09.27 - Activity Sign Up

We started class today with everyone having the first 15 minutes to read from their free choice books. During this time, I went around and spoke with people individually about their books.

Next, everyone chose a partner with whom they would like to lead an activity. Partners reviewed a packet of possible activities to choose from and then signed up for an activity and a day to present the activity to the class (we established a choosing pattern via a rock, paper, scissor bracket).

At the end of class, everyone reviewed the categories that we created to evaluate activities (below) and responded to the following prompt:

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Looking at the evaluation categories we chose; "fun," "to be," and "to have" come up with a description for this category that would tell someone unfamiliar with it what sort of behaviors it evaluates. Also, see if we can come up with official, user-friendly category titles ("to be" and "to have" are ok working titles, but will be difficult for outside people to understand).

Homework:

If you did not finish your category description for the activity categories, do so for homework.

Read for two hours from your free choice book (use the page count we established on 09/19).

09.25 - Experiential Rubric

We started today's class with some time for everyone to read from their free choice books. From there we moved into using the categories we created last class to evaluate the tarp flip activity and debrief that we also did last class. After everyone had a chance to fill this rubric out, we discussed students' answers.

Next class, everyone will partner up and select an activity which they will present to the class.

Initial Draft of our Experiential Rubric

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Homework:

Continue to read from your free choice book so that you read for at least two hours over the course of the week.

09.23 - Experiential Rubric

Today in class we were building an experiential rubric that we will use to evaluate and talk about the activities that we use in class. To start this process off, everyone responded to the following writing prompt in their journal. The experiential elements list (see below) was displayed for people to work with while responding.

Look at the list of experiential elements that should be a part of most or all experiential activities. Find a way to categorize these elements in 4 to 8 categories that could be put on a rubric to talk about an activity. (Think of this as funneling 20 elements into 4 - 8 natural categories)

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After coming up with these categories, I organized the class into groups of three and each group was tasked with sharing their categories and then agreeing upon 4 - 8 categories that best represented the list. These groups then combined with another group of three and did the same thing. This left two groups that then met, shared the categories that their groups had refined, and produced one final group of categories. The master group of categories that the class selected were: To Be, To Have, and Fun. Elements were sorted into these categories as follows:

We then did an activity in which the class had to fit everyone on a tarp and then flip the tarp over.  In this activity, one side of the tarp was labeled "Traditional English" and the other was labeled "Experiential English." When we debriefed the activity we talked about what worked well, what was challenging, and how the tarp flip from the "Traditional English" side to the "Experiential English" side could represent our experience in attempting to make the same transition in our class.

In the last few minutes we talked about using the "To Be," "To Have," and "Fun" rubric to assess how well this activity went. This assessment would include both the activity and the debrief. Everyone should write this debrief for homework and we will talk about these discussions next class.

Homework:

Evaluate how well you feel today's activity went (including the debrief). Discuss the activity and debrief in terms of the "To Be," "To Have," and "Fun" categories that we created today in class.

Read from your free choice book.

09.19 - Leadership

We started today's class with ten minutes of reading from everyone's free choice books. At the end of the ten minutes, we used this number to calculate how many pages per week each person should be reading if they are reading for approximately two hours per week.

Next, we started a discussion around leadership by doing an activity in which one partner was tasked with getting their partner to open their closed fist (without touching or threatening them). We talked about how this was like being a leader where the leader needs to get someone to do something or to work with that person to achieve a goal.

We then did an activity in which people designed leadership flags. These flags feature two pictures, one that represents one of their strengths as a leader and another representing how they would like to grow as a leader. At the end of class, everyone shared out what they put on their flag. The template we used in class for these flags is included below.

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Homework:

Read for two hours from your free choice book.

09.17 - Evaluating Experiential Activities

Today in class, we finished sharing out the elements that people noted as being important in experiential activities from our group reads last class. The elements we identified were:

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We then did an experiential activity called "The Wind Blows" in which people share something about themselves and learn who has that interest or fact in common with them. We then expanded the activity to include a moment of reflection in which the person picked one of the terms/ideas from our list of elements on the board and either defined what that element meant to them or shared an example of what that element would look like. After sharing, the person went on to share a fact about themselves. I kept track of which items people chose to talk about and what they said. This is what our notes looked like at the end:

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Black text = text added during the "The Wind Blows" activity

We debriefed this activity with the concentric circle discussion format. In this type of discussion everyone rotates partners spending two minutes with that partner. One minute is spent responding to a discussion question and the other minute is spent listening to their partner's response. The questions we discussed were:

What did you think of the "The Wind Blows" activity?

What worked well in the activity today?

What could have been improved upon in the activity today?

Which elements of experiential education that we identified did this activity do a good job of focusing on?

Which elements of experiential education that we identified did this activity fail to really focus on?

After engaging in discussions around these questions. Everyone responded individually in writing to the following prompt which was submitted for assessment at the end of the period.

Evaluate how effective today's activity was in terms of being engaging (fun) and in terms of being successful in discussing the important elements of experiential activities? Identify both strengths and weaknesses for the level of engagement and discussion. Explain your responses by referring to specific moments from the activity or your discussion with others.

Homework:

If you did not finish responding to the final question at the end of class, do so for homework.

