"Put 'em up, put 'em up" - C.C.K.R

"Put 'em up, put 'em up" the famous line from The Wizard of Oz is synonymous with its character, The Cowardly Lion.  The movie, the quote and the character are also closely associated with the word courage.  After all, courage is all that the Cowardly Lion wanted, and this school year it is also all I want for my students.

So, how do you help children become courageous in such a troublesome world?  Building courage is a multi-step process that first requires an environment for them to thrive in, not just survive.  A thriving environment must have a stable community and reminders, to its "residents" (the students), daily, hourly, sometimes every second of every minute, what are acceptable actions and spoken words.  It is a constant work in progress and requires you to stop what you are doing when someone steps out of line through actions or words and correct the behavior in a respectful way for all to see and hear.  Teachers must agree and commit to consistency, fairness, and respect when correcting the moments of unneighborly behavior.

Once you establish the above (it won't be perfect mind you ... there will be slip ups), students will begin to feel more courageous because they know they have an environment free from ridicule and unkind behavior.   The first courageous step the students took in #ENGRoom121 was sharing a little about their lives in an assignment called, "About Me."  Each student got up in front of the class and introduced himself/herself via a Google Slide.  There was 100% student participation with this assignment.  Courageous!

Our school year continued this week with a discussion on the concept of courage through music, and a community learning opportunity for students and table partners.  Each student was given the task of identifying one thing he/she can do to make sure "to live" this school year and one thing to do to make sure he/she is remembered.  The tables worked on understanding the concept of courage through a series of activities.  Their final thoughts are below.  Also, check out the music videos of the songs played for the students and see if you can answer the questions of "How will I prove I lived this school year?" and "How will I make sure I'm remembered this school year?"

Lady Antebellum's "I Was Here" Music Video

 

OneRepublic's "I Lived" Music Video

Mod 4-5 Ideas about COURAGE (all learning communities represented)

Everything from the previous weeks about commUNITY and respect was tied together to create the Titans Bingo Board of CommUNITY,  Respect, and Kindness for ALL.  These are student created ideas of actions that display one or all of our focal points in #ENGRoom121.  This board will be passed out to students on Monday, and they will be asked to complete at least one BINGO before the end of the first quarter.  Eventually, the hope would be that the bingo reminders won't be needed, they will simply become a part of each student and his/her  personal philosophy.  Feel free to try your hand at the Titans BINGO Board of CommUNITY, Respect, and Kindness for ALL.

Titans BINGO Board of CommUNITY, Respect, and Kindness for ALL

How to prepare for the upcoming week (9/12-9/16):

1. What are the qualities of an exceptional paragraph?  (Student generated)
2. Continue to think about the similarities and differences (contrast) between a personal narrative and a memoir
3. Be prepared to discuss the characteristics of a personal narrative and a memoir
4. Brainstorm moments in time from your life where you learned a significant lesson
5. Be ready to read some short memoirs that meet all characteristics of a memoir and discuss the elements of a story from these examples
6. 8th Grade picture day on Thursday, September 15th
7. Continue reading 1st Quarter Mentor Text (The Outsiders) Chapters 4-6

Have a wonderful weekend and GOOOOO TITANS!