It feels great to be finished teaching my creative writing unit for the KPTP...now I just need to finish writing the KPTP and all will be well!
The unit was exciting and went by too quickly. I really think students enjoyed it even though they didn't always show it. Of course, there were a couple who only enjoyed creating their own poetry/drama pieces and could not get excited about reading published works. I suppose that may be an acquired taste for some. I would have to say that this was one of the most fun units to grade papers, by far. Some of the students really surprised me with their talents. I think the most interesting lesson was seeing various examples of concrete poetry and then guiding the students to create their own. As we have learned in previous classes, giving students choices appeals to different learning styles and usually increases student engagement. It sure worked in this classroom. The students least favorite lesson was probably haikus, which surprised me a bit. My students just did not find them very interesting. Of course, it was one of the last lessons and it seems like all the seventh graders are already on spring break, if you know what I mean!
The past few weeks, I have also learned that I can use delivery strategies that encourage students to focus and work more quickly. I also learned I need to monitor the time spent on activities within each lesson more closely. Since I always over plan just in case students finish quickly, it seems a little frustrating towards the end of a lesson when you want students to try something new and exciting! Can anyone suggest other ways to get unwilling students to participate?
