Author: Peter Pappas

Where I’m From

This class activity “Where I’m from” requires a little prep. First read student responses to a pre-course questionnaire “I’m a Product.” Think about how your classmates responded to  the prompt: “Tell us something about you that you think is a product of where you’re from and/or your cultural heritage”

Students should then read poem below and consider their response prior to our June 14 class where we will use class time for design work.

This lesson features a poem as a prompt for a creative reflection. It also integrates two tools for presentation of the reflection.

  1. After reading Where I’m From, students will use HaikuDeck to design a brief presentation that uses words and images to depict “where they are from.” The presentation should include a a title slide plus 6 slides which explore the place you’re from. Follow this link for ideas on Where to Go with “Where I’m From”
  2. After completing the HaikuDeck presentation, students will create a blog post that includes an embedded version of the presentation and a written response to the question:

What have I learned from this activity and how might I use the learning strategies and / or technology in my teaching placement?

Guide to using WordPress here.

“Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon

I am from clothespins,
from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt under the back porch.
(Black, glistening,
it tasted like beets.)
I am from the forsythia bush
the Dutch elm
whose long-gone limbs I remember
as if they were my own.

I’m from fudge and eyeglasses,
from Imogene and Alafair.
I’m from the know-it-alls
and the pass-it-ons,
from Perk up! and Pipe down!
I’m from He restoreth my soul
with a cottonball lamb
and ten verses I can say myself.

I’m from Artemus and Billie’s Branch,
fried corn and strong coffee.
From the finger my grandfather lost
to the auger,
the eye my father shut to keep his sight.

Under my bed was a dress box
spilling old pictures,
a sift of lost faces
to drift beneath my dreams.
I am from those moments–
snapped before I budded —
leaf-fall from the family tree.

Teachers

Reflective question: “Are great teachers born or made?”

Monday June 13 in-class activities

As an ice breaker, I’ll give students an activity to design a great teacher –  a variation of “Tool 13: Brainstorm, Group, Label” from my Literacy Strategies Tool Kit (free PDF) Here’s the work flow:

  1. Ask them to brainstorm all the words or phrases they can associate with “a great teacher.”
  2. Give them Post-Its and asked them to write one associated word or phrase on each sheet.
  3. Put them in groups and ask them to share their Post-its and thinking. Then design an illustration that captured their collective thinking. And be prepared to share that with the class.
  4. Working in fours synthesize their individual brainstorming into a collective vision on large paper, then take turns sharing and responding to questions.
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Then I’m giving my students a copy of my 1971 student teaching evaluation (2 page pdf) Quite a relic – Why did I save it?

We’ll examine it as an historic document with a critical eye for exploring what my supervising teacher valued back in 1971.

Here’s a few of the slides from my presentation Intro slides

Next, we’ll use Kahoot!, a free online quiz game builder, to demonstrate the challenge of constructing meaning without background knowledge. The source photos for this quiz came from “The Disciples” – photography by James Mollison. The historic painting is available from the instructor by request (copyright issues here).

Finally, we’ll wrap up with a deconstruction of the day’s lesson.

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