Sensory Writing Word Bank

Sensory Writing 

Sensory writing uses descriptive words that are linked to the five senses (taste, touch, sight, smell, sounds) to paint a picture with one's language. It enables you and your reader to experience your thoughts and ideas on an imaginative, creative level as if they were sharing those thoughts or experiences with you. 

Sounds Words:

banging barking bawling blaring booming buzzing chattering chiming chirping cooing coughing crackling crashing croaking crunching crying dripping exploding fizzing gasping giggling growling grunting gurgling hissing hushing laughing mumbling muttering piercing quiet rapping rasping rattling ringing rumbling rustling scratching screaming screeching singing slamming shouting silent snoring splashing stuttering tinkling wheezing whooping

Touch Words:

abrasive biting boiling bubbly bulky bumpy burning clammy coarse cool crisp cushioned damp drenched feathery fine fluffy foamy freezing furry fuzzy glassy greasy gritty gushy hairy heavy hot humid lacy leathery light lukewarm metallic mushy numbing oily rocky sandy scalding scorching shaggy silky slimy slippery sloppy smooth spongy steamy sticky tangled tender thick tough velvety warm

Taste and Smell Words:

acid acidic alkaline aromatic biting bitter bland burnt buttery cold earthy floury flowery fresh fruity garlicky hearty hot lemony medicinal minty moist moldy musty oily perfumed pickled piney pungent raw rich rotten salty scented sharp sour spicy stagnant sweaty sweet tangy tasteless tough vile vinegar

Sight Words:

agile blinding blurred brilliant bright brightness canary cloudy colorless dim dingy faded faint flat gleaming glistening glittering gloomy grimy hazy long luminous misty narrow oval round shadowy shallow shiny slim smeared sparkling square streaked striped sudsy tarnished tottering trampled translucent twinkling variegated

Colour Words:

Whites  - cream ivory pearl 

Reds - cherry coral crimson 

Pink - rose ruby salmon scarlet vermillion 

Oranges - apricot copper peach rust tangerine 

Greens - emerald lime forest olive 

Browns - bronze chocolate cinnamon hazel khaki tan 

Blues - sapphire turquoise midnight 

Yellows - amber canary gold lemon 

Purples - lavender lilac magenta plum 

Blacks - raven slate ebony

Thesis Statements Feedback

 Thesis Statements - August 28

1. An event in my life that truly shaped my identity being to scared or shy in school. As this year becoming the end, I have made friends in 6th grade and I think that I can build a great friend group and become an excellent student moving forward.

Feedback: 

• Star: Effective writing deals with complex topics and is often vulnerable. Your choice to discuss your timidity in school is a courageous selection which will prove to be rewarding for both you and your readers as they will relate when they go through similar struggles. It also allows you to reflect back on your experiences and make sense of them for further personal growth. . 

• Further development: Effective writing makes sure to clearly answer the question that has been asked. Be careful when answering the question as “being too scared or shy” is not technically an “event” although you could call it a “season” in your life. The question also asked how the “event” or “season” shaped  your identity. I find that your second sentence does not answer this question but shifts focus to how you have since made friends. 

2. An event that has significantly shaped who I was today, was when I transferred from a public school to a private school in fourth grade. It was a lot different than what I expected it to be, as well as a lot harder. Looking back at this time, this season has made me try my best to be a better student, do good in school, and be a hardworking student in the future.

Feedback: 

• Star: Effective writing approaches brave, vulnerable and life changing topics. I enjoyed your choice of topic as I believe that changing schools is a very hard experience and certainly one worth writing about. 

• Further development: Effective writing is differentiated and varied in ideas. Your second sentence says the same thing in three different ways - “be a better student” “do good in school” “be hardworking.” Try and think of other ways that changing schools affected you. Did it impact you emotionally? Socially?

3. An event that has changed my life is when I decided to start babysitting, when I started babysitting I got a peek into the lives of younger children, which I have forgotten over the years for my life. 

Feedback: 

• Star: Effective writing presents thoughtful and insightful ideas. Your choice of discussing babysitting is a unique and thoughtful selection. 

• Further development: Effective writing is sure to answer the questions presented and provide details. The question was how this unique event or season shaped or developed your identity. You said that you got “a peek into the lives of younger children” - what did you find there? How specifically did babysitting change or shape your identity?

