AP
Lang & Comp. At least ¾ of them had never written a research paper, which
we all know they will do in college. They were adept at skating by and
cheating, but weren’t prepared for a class where wrote (The horror!) and read
(The humanity!) and they actually had to use their brains (I’m evil!). I do
still have a handful that will never break a sweat if they don’t have to, but
the rest have risen to every challenge I’ve presented and are blossoming as
they realize their own competence.
With
that in mind, I’ve decided to sacrifice some of the literature (I continue to
pare down every year) and work in more “real world” skills: listening, note
taking, and analysis of mediums other than literature. Last week we tackled notes
and listening. I decided I was sick of them taking forever to take notes (even
on the computer). Below are the resources I’ve used so far and the short
lessons/directions I wrote.
Monday:
No School/PD Day (Ugh. The Circle of Hell Dante forgot about.)
Tuesday:
After explaining I’m not a resolution person, but one who engages in
self-reflection…a lot, I asked students a series of self-reflection questions.
It always amazing me how honest most students are when asked to reflect. We
finished the class by discussing grades vs. learning. I challenged them to NOT
look at their grade in my class for the next month. I also dared them to focus
on the learning rather than the arbitrary number/letter. If they focus on learning,
the rest should fall into line. I told them we would need to trust each other:
I would need to trust them to do their best and strive for excellence, and they
would need to trust me to “worry” about their grades. We shall see how this
goes.
Wednesday:
(took about 40ish minutes of a 50-minute period)
1.
Asked students to get a piece of paper and something to write with.
2.
This video quickly goes over 5 different methods of note-taking. The guy uses Street Fighter…I don’t know…but it was
quick and useful: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AffuwyJZTQQ&index=2&list=PLi6AA-EYd9tNe7EK_5XsZbDuE49ZLv8OY
Students
wrote down 2-3 methods they thought they could/would actually use.
3.
Next, we did this 7 minute video on the Cornell system for more depth (and to
show students how to combine methods): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUOuG4Py5wc&list=PLi6AA-EYd9tNe7EK_5XsZbDuE49ZLv8OY&index=3
4. We
briefly discussed paper vs. computer because we are 1:1, and they always choose
computer. Then I showed this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsb-U8bZpig&list=PLi6AA-EYd9tNe7EK_5XsZbDuE49ZLv8OY&index=1
5.
Next, on the same paper, I told them to choose one of the methods and get ready
to take notes over this TED Talk: https://www.ted.com/talks/julian_treasure_5_ways_to_listen_better
6. We
briefly discussed what stood out to them and the 5 ways to improve listening.
7.
Last, I told them to get comfortable (heads on desks/eyes closed/sitting or
laying on the floor/whatever). I played about 4 minutes from two different
classical pieces (as time allowed). After the first piece, we discussed what
different elements we heard. Just so you know, I played “The Tell-Tale Heart”
from The Shadow of the Raven by Nox Arcana and “Lullaby for my
Favorite Insomniac” by the Ahn Trio. Both pieces use more than
instruments.
Thursday:
(pretty much all 50 minutes)
(I
was absent for a couple classes, so the directions were very detailed. Ha!)
Here
are the actual directions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ysCHApP-f2HRfmb9H8qEq3NTdA_FT_0O8RxFaZjSzQo/edit
Overall
the students loved this and want to do it again. Some of us decided we want to
binge on TED Talks this summer.
Friday:
(probably all 50 minutes)
I
didn’t have time, but in the future I’ll start the class by asking them to try
to summarize the TED Talks they listened to the day before. I’ll probably have
them do this on sticky notes—to see if they actually retained anything. Then
we’ll do this: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wZHwpd7yqAST-QvG0Acn4OM7h3giNrcG1i3JpGfJa7A/edit
This
actually was fun. I made them put up cell phones. We went to our library for
more space. I let students choose partners and sit across from each other, with
some space between groups.
I
gave them paper for the summarization part. I also chose to go over directions
orally (to practice listening) and read the questions out loud. The times are
rough; mostly I tried to listen to the rise and crescendo in conversation. When
I heard it tapering off, I called “time.”
I
warned them we will probably do something like this again, but next time they
will partner with someone they don’t know as well.
Overall,
this was a productive week. I’ve already noticed a difference with their note
taking. As for the listening…we will keep working with that….
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