MHJH Room 121 - IT's a CommUNITY - Day 3

The week wrapped up in Room 121 going through the final day of our three-part series on building a commUNITY in our English classroom.  After highlighting the events from the previous two days and explaining to the students a little about what they were going to be a part of today we were off and running.

The lesson began with a little talk about September 11, 2001, and where I was when the news came through of what was happening in our country on that fateful day.  I remember it like it was yesterday, but it was sobering when I realized my current students weren't even born yet.  They were the most attentive and quiet as I recalled that day.  I shared with them the video clip from NASA of the September 11th Airspace Shutdown, the accompanying timeline, and the Cleveland connection.

Youtube Video of the September 11th Airspace Shutdown

I'm sure all of you are thinking, "September 11, 2001, is an odd connection to respect and community", but in all reality, there's nothing odd about it.  In fact, out of that tragedy came one of the greatest, yet little-known stories ever.  Being a fan of the Olympics ever since I was a wee one (and that's been a long time) I've spent weeks of my life watching and following both the winter and summer Olympics ever since 1980.  It was during my viewing of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada that I learned the importance Gander, Newfoundland played to the world that unimaginable day.  Tom Brokaw did a 43 minute special on Gander and the events that unfolded on September 11, 2001.  If you have the time, please take a moment to watch the report he shared.

"Operation Yellow Ribbon" Gander, Newfoundland

This Olympic report led me to the book, The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 Gander, Newfoundland, by Jim McFede.  It was in this book that I was introduced to Werner Baldessarini, fashion designer and businessman, and former chairman of Hugo Boss.  He was on one of the international flights diverted and ordered to land in Gander when the U.S. airspace was shut down.  It was here that he would spend 72 hours waiting for airspace around the United States of America to reopen.  It was also here that he learned the true meaning of community, and it is here that I finally came to the end of a quest to find a clear definition of what community means thanks to the words of Mr. Baldessarini.   Read the excerpt from the above book that is the epitome of commUNITY:

“There was no hatred.  No anger.  No fear in Gander.  Only the spirit of community.  Here, everyone was equal, everyone was treated the same.  Here, the basic humanity of man wasn’t just surviving but thriving.  And Baldessarini understood that he was a witness to it and it was affecting him in ways he’d never imagined.

His assistants in Frankfurt thought he was crazy when he called to cancel the private jet.  He tried explaining that flying home while the others were left behind would have been an act of betrayal of everything that had happened over the last seventy-two hours.  Wherever his fellow passengers went, that’s where he would go.  However long it took them to get home, that’s how long he’d be gone.  He was in this until the end.” - page 194 - The Day the World Came to Town: 9/11 Gander, Newfoundland by Jim McFede

The above is how I make sure learning happens in my classroom. I watch over an environment where there is no hatred, anger, fear, etc.. It is an environment where everyone feels safe to be who they are. I guarantee 52 minutes of safety, care, and kindness to anyone who is a part of Room 121. It is a constant work in progress, but because reading and writing are such personal subjects, where students are asked to dig deep and share, I have to make sure the place they do their learning is one of respect and commUNITY. The class motto encompasses all that Room 121 is about: "We don’t have rules … we have a mutual philosophy of RESPECT for ALL."

MHJH Room 121 - IT's a CommUNITY - Day 2

Yesterday when the students walked into Room 121 they were met with the agenda as always.  They knew we were going to be using Kahoot again for another activity centered around our classroom environment.  The plan for yesterday was to show a short clip from the movie, "Remember the Titans," and play the music video of Bette Midler's, "From a Distance."

It was the songs that were the driving force of yesterday's activity.  In the short clip from the movie, Cat Steven's "Peace Train" is playing in the background as Julius, is on his way to Gary Bertier's home.  Julius is an African-American high school football player in a predominately white neighborhood when a police officer pulls up beside him.  The racially charged times made building the Titans football team a difficult task. However, with the dedication of head coach, Herman Boone and his staff, and constant, yet at times, subtle reminders a mutual respect for the game and ALL its players was built.  It was no accident that the song "Peace Train" was chosen as background music for that scene.  Take a look at the clip and see if you understand why such a powerful song was put into that scene.  The students were asked to do the same on Kahoot :-).

"Peace Train" in "Remember the Titans"

We transitioned away from "Peace Train" and to another song, "From a Distance."  I prepped the students for the viewing by asking them to pay attention to the words being sung and the role of children in the video.  I emphasized not getting caught up in the religious connotation of the song's refrain, but to pay more attention to the words of the verses.  At the conclusion of the video, the students were asked to identify the theme of the video.  Give the song a listen and the video a look and ask yourself, what is the theme?