4. An event that shaped my identity would be me traveling to another country. In that country, I learned a lot of things and even enjoyed the food there. I also came to believe to avoid certain numbers. I even learned the language of that country, which was very hard.

Feedback: 

• Star: Effective writing presents thoughtful and insightful ideas. Your choice of discussing your travels to another country is such a great choice as there are many details you can share.  

• Further development: Effective writing is sure to answer the questions presented and provide details. The question was how this unique event or season shaped or developed your identity. While you do list a lot of things that you experience there, the focus should be centered on how the experience changed you as a person. 

5. An event that has shaped my identity, is dance it has taught me to be confident, and healthy. Also meeting Elaine my most closest friend at school and in general, she is very different from people as i like to say. Meeting her has shaped how i am today, because she influenced me to be more optimistic, and have fun. 

Feedback: 

• Star: Effective writing presents thoughtful and insightful ideas. Your choice of discussing dance, an activity which is very important for you, is an effective idea as there will be a lot that you can say.  

• Further development: Effective writing is clear and approaches one idea at a time. Your thesis statement deals with two very different ideas - dance and also, meeting your friend Elaine. I would say that you should choose one topic to develop. 

Aug 28 class

I did quite enjoy today's session and I think it's good for me to record the things that happen so I can remember them for subsequent teaching sessions. I will divide some of the things that stood out to me in parts. 

Emotions

Today I did an icebreaker exercise:

What was the highlight of your week or summer? Why? How has this experience or event shaped you as you enter a new season?

A lot of the students shared that they were nervous for going back to school and some of the activities that they did to regulate this emotion. For example, one student shared that she went on a walk to calm down. I was affirming her that there is a lot of strength in being able to acknowledge the emotions one is feeling and try and do things to address that emotion. Unfortunately, a feeling like being nervous is hard to completely dispel but it is still good to do things to try and mitigate the feeling or set one's mind at ease. I find that having questions like this generate a twofold purpose - they provide a connection to the lesson as well as open up a point of discussion to be able to understand the students better and discuss their fears/address some of their emotions. These questions also create a sense of community as you can have other students share and provide affirmation for each other. For example, I had each student share something that they do to de-stress. Some students shared going on a walk, watching a movie, journaling, physical activities, and doodling. 

In the end I shared with them the value of truly taking life one day at a time and just dealing with the task, or day that is in front of them. Before we all know it, time will pass and we will be back yet again to another summer break. I did not get to share with them, but I also wanted to impart the wisdom of enjoying everyday living. Each day is a day we can never get back, and it is significant to look for the joy in the day. This is certainly (I think) a discipline, a habit - but it is one that we can grow stronger in if we practice it daily. 

Padlet

https://padlet.com/ivkmutama87/gjg5r5a4vl6ffwjw

I also very much enjoyed the Padlet activity. I gave the students this question below: 

The various events and seasons in our lives are a large part of our identities and ultimately shape the person we are growing into and who we become. Think of a significant event or season of your life that you feel has shaped your identity and who you are. Provide 2-3 reasons how this season/event has contributed to your identity.

Students had to generate a thesis statement and post it on the padlet for everybody in the class to see. The beauty of this exercise is that the responses are anonymous. Students could then share which entries resonated with them. I also realized partway through the value too of having the students tease apart each other's entries and hold the writing against a criteria. I had given the students some criteria around writing a thesis statement and then asked a student whether the thesis that they selected to read met that criteria and how. The student had to specifically tease apart the writing and hold it against the criteria that they were given. 

Advice and Nurturing Student Writing 

I find that the little bits and pieces of advice and mentoring that I give throughout the class to be helpful. Haha - well I do not know if it is actually helpful to the students but I like to think that it is. Today I told students that their writing is not something to be seen as bad or good, but rather to be seen as something that they are growing in. Writing is always about growth, even if you are a very experienced writer. Life in general, is always about growth! I told them the importance of being kind towards themselves in the current stage and season that they are in - and being kind towards their own growth process. 

Powerful Introductions - Various ways to start your introduction.

 Powerful Introductions - Various ways to start your introduction. 

• Raise a good question

• What is the difference between successful college students and unsuccessful college students? 

