I've started a unit on Frankenstein for our 12th grade novel. I have some pretty ambitious expectations for my students to go with this novel. We'll be concentrating on theme and motif. I know! Not just plowing the way through the novel. And, what's more, I'm trying to get THEM to do the work, not me. So, there are discussion questions. Questions that I want the students to respond to, not me. AND, what's more, I want them to respond to each other's repsonses. THEN, I'm going to make them find something in text to support one - or more - of their responses, and explain how it fits with the assertion they are making.
Or, I'm just going to bang my head on the wall...
In my morning class, I think we were getting somewhere with the process. The afternoon class? Well, it is hard to tell, really. This class has a much harder time focussing, and staying focussed. Add to that a handful of students who just have to have some sort of verbal exchange with each other, and we teeter on the edge of accomplishing something or falling into total chaos. I give them the benefit of the doubt to a certain extent because while they often are lost, sometimes they are also genious. Hard to tell which is happening, sometimes.
For the discussion today, I had them respond to 4 questions, one at a time, in writing, and then trade to respond to another question. Any one paper should have several different (hopefully) responses to the same question. Tomorrow, I'll give them back those papers, in some random sort of order, and have them respond to what their classmates have written. Who is on the track you are on? Who isn't? Who has the most interesting/different/noteworthy response on this page? THEN, we'll share some of the results. I called it a round robin discussion in writing.
The sub who was in the room - and was an experienced teacher in her own right - complemented me on my teaching style. It always feels good to get positive feedback, especially when there are those days when you wonder if you're doing any good at all.
Next week, we will start to explore one of the themes in non-fiction as preparation for the persuasive writing piece that is an English 4 requirement. That should be interesting...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
They'll live up to your expectations if you'll let them. Oh, not all of them, but most of them. I really do believe that.
I read through them. In fact we read through many of them together today. Some were the "me too" comments you would expect some to be. Others were very insightful. And I love that not all the insightful comments were made by students who would have said them in a spoken discussion. Nice way to have different students contribute in a meaningful way!
I had some administrators and teachers tell Judy and I that we mustn't teach Shakespeare to our ACES classes, that they wouldn't get it.
We said BS. We did it anyway. I got some of my best work from those kids. I always think they'll come through if we'll trust them and treat them like they're smart.
Post a Comment