The yearbook is complete, submitted, done. Now what? You have several months of school left, and you aren't sure how to keep your students on task for the remaining days. Does this sound familiar? With spring delivery or even summer delivery books where students take yearbook/journalism as a class, it's often difficult -- and even daunting -- to come up with creative and constructive ways to use that time. As we all know, doing nothing is not an option! In this blog post, I'll share 5 ways to use class time after the yearbook is complete. … [Read more...]
Internet-Free Activities for Middle and High School Classrooms, Any Subject
Recently, we experienced a school-wide Internet outage where I teach, and being without access to the World Wide Web really threw my students and me (along with everyone else in the building) for a loop. The days we were out of Internet, I had planned for students to make presentations that were stored in Google classroom, print papers to turn in, among other things that required Internet. It's not the first time the Internet has gone down in our rural school, but going without really kicked my Plan B mindset into gear. So, I've put together … [Read more...]
5 Ways to Keep Students Tuned-In at the End-of-the-Year
It's getting to be that time of year when things get a little crazy - a little sideways. Students - and teachers - are starting to tune out! So hopefully, these ideas will make these end-of-year days less stressful, and more fun. Plus, these 5 ways to keep students tuned-in at the end-of-the-year are all student-centered and standards-based, so the kiddos stay engaged, and your job is easy. Join me for a fun recap of 5 ways to keep students tuned-in this time of year. Perfect for any secondary education classroom.1) Make It … [Read more...]
Host a Gatsby Party: End of Year Literary-Themed, Text-Based Classroom Parties
It’s that time of year – the end of the year. And that means classroom parties. My students always ask for a party of some sort, so several years ago I decided I would allow them to have a party – on one condition – it must be literature based. We always study The Great Gatsby at the end of the semester, and, of course, it doesn’t get much better than that to inspire a party. If you are thinking about doing the same, here are a couple of ideas for planning your Gatsby party! (These tips can be easily applied to hosting a literature-based … [Read more...]
Tips for Teaching with Movies in Class
This week I was evaluated... twice, actually. I'm pretty sure the number of times I’ve shown a full-length movie this year I can count on one hand; that's true most of the time. I do, however, regularly show video clips as starters or as tutorials or examples to supplement content. So this year, it has been very odd that three of the seven times I was evaluated (they are all unscheduled pop-ins) have been when I was teaching with movies. No cute hands-on project. No grouping. No discussions. Just. My. Luck. I am only ever showing … [Read more...]