• Imaginary Scenario

• Imagine what your life would be like if you said everything that was ever on your mind.

• Quotation (make sure to give credit to the author)

• If you write an essay on the topic of education you could begin with: Nelson Mandela said, “Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.”

• Anecdote/Story

• I got off the train and pulled my luggage behind me.  A cab pulled up to the curb, and the driver got out.  He lifted my luggage and said, “Miss, I’m just going to put your stuff in the boot.”  I didn’t know what he meant until I saw him open the car’s trunk.  Then I realized the boot means car trunk.  I got in the cab, wondering how many other words would be different in England. 

• Powerful descriptive language and imagery

• She smiled kindly and stopped by the twisting river. Never before, looking at herself so intently in the water, had she understood who she was. Swimming had become her life. It was her passion.  

• Metaphor/Simile/Analogy

• "Working part-time as a cashier at the Piggly Wiggly has given me a great opportunity to observe human behavior. Sometimes I think of the shoppers as white rats in a lab experiment, and the aisles as a maze designed by a psychologist. Most of the rats—customers, I mean—follow a routine pattern, strolling up and down the aisles, checking through my chute, and then escaping through the exit hatch. But not everyone is so dependable. My research has revealed three distinct types of abnormal customer: the amnesiac, the super shopper, and the dawdler."

– "Shopping at the Pig"

• Surprising Fact/Research to engage reader

• Almost two-thirds of American adults at some point in their life lived in a home with at least one gun. 

• Strong, assertive statement 

• Online college classes are cheaper and more effective than in-person college classes. 

• Get Personal

• "In March 2006, I found myself, at 38, divorced, no kids, no home, and alone in a tiny rowing boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. I hadn’t eaten a hot meal in two months. I’d had no human contact for weeks because my satellite phone had stopped working. All four of my oars were broken, patched up with duct tape and splints. I had tendinitis in my shoulders and saltwater sores on my backside. "I couldn’t have been happier...."

– Roz Savage, "My Transoceanic Midlife Crisis." Newsweek, March 20, 2011

• Use Humour/Joke

(sources: https://www.thoughtco.com/introductory-paragraph-essays-and-reports-1691081 and https://examples.yourdictionary.com/strong-introduction-examples.html)

Writing Samples - Olympic Style Analysis

Reading and Writing Course

Writing Samples 

Narrative Essay on Cultural Identity by Lainett Méndez

Society has an irreversible tendency to separate people into different boxes. This is how they can differentiate them and determine each person’s way of thinking. At the end of the day, each individual will decide which box he or she fits in, but this is only possible when they acknowledge how their life experiences shape their interactions with the world. With this in mind, that person would have found his or her cultural identity. The factors that influence my behaviour, the way I speak and the things I consider as good or bad form my culture. Indeed being South American has affected my identity in terms of traditions, society, demography, gender, ability, among others. As a Venezuelan, my cultural identity has been molded by my family, religion, social environment and political system. 

My country is called Venezuela, it is located on the northern coast of South America and its official language is Spanish. They have been considered to be the “happiest people in the world.” The fact that I was born in Venezuela is key in determining who I am. Usually people in South America are friendly, hardworking, and tend to express their feelings and thoughts very openly. My family lives in Valencia, one of the most important cities in Venezuela due to its industrialization and technological advances in comparison to other cities. 

Childhood Dreams by Jennifer Yee

When I was a child, I loved balloons, carousels, candy floss and my father, who shared them all with me. I never wanted more. To me, the amusement park was a place in which I was free to imagine, to indulge, even to fly. I never forgot those childhood days, but the concerns of adulthood gradually moved them to the back of my mind. 

Sometimes, though, I dream I am at the amusement park again with my father. He takes me to the clown who sells helium balloons, each tied to a long piece of white string, and he buys me a huge red balloon. My father then ties the loose end of the string around my wrist so that the balloon does not drift away, but it does anyway, taking me with it.

I forget when I last had that dream. Somewhere between my childhood and today, I have forgotten how to laugh, how to play and how to dream. Now, as a university student, I think about graduation, career choices, money and marriage - not about silly balloons, carousel rides, and candy floss. As an adult, I am smothered by the real world, and no longer have the freedom to enjoy life in the same way I did when I was a child. 

