Interest-A-Lyzer

Over the summer, I completed my first grad class at Georgetown College.  It was pretty intense for my first class, lots of papers and everything crammed into 7 weeks.  I was drinking coffee when my husband was just going to bed, but I survived.  The class was an "Intro to the Gifted and Talented Program".  During this class, I read a book by Joseph Renzulli from Renzulli Learning.  He talks a lot about focusing on students' interest and differentiating the lesson to match the interests.  He even has his own Interest-a-lyzer, which is where I got my powerpoint questions.  His is about 6 pages long, and I thought that was a little extreme to give to my new middle school students on day 2 of class, so I made a powerpoint of a few questions and we all answered them together.  

Getting their answers back is both humorous and beneficial!  I get to know each student a little more and I can also line them up with projects that might be of interest!  

Something else we like to do is pick a topic that we (myself and the students) want to learn about and teach, then we make a big exhibit out of it.  We each have different and equally important roles, but the roles are tailored to what we are interested in.  Props, acting, set design, writing, etc.  In the end, we all learn the content, we learn communication and group work skills and we are engaged and proud of our end product.  

The book I read was:


Renzulli, J., Reis, S., & Thompson, A. (2009). Light up your child’s mind.  Little, Brown and Company.

I found it at our local library, highly recommend it!!

Below is the Interest Powerpoint I made into a movie so you could see it.

Bullying and Suicide Rotation

Bullying and Suicide Rotation

At the beginning of the year, we divide students into groups and teach different topics on a Rotating Schedule.  This year, I got to teach about Bullying and Suicide.  (fortunately, I didn’t have anyone crying).  It is such a heavy topic, I get nervous talking about it, but our students are champs!  They are so open and honest about it and what they should do!  I wanted to post my Unit and Lesson that I did, in case anyone else finds it helpful.  I definitely recommend the activities, our rotation was about 45 minutes long.  We had NO down time, the kids were engaged for all 45 minutes and they contributed and taught me a few things!  So, here we go.  also, if you have suggestions, please leave a comment!  I would love to hear them!

Unit:  Bullying and Suicide

Opener:  Small discussion.  I share with the students the topics that we are getting ready to talk about.  I ask them if anyone has ever seen the “Wizard of Oz”.  (they raise their hands, and I thank them for 1. sharing and 2. raising their hands)  Then I ask “Do you remember what the Lion was looking for?”  They raise their hands again.  (Awesome!)  Courage!  Yes, Courage!  Courage is our word of the hour; because, sometimes it takes Courage to stand up to bullying or to do something about it.

Small Group Activity:  Students form 2-3 person groups and are provided a graphic organizer.  I have different scenarios and actions printed on little slips.  Each group receives a scenario.  They read the scenario and then decide if they agree/disagree/not sure with the action that is stated.  They have to write and tell me the why behind their decision.  

[This activity came from Tolerance.org, for links to the activity click here.  For the Scenarios, click here and the graphic organizer click here.]

I put a timer on the Smartboard and give them maybe 5 minutes.  Then we share with the class.  This usually gets a really good conversation going, other kids are adding to the scenarios and some are sharing “inappropriate” actions that they would do, but that allows for corrections and deeper understandings to be made.  This activity took up most of the 45 time slot.  

When conversations are wrapping up, I thank them for sharing and we turn in the graphic organizers and slips.  I want to give them credit for their work and participation in this activity, so I need to go back and give Tiger Ticket credit. (Positive Reinforcement award system specific to our school.)

The next activity is watching a sweet, sweet slideshow that someone put together of a young man who committed suicide.  It’s just a slideshow of pictures with a song that plays along in the background.  Not a super heavy message, but I think it really hit home because it was age-relevant and it looks like something our kids would create.

For the link to the slideshow, click here.

After the video, (about 5 minutes) I passed out some Suicide Brochures that I received from our counseling office.  I turned to one of the pages that describes the signs of suicide.  I lead a conversation with the students about who to tell or talk to if you sense this happening and we discussed the signs.  

After that, we cleaned up the room and I gave them instructions for the next rotation.

It's Almost Here!!

Another school year is about to start and I am kinda happy, kinda sad.  I am extremely excited to see everyone and meet our new students, AND I am so excited about our activities and things we are going to learn; however, this summer has FLOWN by!!  Between Grad Classes and YMCA Summer Camps and Family Events, it has been crazy!  

That being said, I know I am grateful for the opportunity to be a teacher and have the summers to spend with my family and all the "kid craziness"!  

So, in the great words of my late Grandpa Peck, think of it this way...."you don't HAVE to do something, you GET to do something".  Have fun doing it and be thankful that you are blessed with this chance.  

Along that note, there are a LOT of things I get to do this week to prep for my classes!  ;)
One of those is welcoming my students to TLC and to my Mentor Group.  I made this newsletter to introduce myself, provide some communication information and set the tone for Student Success and Support!  You are more than welcome to use the template if you like.....enjoy!