Bette Midler's music video for "From a Distance"

At the end of our Kahoot and a short discussion, students were asked to begin working with their table partners on the task of defining the words respect and community.  They were then to come up with two examples for each word of the definition in action.  What does respect look like?  What does community look like?  The students struggled with coming up with a definition for respect.  They knew what it was but couldn't put it into words.  The table with Julia, Zach, Kylie, Roman, and Lily summed up the difficulty of this task well, when they said, "Respect is so easy to understand yet so complicated to explain/define."

So, why are these two songs the anthems for Room 121?  It's very simple, "Peace Train" is connected to RESPECT, and "From a Distance" is connected to COMMUNITY.  The student's experiences of not belonging, these two songs, along with the ideas of respect and community they came up with together, and the third part in our series, will lead us to an environment in Room 121 that supports and encourages ALL.  Come back later today for the final installment of MHJH Room 121 - It's a commUNITY.

MHJH Room 121 - IT's a CommUNITY - Day 1

Our first week of school has been spent getting to know each other.  I have consciously chosen not to post or go over any rules or expectations for my classroom, with the exception of a class syllabus since that was passed out at Open House.  The first several days of school are typically spent allowing students to choose where they sit, observing them interacting with each other and with me (spoken words and actions).  Once a few days of observing are done, those observations are used to develop a classroom philosophy.  A process of how anyone in Room 121 (student, adult, and/or guest) will treat others and be treated.  This adopted philosophy is more often than not very simple.  One single simple sentence. This year for the first time, a three- part series has been planned, and these lessons will lead us to our 2016-2017 class philosophy.

Day 1 of our journey to developing it brought about a chance to use our Chromebooks and a site called, Kahoot. Students answered a six- question series that focused on a time when they felt like they didn't belong.  After responding to the first question of, "where did you have that feeling of not belonging" the students answered the remaining five, which built off of question number one.

Above - The Kids & Kahoot; Right - The Kahoot Questions

After completing the Kahoot activity, the students were redirected to Google Classroom and to a Form where they wrote a paragraph reflecting on the time they recall feeling like they didn't belong. It is with these reflections that I hope to continue the journey of learning about my students and getting a sneak peek of their writing style and abilities in an informal way.  Day 2 of our 3 part series took place today and introduced the students to our class anthems.  Two songs that embody the philosophy we will be adopting as we build our Room 121 commUNITY.  

D'Oh!  You Want Me to Do What?!?!

Yesterday at the Berea City School District opening day convocation for staff the challenge of teaching with your heart was thrown out.  I have always prided myself by doing just that and thanks to a colleague of mine the students participated in a great first day of school activity involving Play-Doh.

The first day of school traditionally involves teachers passing out a course syllabus, directions for Remind 101, going over class expectations, etc..  As I have done in the past, I broke away from traditions and involved the students in sculpting something they wanted their classmates to know about them.  I gave the students some ideas to help them process the directions and alleviate some of the anxiety they may have been feeling about the whole activity.  I even told them I'd participate and my first day was spent creating five different sculptures for each of my five classes.

Throughout the entire process, the students were engaged, laughing with each other and thoughtful in what they created.  What came out of the time spent sculpting and sharing were things about my students I would have never known if I hadn't given them the chance to share.  Here's what I learned about my students:

They like balls ... baseballs, basketballs, soccer balls, softballs, and footballs

Softball Player

Many like to swim and enjoy the ocean

A couple are avid runners participating on the cross-country team (I'm sure they could both beat this novice runner)

The Cross-Country Cs

One is the product of a divorce before he was even born

One is self-taught animator on YouTube (I really need to talk to him)

A favorite snack of another is a big bowl of green grapes

A young one from my morning classes is a cancer survivor

Receiving Treatment

One learned how to pogo stick with no hands before leaning to ride a bike

Pogo Stick

A young lady from my morning class has been in several live theatre performances

Theatre Masks

There were many more interesting and unique things shared throughout the day today.  I enjoyed every minute of my first day with my new students.  I appreciated all that they shared, and I'm proud to say that 100% of students stood up, showed their sculpture and shared what it represented about them.  All in all a successful #TitansFirstDay of school.  There's always time for the business side of things (rules, expectations, etc.), but we'll never get this initial first impression of each other back. Once again, I'm happy I chose the path less traveled for the first day of school.