6th-Graders on Excellence

What do 6th-graders have to say on the subject of excellence?

Here is my recent work with a colleague's class. I asked these students to respond to photographs that suggested "excellence" (a photograph of Judith Jamieson dancing jubilantly, a photograph of a soccer player sitting on the field looking dejected). Then we moved on to voicethread.com , where they responded to photographs of students as well as their own drawings depicting excellence. Their observations are pretty marvelous!

They were excited about this project and eager to try all the aspects of the voicethread application. I could see this tool being used in all kinds of new ways in the classroom!

"My Summer Vacation" Revisited

Yes, it's a cliche, but think about it. Summer is a time when we experience something other than "school" life. What we do on our summer vacations is important, whether we are remembering how to gear down and re-charge or taking off for adventures into the unknown. It's a time worth exploring with our students, worth tapping into to learn what matters in their lives, what their interests are. So I ask some simple questions below that might be used in a classroom, and give my own answers as examples. I'd love to hear your answers too.

1. What is your favorite thing to do in the summer?
That's easy. Read for pleasure. This summer I finished The Known World by Edward P. Jones and re-read Watership Down with my 10th-graders as summer reading. I've started Rand's The Fountainhead, which I've been promising my husband forever that I would read, and I'll be re-reading Black Boy, by Richard Wright, along with my seniors. I've also read some articles in The New York Times, a few issues of The New Yorker, some stage monologues, and lots of stuff on the Internet. For me, it's fun just being able to browse in this and that.

2. Describe something new that you learned how to do this summer.
My husband taught me how to play backgammon. He has yet to beat me at acey-deucey. It's rare for me to be interested in games that don't involve words, but I liked using my mind in a different way, strategizing and taking risks. It was fun.

3. Describe a place that you visited for the first time.
We stayed in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains for a week, on the border between Georgia and Tennessee. Our cabin was built into the steep bank of a creek, and we could hear the creek burbling constantly. At night, we left the windows open to let in the fresh mountain air and the sounds of happy frogs and crickets. We had no Internet or cell phone access, unless we went to town. We hiked to the top of Amicalola Falls (well, Larry did -- I wimped out about halfway). The mountain landscape was simply beautiful -- calm and relaxing, just what I needed.

If these were student writings, I would point out all the possible topics that might be worth pursuing. Plus, I would hope that readers might see a different side of me, learn something about my interests, or find further details about what you already know. Maybe we even have a connection we might not have guessed previously?

So, what about you?