Nothing in a Name by Bartley

“Molly, dinner time!” my mother yells in a sing-songy voice from the first floor. My father calls the waitress over, “Excuse me, Molly,” he states, trying to get her attention. The doorbell rings, and I answer it, “Hi, I’m Molly,” says the cheerful little girl scout standing at my doorstep. 

Names are universal identifiers; they shed no light about one’s personality. They are labels, they fail to display our identity because identity is a unique part of what makes you, you. Names are a terrible way to understand someone’s identity because names are regularly replicated. In my sixth grade class, there were three Mollys. We all had different backgrounds, different religious affiliations, and different personalities. If our names displayed who we are, wouldn’t our identities all be the same? Instead of staring at names and trying to understand their meaning, one should focus on a person’s personality, for personality depicts our identity. In fact, I have learned from experience to not infer one’s identity based on their name. For instance, in middle school, I was mutual friends with a girl named Kassidy. One Tuesday afternoon, my friend Katy told me that Kassidy was going to sit with us at lunch that day. I shrugged my shoulders and replied with a casual “okay.” Before Kassidy walked in, I had a whole image of her in my mind: blond hair, cute pastel coloured clothes…

Aspects of Writing

Subject matter

• Clear - can easily identify what the writing is about

• Depth? - Does the writer provide examples and reasons behind what they are saying

• Interesting and thought-provoking - do people care about this topic?

Voice and Style

• Complex word choice (ex. Instead of using the words "very" or "really," use "profoundly" or "deeply")

• Not wordy (use of big words without understanding the meaning or words are out of place)

• Descriptive - appeals to the five senses (taste, touch, smell, sight, sound)

• Figurative Language - simile, metaphor, onomatopoeia, imagery  

Structure

• Clear topic sentence and supporting sentences

• Varied sentence length (ex. "I like chocolate" "He is kind")

• Logical progression - one thought builds into the next thought

Grammar

• Run-on sentences? 

• Do not fit too many ideas in the same sentence

• Topic sentence first and supporting sentences 

• Proper punctuation? (Capitalization, periods)

• Subject-verb agreement

• Complete sentences

• Ex. I agree. What exactly are you agreeing with? I agree with the statement that says it is important to maintain your identity because...

• Spelling 

Olympic Style Analysis - Reading and Writing Summer Course

Olympic Style Analysis - Reading and Writing Summer Course 

Effective writers examine while reading 

I have taken on teaching a writing and reading course on Saturdays this summer through a local tutoring agency and feel compelled to showcase my thoughts on how the lesson went today. 

For today's lesson, I had the students read through three different writing excepts - these are excerpts I had taken from various essays I had found online (I will link them below). I made sure to choose writing excerpts that were quite different. Even though all three essays were on the topic of "identity," I wanted to make sure that each piece was varied in terms of style of writing, subject matter, voice etc. I chose pieces that would appeal to different readers in distinct ways. I truly believe, and kept reiterating to my students, that the most effective writers, are effective readers. It is important when you are reading for the sake of improving your writing, to actually take time to examine and study various forms of writing and ask yourself questions - What works? What doesn't? Why do I like this piece over another one? What is it about the way language is used? 

I wanted to get the students to really begin to pick out and pinpoint, describe and put a name to what they find most effective about what they read. If they are intrigued and interested in a certain style, they must ask themselves why and actually take the lengths to describe what they find to be the most effective. This is a process that they then transfer over to their own writing. I let my students know that effective writers in essence, borrow, imitate, combine, and create based on what they have read - based on what has excited them about other people's writing and from there they generate something new, their own voice. I also let my students know that the purpose of writing is to communicate the power of their own unique and original voice. I told them that they are singular in their thoughts, opinions, views, and backgrounds and that there is nobody else on the planet who thinks the same way they do or can offer the same things to the world as they can. Writing is thus about getting out their own  particular colour or shade of thought and shining it out onto the world - for the world to enjoy, be challenged by, find affinity and commonality in - and so much more! :) 

