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I Don't Really Know What I'm Doing: New Unit of Study (With A Highly Professional Title!)

I'm working on a new unit for English 2. And let me begin by saying I don't know what I'm doing!

 This is my first year to teach English 2 since 1999. My current students weren't even born then! Also, I have just returned to the classroom after a hiatus allowing a student teacher to experiment. I learned so many things from that period, namely, that sitting and watching when used to being involved is one tough challenge! In addition, I'm jumping in head first with another hair-brained idea I borrowed from Shanna Peeples, National Teacher of the Year 2015, and an #NCTE16 session presented by Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher. Yeah, I can go home and completely replicate what all of these pros do, right?

 Whoa.

 We started with questions.
What do you wonder?
What do you love?
What do you loathe?

 And we wrote.

 Now, we are refining a topic from those questions to pursue. The next step is to create written output in various forms - analysis, poetry, talking. 

 Did I mention that I really don't know what I'm doing?

 I ultimately hope to have each student turn in a multi-genre project, complete with analysis of pertinent research plus two connected pieces of writing from two genres of their own selection. So, where I am now is showing them possibilities.

 Last Friday, it was the spoken word poetry of Sarah Kaye and Taylor Mali and Hebron grad, Loren Querickol. This week, it's TED talks. I've used and enjoyed the one about the Single Story by Chimamanda Adichie, and I always use the beginning of Tracy Chevalier's talk 
about writing The Girl with the Pearl Earring. But I was looking for more. And then I found this:
WOW. She's a high school junior who wants to change the world. She talked about being a leader and making change in her community, none of which requires a scantron and a #2 pencil! I'm so very impressed by her conviction, her poise, and just how positively right she is! 

I hope my students like her as they hear her words this week. I hope they can find a nugget of truth in her words and experience. And, I hope that, through this project and their writings, my students can also be change agents in our school, our community, and our world, beginning with their words.




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