Appreciation Round Up

Appreciations are the glue that holds a class together.

Talk about an easy, no prep, power activity! This is one that gets easier each time you do it, so you have to trust me:

• Have the entire class stand in a circle
• Dim the classroom lights
• Put on some soft, relaxing music
• Start appreciating!  You may open up appreciations to the outside world or limit them to the people in the room. I like to alternate between the two.
• Examples of appreciations:
• “I appreciate how Robert always walks through the door with a smile.”
• “I appreciate Zaina’s laugh.”
• “I appreciate how Juan helps me with Geometry.”
• “I appreciate Bethany’s mermaid hair.”
• “I appreciate Nicole for sharing her hot cheetos with me.”

As you can see, some are deeper than others but they all have the same warming effect. Be prepared for silence the first few times you do it. You, in fact, may be the only one who says any appreciations during the first couple of attempts - that is okay. I promise you it will be worth the wait! 

The bonus effect of this game is the more you do it, the more kids will be looking for things to appreciate on a day to day basis. It highlights the need to focus on the positive in our sometimes crazy world.

Pop Culture Writing Assignment: Humans of New York

Humans of New York (HONY) Inspired Monologue

Below, you will find the instructions for a slam dunk assignment I did for the first time last year. Pair pop culture with writers' voice, tone, and creativity and sprinkle in a little public speaking and you have a Common Core darling! Have fun and post pix in the comments below if you try it out.

In this speech, you are taking on the identity of a person in a photograph that you have never met.

HONY started in November 2010 by photographer Brandon Stanton. He has gathered over 6,000 portraits of “Humans of New York.”  Paired with each photo is a SHORT blurb about the person.  Most always it is written from their perspective and their voice (1st person).

1.) Access “Humans of New York” HONY via the following ways:

website:  www.humansofnewyork.com

twitter

instagram/facebook page

2.) Read through as many profiles as you like until you find one that “speaks to you.”  It needs to compel you, make you wonder, and maybe even reflect on your own life.  It can remind you of yourself or be your polar opposite.  It can be someone you respect or disrespect.

3.) On a Google Doc, retype their blurb and then ADD YOUR continuation of their story.  This is fictional.  It needs to sound like it was written in their voice and you will be inventing a longer story for them. No matter how long their blurb is, your portion of their story must be AT LEAST one typed page (12 pt. double spaced) but can be longer to meet time requirements.

4.) YOUR MONOLOGUE WILL BE MEMORIZED using no cards.  You are ACTING like the person you have chosen, taking on their characteristics and voice, and mannerisms.  You will, of course, be creating all of this because all you have is a still photo and a short blurb.

5.) TIMING:  Your speech should be between 1 minute and 2 minutes

6.) DRESS in a similar fashion to your HONY

DUE:_________________________________________________________

{REPOST}: Silly Sculptures: 10 minutes = laughter, joy, and re-engagement.

My seniors are stressed.  Some for good reasons:  choosing between college admittances, touring campuses for final decisions, and solidifying rooming situations.  Others are attending Saturday school to make up credits so they can graduation.  All are victim to “Spring fever” and their detachment process towards high school is in full effect:  although healthy, every senior teacher knows the challenges of engaging 12th graders in spring.  

So, this week we stole 10 minutes of precious instructional minutes and built a silly sculpture. For 10 minutes, we were not worried about grades, graduation, or the future.  We were just allowed to be creative and, most importantly, laugh.  

In “Silly Sculpture” the kids are challenged to create a sculpture that symbolizes the team. The trick is, they are only allowed to use items found on them or in their backpack, binder, or purses.  This activity is three-fold:  you learn about your classmates by the items they carry (and how!), you see which kids emerge as leaders and which as followers, and finally they have to talk to each other to create one piece of art

Directions:

1. Place kids in groups of 3-6 kids each
2. Have groups squish desks together so there are no spaces or gaps in between.  This is their platform.
3. Have everyone empty out their “stuff” on to the desks.  This may be the most entertaining part of all.  The stories that come with the items have the kids cracking up.  One girl had a small plastic walrus in her purse...seriously!
4. Now give the kids 9 minutes on the timer to create their sculpture, decide what all of the items stand for and nominate one spokesperson per group to guide the class through their piece of art.
5. Once sculpture is made, direct the groups to discuss WHY their sculpture represents their group.  Spokesperson may want to jot down notes.
6. Spokesperson for each group stands and delivers an explanation of why their sculpture represents their group.

Some memorable explanations today:

• Glasses for us to see the future clearly
• asthma inhaler so we may breathe in life
• earbuds to represent listening to each other
• money shows we crave security
• even a tampon to represent equality between the sexes!

I would say the entire process took about 16-17 minutes (you do need to go from group to group to “keep them moving”), but after we completed it, I had such a productive remainder of my two hour block.  The kids were energized, connected, feeling positive, and rewarded me with a strong productive writers’ workshop session.

The most important aspect of the day:  we laughed.  We all just laughed, and I for one needed that.