I thought this activity went particularly well and I was pleasantly surprised as God helped me come up with some random ideas throughout. There were three excerpts. We read each excerpt twice and took turns reading. I told the students that (in my view) reading is not only done once but twice, three times (even more!). I let them know that effective reading is rereading as it is only when you read something a few times that one can truly grasp, understand, and pick up various understandings. Each time they read, they are to slow down, truly take in the language, loiter, understand how one idea connects to the previous, question what they have read, linger in the writing, hangout there, make sense and meaning. As they read again, they can start breaking language down - hmmm, they used this word instead of this word, what is the author really trying to say here, they used a particular type of description - why? How does this create the meaning of the piece? Reading and rereading is about losing oneself to the world of that novel, that essay, that article - it is unique to the individual how they will lose themselves in the text, but they are to do it. They are to use their own creativity and imagination to do so - their own background, experiences, their own previous play in language, to connect ideas, to go places, to experience more through the text. The text is their own bouncy castle or spring board in which they can reach amazing heights within themselves. 

Gamification of lessons! - This was one of the God ideas - but I told students to pretend that this is the "Reading and Writing Olympics" - as the Olympics are happening right now. They have to rank each piece of writing and give a Gold, Silver or Bronze medal to each piece BUT they must choose ONE aspect of writing in which to make their examinations by - subject matter, voice and style, structure, or grammar. I had searched online previously and looked up - "what makes effective writing" or "what makes good writing" and these were the categories that came up. I then made a kind of criteria sheet for the students to use when they are analyzing and critiquing these pieces (which is at the end of the document that I will link below). Another God idea was to have each student focus on ONE area to critique rather than to critique each of the various areas. I find this helpful as it allowed each student to narrow in on one aspect and concentrate their thoughts more effectively as I find if they focused on all categories it would become quite confusing. It is important to chunk and break things down. 

Now I don't know if I was reading the room well but I think the students enjoyed this activity quite a bit. I felt like having them rank the piece gave them some type of autonomy and power to make choice and exercise their opinions. While student answers were similar, their choices were different. For example, where one student chose bronze for a certain excerpt, another student chose silver. I thought that was great as it enabled students to give the reasons behind their choices and the other students had to listen. This also enabled students to exercise critical thinking skills and actually analyze and understand why they like one piece of writing over another. For example, one student said that the writing, "Childhood Dreams" by Jennifer Yee, enabled her to paint a picture in her mind when she was reading it as the language was descriptive. She said that the topic was very interesting to her and examples presented were quite specific. Another student said that they were tied between "Childhood Dreams" and "Nothing in a Name" but it was ultimately the grammar in "Nothing in a Name" that made them finally choose "Childhood Dreams" instead. Another student said that "Narrative Essay on Cultural Identity" was a bit confusing in the beginning and they weren't exactly sure where the piece was going. 

The breakdown of the excerpts was effective. I told students that this is what I would like them to do with their own writing - to break down what they write and examine it through a lens of what makes effective writing. In this sense, students are always revising and improving their writing and becoming effective communicators through their words. This exercise took the full 1.5 hours and I do think it could have gone even longer if I probed and asked more questions. There were many times where I was trying to have students be more specific with what they liked and didn't like. 

I think if one wanted to extend this activity, they could have students do some of their own writing and have other students perhaps (anonymously) rank and examine each other's pieces and give their reasons why. In a classroom, one could do this activity, and perhaps even give awards or medals like the academy awards and rank different students' writing in various categories - best figurative language, best grammar, best subject matter, best depth, etc - I think that could be really fun! I feel that there is so much more I can say but I will end my thoughts here for today. Overall the ideas here went well and it was a good class.

Writing Samples 

https://forlackofwonder.blogspot.com/2021/08/writing-samples-olympic-style-analysis.html 

Frustration

A few weeks ago I started tutoring a boy! His father contacted me through Craigslist as I had put out an ad saying that I help with one-on-one tutoring. This adolescent has been classified with autism. 

Today in our session we were talking about theme within the short story he is reading and I pryed and probed a little more based on the theme he had suggested for the story. I asked him "who" - which character in the story feels this/that way based on the theme he proposed. 

I asked the question maybe five times and there were a lot of pauses,  perhaps breaks in his thinking and shutting down. In the end he hit his head on his table obviously resigning himself to his frustration of not being able to answer the question in that moment. He is a very capable boy and so extremely clever - I am not just saying this! He brings up topics and takes our conversations to some very interesting and unique places. I believe strongly he could answer the question and in the end he did with more prompting and encouragement from his father. 

