Ideas for starting your classes

Bulldogs Read by me

How do you start each class? In my last post I talked about ways to start the school year, but what about every day after that? The first few minutes set the tone for how the rest of the session goes. Some of the teachers I know have an opening quote on the board that the students respond to as soon as they walk in the door. After 10 minutes they invite students to share their responses; otherwise, move on to the day's lessons. Activities like this and the ones below allow teachers time to do attendance, touch base with students, etc. while still giving students a meaningful task. Here are ways I begin my classes.

Greetings

When possible greet the students at the door. I can't always be at the door when they arrive, but when I am, I always welcome them to the day's class. I do this because I'm genuinely happy to see them.

Silent reading or writing

This year the AP English Language students will read from a nonfiction book of their choice for the first 10-15 minutes of class. The goal of this assignment is to complete at least one nonfiction book a semester. That allows a slower reader to choose a long book and time enough to complete it. If students finish a book, they move on to another. 

Students share the load

Why should teachers have to do all the work? Once the class has completed some preliminary discussions about writing style, I have students do some of the work of beginning the day. At least once a quarter students are responsible for choosing a passage from their free-reading book to share with the class. Here's a link to the assignment that I collaborated on with my colleague Bryan Jeffreys. Even if you don't have students choose a passage from their reading, I've seen variations of this activity where students choose some inspirational words, read them to the class, and then read aloud their reflection on why they personally consider that quote inspirational.

It's been said that we never get a second chance to make a first impression. The same can be said for each class we teach.

First day activities to start the new school year

We all want to start school off on the right foot. If you're an English Language Arts teacher here are are some ideas my English department colleagues and I came up with.

My 2016-17 advisory group by me

• Read a favorite poem of yours, ask the students to write a response, and then share your own. My colleague Linda Simpson starts with "Being a Person" or "Just Thinking" by William Stafford.
• My colleague Matt Vanderlaan has people Interview a partner and compose a feature like Time Magazine's 10 Questions. Here's a link to my multimedia profile assignment that I adapted from Matt's original idea.
• In another class I have students write about what their teacher should know about them as readers and writers (see below).

My Reading History assignment

Reading is one of the most valuable things we do. As we work to develop our skills, it is helpful to understand how our attitudes have been formed. Please write a letter to your teacher about your history as a reader. Include answers to as many of the following questions as you can in your letter/personal history.

• Favorite childhood/bedtimes stories (who read to you?) Describe. 
• What are some of your earliest book memories? Anything funny happen?
• Who in your home read? Parents? Older brothers/sisters? grandparents?
• What magazines or books were in your home?
• Who read to you in pre-school or the library? What books were your favorites?
• What were your favorite TV shows as a child? Describe. Can you remember any favorite commercials or jingles?
• What teacher/s taught you to read in school? Describe how they taught you. What did teachers read to you? Which books were your favorites?
• Did you enjoy reading in school? Did you enjoy reading aloud in class?
• In Junior High Did you read more or less frequently? Explain. Did your friends read? Did this make a difference to you?
• Best book you’ve ever read and what made it the best
• Worst book you’ve ever read and what made it the worst
• Magazines or newspapers you look at regularly
• Where and when you enjoy reading most
• What book you are reading at the present time?
• What books are you considering reading next?
• If you buy books and keep them, where do you keep them?
• How do you feel about reading in general?

Student Reporting Labs and my students work

If I've learned one thing in the decades I've been a teacher, it's that our students have powerful voices that need to be heard. Given the public discourse that's happening these days, it's more important than ever that our students have a say. The PBS NewsHour Student Reporting Labs provides a platform to accomplish these goals, with programs for teachers as well as students. Below are some of the resources from today's presentation at UCET 2016.

Programs for students and teachers

A great opportunity for your aspiring journalists is the all-expense paid, week-long SRL Academy each summer in Washington D.C. Although the application deadline for this year's Academy has passed, look for applications next winter. Judge student Alex Maxwell participated in this program in the summer of 2015. Also keep an eye out for the SRL Apprenticeship Program, which Judge student Mary Oliver will be attending this summer.

2015-16 Student Reporting Labs at Judge Memorial

I highly recommend the Summer Teacher Boot Camp in Washington DC, which I attended in 2014. Teachers can apply for that in the spring of each year.

Student videos

This past fall, the Outside the Box series looked at how preconcieved notions of gender and affect the lives of middle and high school students. My students contribution - Let's Dance

In the fall of 2014, Student Reporting Labs from around the country produced stories of teens who make a difference in their community. This feature by students at Judge Memorial, Serving Those who have Served, was featured on the 2014 Christmas Day PBS NewsHour show.

Last spring another SRL school was a Winner of White House Film Festival; my students video received an Honorable Mention in that same contest.

How will you incorporate the 2016 U.S. elections in your teaching?

American flag by Delaney Barnett

How will you incorporate the 2016 elections into your curriculum?

I'm putting together resources around the 2016 election, like I did for the 2012 elections. This fall the books I'll teach are Julius Caesar, 1984 and Unspun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation. Although Unspun was written about ten years ago, the concepts are still relevant today. For example this year I had students update Unspun with examples from 2015. Here's a link to the assignment.

As far as social annotation goes, my students will participate in "annotatathons" hosted by Hypothes.is like these great speeches by previous American presidents. We'll also analyze the rhetoric of great American documents like the Declaration of Independence. Finally a project that I'm involved in is the Letters to the Next President 2.0 initiative sponsored by the National Writing Project and others.

That's what I've got so far. I'd like to see what others are thinking.