Three Simple Pleasures: Bah! Humbug! Stay Gold, Earthquakes

1. Every year during December I teach an adapted play of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol to my seventh grade class. It is such a good vehicle for teaching character analysis and helps students understand how actions dictate what becomes of a person as they grow older.  When we start the unit many students say "Bah! Humbug!", but as we get closer to the end I hear more "And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One!" I love that.

2. I am doing a study of the novel The Outsiders with my 8th grade class. Students love the book for the action, characters they can relate to, and that the author is someone close to their age.  There is a moment when deep understanding occurs as we discuss the ending of the book. I know students get it when you hear voices around the room repeating the quote, "Stay Gold Ponyboy, Stay Gold!"

3. I work with a group of high school students in a Learning Lab at the end of the day.  Recently I have been teaming with the science teacher in supporting the learning of a unit on earthquakes. I have loved digging into the  content which I haven't studied in a long time. As I learned vocabulary alongside my students today I realized I might be able to pass the chapter test next week!