Picture Writing Prompts

In the never-ending battle to get my students to write with concrete details instead of abstractions, I've found that visuals often help.

Here's a picture prompt that has been particularly effective. I ask my students to imagine themselves inside this bike racer's body. What does he hear? What does he see? What's going through his mind? How do his legs feel? I ask them to put the reader in the moment--in a sense, become the bike rider.

This probably works better than just assigning a topic because it's so focused. The students aren't trying to tap into a personal experience where there are side stories and distractions.

After they are finished writing, we find any abstractions that have slipped through ("tired," "excited," "motivated") and work on better ways to show these concepts.

Click here for a linky party where you can access a whole bunch of picture writing prompts from some pretty awesome teachers.

Enthusiastic Teaching

"Mrs. Torres," said one of my students recently, "you really care about this stuff don't you?"

I was a bit taken aback, and said, "Well, if I don't care about it, how can I expect you to care about it?"

"You'd be surprised," the student said. "You're different, because you seem to be passionate about what you're presenting."

Of course I loved the compliment, but my overwhelming feeling was that it was sad that this student, and maybe others, feel that some of their instructors don't care about what they are teaching. I believe it is my responsibility, even if I'm NOT feeling it, to present material as if it's important, it matters, and yes, that I have a passion for it. If a student senses that you are bored with the subject matter, well, game over. Seriously, how can a teacher expect a student to care if it's presented with a so-what attitude?

The key is to find material that does inspire something in you. I don't care how many times we watch a clip of Maya Angelou reciting her poem, "Still I Rise" it practically brings me to tears and I don't mind the emotion in my voice; they pay attention. And as I explain Angelou's background to the students and they begin to grasp what she has overcome personally and culturally, it can't help but affect them in a way that it wouldn't if I just gave it to them on paper to read.

Easy to say about teaching inspiring poetry (which is far from my favorite subject matter, by the way--I'd prefer to skip poetry entirely--shhhh don't tell anyone!), but what about teaching apostrophes or run-on sentences or, heaven help us, MLA formatting? One way to inspire enthusiasm is to honestly explain how important the overall concept is to the students' ability to communicate in an educated, professional manner. Then, make it into a game. Do a speed quiz. Throw paper balls at the right answer. Make an obstacle course. Award prizes. If I'm not so excited about where to put your periods in an MLS citation, I can get excited about my students trying to unravel a rope puzzle before moving on to the next quiz question.

Every day and every lesson does not have to be a circus act, but an instructor's overall attitude about the subject matter can make or break a class for a student.

Hunger Games Valentines

If you are teaching the Hunger Games in your classroom, here's great free supplement from Tracee Orman, the Hunger Games teaching goddess (she has a website called hungergameslessons.com). These Valentines will reinforce your lessons and bring a smile to your students' faces. They'll think you're more charming than a dead slug.

May the odds be ever in your favor!

Valentine Blog Hop! Give-Away! Freebies!

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Freebie!
What could be better than love poems on Valentine's Day? A hilarious class limerick activity that reinforces poetic form, syllables and parts of speech. Click on the picture below so you can download this latest freebie:

Facilitative versus Traditional Teaching

I've been working on an academic paper recently about facilitative versus traditional lecture-style teaching. Anyone who has studied teaching methods recently knows that facilitative teaching is widely accepted as the better learning method. Paulo Freire's writings on the "banking" method, where the teacher sees the students as empty vessels waiting to filled, and thus projects ignorance on students, makes it clear that this is not an ideal learning, or teaching, situation. I'm no extremist, and I think that traditional lecturing is appropriate under certain circumstances, as long as the power differential doesn't suggest "I'm all-knowing and you are not," but why do some teachers still rely heavily on lecturing rather than facilitating when circumstances permit?

I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and for me, there are a lot of reasons, but I think the time I fall back on lectures when I shouldn't is because facilitation introduces risk, and a lack of control in the classroom. If I'm lecturing, I have my notes; I know how long it will take; I can direct questions and answers. If I'm facilitating a group discussion, I don't have this control. I have to admit, that I am sometimes uncomfortable leaving a chunk of time to be directed by the students, because it leaves open the possibility of all kinds of risk and even "chaos" as some theorists call it.

Of course one of the great things about facilitation is that the teacher learns right along with the students, but sometimes this also, pardon my French, scares the crap out of me. What if I learn something that changes the way I think about the topic at hand? I'm not afraid to learn new things and change my thinking, in fact, I welcome it, but having this happen in front of an entire classroom makes me wonder if I'll have the wherewithal to be able to keep my wits about me, articulate what I mean, and not be a stuttering idiot in front of my students. I was never afraid to explore brand new thought processes out loud as a student, but as a teacher, it seems like there's much more at stake.

The times when I have taken the plunge for facilitative teaching when I've been tempted to lecture have all well been worth it. In fact, after a recent class period, I had several students comment on what a great class it was that day. I said "thank you," but the truth is, I hadn't said much of anything at all, or prepared much of anything besides a facilitative-type activity. They had done the work and had been fully invested. They were satisfied, and had a successful experience. So what I should have said, was, "No, thank YOU!"

Talk Radio for Teachers

Today I added a widget to the sidebar on the right that will allow you to listen to talk radio for teachers! TBA Radio Today is from the Teaching Blog Addict (a website you should most definitely visit for discussions of all things educational) and features a variety of guests - teachers, authors, administrators etc...Inspirational stuff. I like to listen while I prepare my lesson plans.

Free Ethos, Pathos, Logos Handouts

 

I have always been a huge fan of Queen Elizabeth I's speech meant to encourage her troops to fight an inevitable invasion by the Spanish Armada in 1588. Besides being fascinated by the royal "we" and all that entailed, I found the speech a model for persuasive techniques. Take this example:

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“Let tyrants fear. I have always so behaved myself that, under God, I have placed my chiefest strength and safeguard in the loyal hearts and good-will of my subjects. And therefore I am come amongst you, as you see, at this time, not for my recreation or disport, but being resolved, in the midst and heat of the battle, to live and die amongst you all."

What better example of ethos, or establishing yourself as a person of character, trust and integrity, could there be? She made herself appear strong, unafraid, loyal and at one with the people all at the same time. I used this example, and two other examples of famous speeches to demonstrate ethos, pathos and logos on these free handouts. Copy them and pass them out to your students, or use them as transparencies while teaching.

Click on the pictures below or the cover above to download the file.

Each one has an illustration (by the fabulous Brennyn Carmen), an explanation and example. These handouts are included in my persuasive writing unit, but they stand alone for many purposes. I hope you find them useful!