9.13 - Elements of Experiential Programming

I started today's class off with a book talk regarding two books available as free choice books in our class library. These books were Small Gods by Terry Pratchet and Gang Leader for a day by Sudhir Vankatesh. If you were interested in these books, you can add them to your "Next Reads" list from class.

In today's class, we were looking at elements of experiential facilitation (the type of activities we hope to use to make English instruction more fun and engaging). I had five reading selections photocopied and organized the class into groups of three (with one group of four).

In their groups, everyone chose a reading and highlighted or underlined key pieces of information in the text that tell what important elements of running these activities are. After everyone read their own article, they shared what they had read with their groups.

I gave groups large sheets of paper and markers to record the range of important elements that came up in the readings.

We began sharing these out at the end of class and will review these lists again next class as we begin to work with and look at these elements more.

Homework:

Read from your free choice book (we will establish appropriate page amounts next class).

09.11 - Recapture Reads

We started today's class by reviewing our plan for free choice reading in class (see Monday's post for more information)

We then headed down to the library where people were to find a book they could start reading and to start building a list of books that might be good to read next.

The idea behind the "Next Reads" list is that there is something on deck to read when someone finishes a book or something to go back to and look at if one book falls flat so that someone can drop the uninteresting book and check out one that might be better.

On the "Next Reads" sheet it was also an option to add illustrations to the margin which represent areas of interest (types of books and/or life interests, hobbies, and activities). This can help people focus on what types of books they would like to find or can help us start some conversations around what kinds of books they are interested in. People are also welcome to get recommendations from friends and classmates about other books to read.

Extra copies of the reading sheets are available here: Recapture Reads.

Homework:

Start reading your chosen book!

9.09 - Reading Plan and Intro to Experiential Activities

We started today off by talking about the role that reading plays in high school English classes and how much students actually read. To get this conversation started, everyone responded to the following question in their writing journal:

What percentage of a class do you think actually finishes the book(s) that are assigned in English? 

What percentage do you think start the book and don't finish it?

What percentage do you think never finish the book?

What do you think prevents people from finishing (or maybe even starting) assigned books in English?

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, we discussed students' answers.

In general, estimates ran that only about 50% of the people in a class were reading with 25% finishing the assigned book(s) and the other 25% starting, but not finishing the book.

Reasons for these rates were attributed to lack of interest in reading, lack of interest in a specific book, and trouble with the class' pacing (too fast or too slow).

I then talked about the two plans I had for reading in our Recapture class.

Plan 1 -

Students read 2 - 3 of the books for the English class they need recaptured credit in and use those books for the material we discuss in class.

Plan 2 -

Students read free choice books instead of assigned books. However, there is not a number of books assigned, but an amount of time assigned (2 hours per week). Time spent reading will be verified by figuring out how much a student can read in ten minutes and then figuring out how many pages that is over the course of two hours. We'll check in each week to see what people have for page counts and conference to talk about books that students are reading.

The idea for Plan 2 came from the book Book Love by Penny Kittle. In class we talked about the book and I answered students' specific questions about the plan. In the end, everyone elected to go with Plan 2. If any student is interested in pursuing Plan 1, that remains an option.

We will go to the library next class to select books. People are also free to bring in books from home that they would like to read.

Our next activity was a reading that focused on the experiential approach we will be exploring in our class. The reading talked about how and why experiential approaches can be beneficial to meetings of people (which can include our English class). See Mr. Collins if you need a copy of this reading.

Homework:

If you have a free choice book at home that you would like to read, bring it in next class.

09.05 - Marigolds (Writing)

For today's class, everyone had time to write their response to the short story "Marigolds" that we read in class yesterday. Everyone had the period to write their response. These essays will be assessed to help me plan and structure our work in English this year by showing me what people can already do well and what areas we should focus on improving. These essays will not be entered into the grade book.

Materials for this writing are available here:

"Marigolds" by Eugenia Collier
Essay assignment and prompts
Essay assessment rubric

Additional information on this assignment is available through Tuesday's post.

Homework:

If you did not do so in class, finish writing your essay for tomorrow.

09.03 - Marigolds (Reading)

At the beginning of class, everyone responded to the following prompt in their writing journal:

Have you moved from childhood to adulthood yet? How do you know or how will you know? Explain your response.

After everyone had a chance to respond to this prompt, students formed groups based on their general answer (yes, no, it's complicated). Groups discussed and then shared out the reasons they had for their choices.

We used this discussion to prepare us for our reading of the story "Marigolds" by Eugenia Collier in which a young woman transitions from childhood to adulthood.

We will be writing an in class essay using this story next class. Before reading the story, we looked at the assignment, prompt choices, and rubric that will be used to assess students' responses. This essay will not go in the grade book as a formal grade. The essay is an opportunity for me to see where everyone is at in terms of their essay writing.


I read the story aloud with the help of some students volunteers.

Handouts from today's class:

"Marigolds" by Eugenia Collier
Essay assignment and prompts
Essay assessment rubric


Homework:

Think about which essay prompt you would like to respond to next class.

Revisit the story to firm up your understanding of it and how you can use it to respond to one of the essay prompts.

If you do not have one already, be sure to get a writer's journal for class. See the posts on 08.29 and 08.30 for details.