Throwing It Out Of the Window!

April...it is usually the time where many teachers start looking down the home stretch and planning what they are going to do as far as professional development for the summer. Many teachers start their countdowns, many plan vacations, some have a ceremonial tearing of each calendar page and maybe even sing a song as they tear it out and toss it away.... as page by page the year slips away.

To be honest... every other year, that has been me. THE COUNTDOWN!! I credit #GeniusHour for my change of heart. Actually not only do I credit Genius Hour, but I also credit Twitter and my newly found PLN (personal learning network) for getting me fired up about teaching again. My desk is piled high (ask any of my students and they will affirm the Mount McFleming on my desk), I have papers to grade each day and night, there are blogs to check, personal development chats to take part in, reading, discovering, etc....and I am excited about it all! I think one of the reasons I am so excited about it is the new found vitality and enthusiasm in my classroom. MY STUDENTS ARE EXCITED! That makes it all worth while.

When a teacher decides to veer from the path which screams, "BUT WE HAVE ALWAYS DONE IT THIS WAY".... and ventures down that non-traditional teaching pathway, really great things start to happen. Now, don't get me wrong, it is scary and uncomfortable at first...but like I tell my students, "You have to walk through the fear to get what you want .... it's always on the other side, and always worth it." .... I have to practice what I preach. With that said, letting go of some of the things I have always done was a bit scary at first. What am I going to do if I don't have something to grade from this class each day? What am I thinking, having a meaningful discussion about non-conformity during the days of Transcendentalism vs. 2015...shouldn't they write about it instead? Who said it was okay to do Hashtag Tuesday and show learning through a Tweet on a sticky note? I thought all of those things, and more, to myself.... but when I went for it, you know what???? REAL LEARNING STARTED TO HAPPEN. Real dialogue between students was taking place, applications for life started to be learned, morals and ethics started to be talked about, and there was laughter in my class...lots and lots of laughter. 

What I have always known, but have seen first hand in the last three or four weeks is this.... students don't learn from multiple choice and true / false tests. Instead, what they do is memorize. Once that test is over, and the grade handed over, they forget what they memorized and move on to the next bit of information they must memorize to get a "good grade".... that's not learning. I want to be the teacher that sees true learning happening .... and that doesn't come from those types of tests. Real learning comes from open ended questioning, building a classroom environment that is safe for discussion, where all opinions are welcome and able to be talked about, where students feel like they matter, and what they have to say matters. That is when true learning happens. That is what I have witnessed through great methods like Genius Hour and tools I have have adopted through professional development chats via Twitter. There is a world of wealth out there that teachers need to be using to reach their students. 

Teaching has become fun again, and I hope my students have found some fun in learning as well. 

There are some great Genius Hour projects going on in my classroom; I hope you will take some time to read about the exciting things the students are discovering. 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FaRGeGBSV5rc4_XOyLbIj7_1bfBHoPsDih1si0AMvCU/edit#gid=0

Safe travels,

Mrs. Fleming~

Innovation in the Classroom

Teaching English Lit & Composition, I have the opportunity to see writing that simply blows the mind. I run across it every year...it may be the student that didn't grasp the nuances of descriptive writing last year, but this year paints this beautiful picture for the mind's eye with his or her words. Maybe it is the student that didn't understand the concept of unity and coherency their freshman year, but now, their junior year, those supporting sentences work together with their topic sentence like an army of well trained soldiers. There are some of my students that have trouble grasping the "rules and structure" (bllaacchhh) of a formal essay, but when it comes to poetry, I have to pick my jaw up off of the floor or even wipe a tear from my eye. Writing doesn't come easy for many.... but most of my students definitely want to succeed at being writers. 

One of the concepts that I really like about #geniushour is that it incorporates so many different ELA (English Language Arts) standards, while at the same time, putting the learning experience directly into the hands of the learner. Another aspect that I am really enjoying, is the required blog that the students comment on at the end of each Genius Hour time. It gives them the opportunity to journal about the positives (and even negatives) of their project, it gives me another way of communicating with them, and it helps instill positive social media experiences and creates a positive digital footprint. It even encourages them to take time with their writing, knowing that so many people can and will see it. 

That is one of the things that I wished to share with you all today. The embedded link (below) will take you to each student's blog. This is where they share their Genius Hour project with the world, where they give updates, voice frustrations, and brag on their findings. I encourage you all to visit some of the blogs, and please make comments on them. These young people are excited about what they are learning, and some of them are wanting to network with others that can help them with research questions, or give them insight as to what they are working on. I hope that you will take the time to dive into the work that your sons, daughters, nieces, nephews, friends, etc. are doing. It is very exciting, and they are excited to share it with you. 

If you have any questions, I urge you to comment on this blog, and I will definitely get back with you. Until then... thank you again for reading, and making a positive impact on the students of Waverly High School. 

Here is the link to take you to student blogs:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FaRGeGBSV5rc4_XOyLbIj7_1bfBHoPsDih1si0AMvCU/edit#gid=0

Travel light,

Mrs. Flem~

No Foolin' On April Fools Day

The English room at Waverly High School has been loud, busy, full of laughter, learning and all things 'new' this week! A brief overview of what we have been doing, you ask? Well, I'd love to...

The freshmen are finishing up their unit on characterization. We have been discovering and learning about many authors...authors whose memories can still be felt today if we are willing to look for them..... Ernest Hemingway, Langston Hughes and Truman Capote all still have relevance in 2015.... and when they were still with us, they made their characters come alive! The freshmen have been reading stories and poems from these authors, and we have been discussing characters that we know from 2015 that compare to those in author's stories. We have also talked about how we make them come to life through the mood, dialect and voice of the author. Their latest adventure is creating themselves as a character in 3rd person, and I'm anxiously awaiting tomorrow's discussion about this.

The sophomores have had a busy week of traveling back in time with Medieval literature and alo setting up and blogging about their #geniushour. We had a huge discussion today on Internet responsibility and the importance of a leaving a positive digital footprint in this day and age of technology. Last week the sophomores spent Monday through Thursday taking their state assessment tests in English Language Arts. This week, they will have spent Monday through Thursday taking their state assessments in math. *sigh* These are amazing individuals with individual talents and gifts... you sure can't measure that with a test score!

The juniors are in the midst of their Transcendentalism unit... we are talking about what it means to be a non-conformist in 2015 as compared to the time of Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. Many are really loving the concept and ideology behind this movement, and they are loving how it relates to their own lives! After learning about Mr. Emerson, each student scoured poetry through music lyrics and mood to find, what they thought, would have been Emerson's theme song. They also got to find their own, perfect, theme song that matched them perfectly.

The seniors started the week talking about irony from W.W. Jacobs, 'The Monkey's Paw' and we are ending the week discussing Sir Thomas More's "Utopia".... we have been comparing that to many types of "utopias" that are still trying to be found in 2015....when someone finds a real version of it, please let me know. I will book a one way ticket!

#geniushour is underway ..... and there is a lot of excitement buzzing around the halls about it. I really have never seen students so excited about learning, and applying what they have learned to real life... something bigger. We have networked with some great people all over the USA, and many students are finding mentors to help them along their journey. They have created their blogs, and I will be making those available for you all to view, make comments and encourage them through to success!

There are great things happening! Stay tuned as we venture down the 'road less traveled'....

Safe 'travels',
Flem~