I wish I would have taken more pictures throughout the semester. I started journaling every day at the beginning, but then I had no time for that either. It was a semester full of highs and lows. Here's a list of exciting and engaging activities I put together throughout my time at the high school. I wanted to share these, and have a list compiled of what I've done for when I need to look for a job next. :)
Sophomore English Class:
- Magazines for students who finish early: I noticed that when students were bored or not doing anything, they would start to cause classroom management problems. I thought of a great idea to find magazines for students to read when they finish early. It's a sneaky way to get them to read more. I asked my grandpa and uncles for hunting and fishing magazines. Ladies from my dad's office donated US Weekly and decorating magazines. The system worked well and kept students from becoming distractions.
- Websearch to start the To Kill a Mockingbird unit over Scottsboro trial, the KKK, and Jim Crow laws of the time period: Incorporating technology was an important part of my student teaching. I began my work sample by having the students complete a webquest.
- Bell ringers: Each day the students come in and there is a prompt on the board. This gave me time to take attendance and get set up for the day.
- Fishbowl discussion: This activity worked really well. The inner circle was discussing while the outer circle was tweeting about the same questions and prompts. I created a common hashtag and the students replied to each other. The two groups changed periodically. Students worked on using academic language. "I agree with _____." "I disagree with ____, but I would like to add that..."
- Article of the Week assignment developed by Kelly Gallagher.
- Teacher Twitter to remind students about assignments and classwork: Worked really well and I wish I would have started it earlier in the semester. Good way to provide assignments with candy incentives like extra videos to watch, or book recommendations for the summer.
- Walking in Someone's Shoes activity stolen from here
- Character foldable from here
- Having students make a Twitter, Pinterest or Facebook from a specific character's point of view. Forms purchased from Teachers Pay Teachers. Two of the girls used the Pinterest page from Scout's perspective. They had things pinned like "soap carvings" and "how to create a ham costume." It was so fun and interactive.
- What "stuck" with you today? board for exit slips from here
- Flyswatter review game before a quiz
- Word sort: organizing the events of Part I of TKAM
- Wall graffiti/Chalk talk: What is courage? What are examples of courage from real life? Books? Movies? From To Kill a Mockingbird? First they made a mini one at their desks, which was their brainstorming session. Then, I had all the students come up from their desks and write an example on the board. Next time I would probably have them write down more than one example.
- Connection to real life: creating a big Venn Diagram comparing the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin trial, to the Scottsboro boys trial, to the Tom Robinson trial in To Kill a Mockingbird
- Writing postcards from one character to another
- Magazine scavenger hunt: I never got to actually do this with the students because we ran out of time, but I wanted to combine non-fiction and fiction. They love looking at magazines, so I was going to incorporate the magazines and have them search for connections between the information in the magazine and the novel we were reading.
- Poll Everywhere: This website has cell phone voting. I used this once with my students to see if they liked if I read aloud to them better than if they read independently (it was a tie). The students LOVED getting to use their cellphones in class. I would definitely incorporate this into further curriculum and activities.
- Plan a birthday party: The students were learning birthday party vocabulary. We had just finished a mini unit with Green Eggs and Ham, so I made that the theme for my example. They had to create an invitation, and they had to tell what they were going to do at the party and what they have to do in order to prepare for the party. It was a speaking grade. I made mini green eggs and ham out of white chocolate, pretzels, and M&Ms.
- Alebrije: I finished off my time at the high school with an animal unit. It connected to their lives, and it was just fun. The students learned about animal parts and verbs. I explained what an alebrije is and the students made their own crazy animals. They wrote paragraphs describing their animals and what they can do.
- Verb chart: I used with ir, tener, estar and ser. Could be used with any verbs.
- Cup activity with present tense verbs (can be modified for preterit, subjunctive, etc.) from here: This worked really well. I had many boys in my classes, so using kinesthetic learning techniques helped keep them engaged.
- Animal charades outside as a reward for good behavior
- Flyswatter game
- Twiccionario: These worksheets were interactive and connected Spanish and the technology aspect of their lives.
- Me gusta poster: What do you like to do? What do you not like to do? Create a creative poster using photos and drawings, then present to the class for a speaking grade. I did this one of the first weeks I was teaching. It gave the students a good glimpse into my own life and what I like to do in my spare time.
- Spanish texting: real life example from a conversation with my host sister, then practicing use the abbreviations and "texting" with a classmate (ex: jaja, TQM, qx)
- Jesse and Joy - Corre: I made a powerpoint and worksheet to help them translate the lyrics of this song. They all LOVED the song, and many of them downloaded it when they got home. Some students downloaded other songs by them, and one student even had her mom listen to the song. Getting them to listen to Spanish music outside of class? Too priceless.
- Hand for conjugating verbs
- Madlibs (never got to actually use, but I created a few that I thought would be fun)
What I'm reflecting about: The semester challenged me, but I am so much stronger than I was in the fall. I miss my students. This quote below sums up the semester pretty well.
From: here
Con mucho amor.
