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The assignment that my students dread or hate the most would have to be essay writing. Overcoming this stigma has been a struggle, so I've tried to find a way to make it "exciting" or at least something for my students to look forward to. Starting last year, I began offering hot cocoa and coffee as an incentive because, if we're being real, we most likely always have a coffee in hand when writing (at least I always do, including right now). It makes the experience more pleasant, and it makes writing more of a novel experience for them. In the text, I really liked the "pass the mic" prop idea because this is something simple that could be incorporated easily with various lessons. When we get to argumentative writing Q3, I plan to recreate this in my classroom. Using surprise props for essay writing is something that I think would be a fun, novel activity as well.

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Sometimes I feel like lesson planning ends up being a decision of "what can I give that puts us one day closer to Friday?" We need to give a test, let's do that Friday; well they really need to write so lets write this week; oh and we need to discuss grammar let's plan a grammar mini-lesson on Tuesday. Chapter 5 introduces lesson planning utilizing Understanding by Design (UbD) or backwards design. I think to some degree we all start with an end goal in mind, but rarely, actually, thoroughly plan backwards from that goal. Using UbD focuses on planning standards-based lessons backwards, starting with the intended learning objectives, and providing an opportunity for students to recognized these intended learning outcomes and for the teacher to utilize these suggested flashbulb activities most effectively. English II is planning to focus on building our students' vocabulary, and utilizing UbD will help us decide what vocabulary to use and how we can best ensue mastery. Starting with establishing our learning expectations are, say 20 new vocabulary words learned by the end of a 2-week period, we could then plan backwards from creating the assessments that will test for definitional understanding and practical application of these vocabulary words, to ending out planning the actual lessons and assignments that will teach/provide students these vocabulary/roots/affixes words. Utilizing planning strategies like UbD help us as educators plan lessons that are effective, engaging, and most importantly make sense to our students.

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One strategy mentioned in Keeping the Wonder is classroom transformations. On essay writing days, I always have this slide up on my board when my students come into class. I try to give them a day's notice, so they can bring drinks and snacks to have while they're writing. Prior to putting my room in "Starbucks mode," I struggled with getting my students to settle down and focus on their writing. A lot of them would get distracted by a classmate, something on their computer, etc. Once I turned my room in a coffee shop, I noticed that my students would quiet down faster, and they would really get into the writing zone! Even my students who dislike writing get really into it! Eventually, I would like to have a Keurig in my room, so my kiddos can "order" a coffee (inspired by Mrs. Knight).

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I used an escape room for The Great Gatsby to help students review content, symbolism, and figurative language after reading chapter 4. The kids love it, and it is a great use of classroom dramatization. The students have a code to start and then they have to complete riddles to find the challenges hid around the room. One example is they had to find the picture of F. Scott Fitzgerald (it was taped to my Bob Segar poster). Then they had to find the envelope hidden and complete the task of matching 8 examples of figurative language with quotes from the novel in order to break the next code. It creates an engaging, memorable experience that captures students' attention and emphasizes key concepts. By immersing students in problem-solving techniques, the material feels relevant and exciting.

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Before we begin the argumentative essay, we have a class debate about the pizza place around. I start by using Mentimeter to narrow down the pizza places to the three favorite restaurants. The students make groups in different areas of the classroom and write five reason their pizza place is the best. Each group presents their reasons. Then, they have to come up with two to three reasons why the other pizzas places are good and refute them. The students have fun with the activity and learn the basic requirements for an argumentative essay.

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A strategy mentioned in Keeping the Wonder is that we can "harness 3the element of. surprise... through classroom setup. There's nothing like the first day of school when students walk into your room for the first time."

This year I was DETERMINED for my kids to love my classroom, and I was motivated to make my environment welcoming for not only my kids but for myself, too. I spend so much time in here that I need it to feel more like MY space and less like a... well... prison cell.

Making your classroom homey will make kids actually want to be there, just like making it empty will make them feel unattached. I put a lot of thought into my room to make sure it isn't visually overstimulating or distracting, but also set up in a way where my kids can access their instructional materials (bookshelves, Promethean Board and composition books), and to make sure it supports learning, collaboration and movement.

I've had so many kids say they love my room and that it feels so relaxing to them. They have even said that they feel comfortable in here and can "actually focus!"

For now on, I've decided that Flashbulb Classrooms are a MUST!

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Teaching line of reasoning--how to organize or even evaluate an argument--is always a challenge for AP Language (and honestly for all English classes). My thinking partner Syndey Scruggs and I have borrowed ideas from board books to illustrate line of reasoning through If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. We took the lesson a step further and brought cookies (brain boosters) to reinforce the concept. Due to the popularity of the NYT Connections game, my classes have been completing the game each day as a bell ringer--explaining the line of reasoning that the Connections make. It's all in good fun while teaching a valuable skill that we use throughout the year--and throughout life!

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Several characters from the novel Frankenstein reacting to their first sight of the Creature.

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We're gearing up for Literary Thanksgiving again this year, which involves some room transformation but also a lot of dramatization. Students have to come as a character from any piece we've read so far this year, both dressing (at least a little) like that character, and acting and interacting with each other like their character would. They do an in-depth character analysis assignment ahead of time to prepare. It's a great review of everything we've read so far as well as pretty good motivation to get them to do deep dives into character analysis with text support.

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"Classroom Dramatizations" is a strategy that dramatizes a novel or a particular incident in the novel. It places students in the middle of a scenario. To teach the setting of The Great Gatsby I had students work in in pairs to complete a Scavenger Hunt. Students used Google Maps to complete routes on an actual map of Long Island. They also used Zillow to search for properties priced at $6 million and up. Students (and I) found it interesting how many homes were listed with "Gatsby Style" features. While having them use "real world" tools, they were learning about the setting of The Great Gatsby.

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One strategy is room transformations. When students walk into a room that is different than their typical classroom, there is a peak in interest and curiosity. This year to teach Edgar Allan Poe, I transformed my classroom to be more gothic in nature. Poe's work was also posted around the room for students to identify poetic techniques.