I feel led to write about this experience, however as my mind is stayed on this whole concept/idea of frustration. I understand that this boy has been labeled as having autism thus there are some types of developmental differences that perhaps make it more challenging to process information and think on his feet and thus shut down, but I am still led to explore the idea of frustration on more of a social level. 

Typically we become frustrated I think due to pressures - perhaps we feel that we are not meeting a certain expectation we have placed on ourselves, somebody or something around us is not measuring up to a type of standard - we have an idea of what we think should happen and that thing is just not happening. In the case of Uriah, he perhaps wanted to express his thoughts quickly and just could not put A and B together, maybe he was having breaks in his thinking, distracted by other thoughts or perhaps and very likely so, he was thinking about the label of having Autism coupled with the ideas that have been flying around that he is not "so great" in English - all of these pressures were perhaps barriers that made him shut down in the end. He had to take a break in our session and went to talk with his father. 

I am reminded in this session of what I learned in the teaching program called "growth mindset" - a type of mentality that is encouraged in children where they celebrate the process, the step by step successes rather than just the outcome. I feel that there is too little of this right now in our education system or perhaps in trying to make this transition we are still focused on the older system which is very much results driven and oriented. Even though Uriah has been classified as having autism, I still believe that there are some aspects of his behaviour which were learned or he was conditioned to believe. 

For example, why is it that when he could not answer the question, he became frustrated? Where did all this pressure come from? His father was with Uriah and myself on the call for a bit after this happened and was encouraging him to pinpoint or pick out the causes for his frustration. I feel that this is a good strategy and a good step towards being the master over one's emotions. When we are able to understand the root causes for our anger/frustrations then we can actually address the underlying problem and not the symptom (the emotion) that results from the issue. I was also encouraging Uriah to be patient with himself. I think it is so important and necessary to be kind towards ourselves, slow down, take a step back, breathe, and start again. Frustraton like every other emotion, will come and go, it is how you handle the emotion that makes all the difference in the world and knowing that you can move forward, that there is a possibility to move forward and knowing the right steps of how to do so is paramount.   

Aujourd'hui, j'ai eu le privilège avoir la séance avec T. Il est un garçon qui j'ai rencontré à travers de Craiglist. J'ai affiché un pub parce que j'ai voulu commençer ma carrière en enseignement et j'ai eu l'idée á commençer les choses á travers de en ligne. T est un garçon trés intelligent. Il aime les nombres, mathématiques, art, l'histoire et géographie. J'apprecie et respect l'amour que son pere J a pour son fils. J'ai une sentiment chaleureuse dans mon coeur. 

Je me sens que beaucoup des les temps, on ne passe pas les temps á apprecier les uns les autres. On rejete les gens avant on a la chance pour les connaitre et les gens n'ont pas la chance d'exprimer eux-mêmes. C'est très triste. J'espere que Dieu benira ce relation et que je peux vraiment l'aider. 

Slowing Down Pace

I found today's two classes a bit challenging for me - why? All the students in the class are at different levels of output. Some students - no problem are able to produce what I ask of them - write 2-3 examples, etc - while other students can only complete one and some students do not seem to understand the directions at all and have to ask several times what we are doing. There are also several students when I go up to them - cannot formulate any ideas - it is hard for them to write anything down on a piece of paper and when I probe them for ideas - they say....hmmm, I dont know...I'll ask...what about this, or what about that? And they'll say again....I dont know. I really dont know how I am to assess this type of output. It shouldn't be the case that these students get left behind.

Here was a break down of my lesson today -

(1) Students will assess their neighborhoods in three areas - outlook/perspective, opportunities/choice, belonging, making sure to account for their physical and digital spheres.

(2) I asked each student to write down examples of each and gave them a chart and a venn diagram to start comparing their neighborhoods to that of the main character in the novel.

I found that it was hard mobilizing students in both classes. It seemed in a way that I needed to hold their hand through the entire process and many students did not seem to understand.

Ways I can improve
* I could include more labels on the venn diagram or even do modeling on the computer that they can follow along
*I am breaking things down....okay well break things down even more into tiny little bits that they can process and I mean tiny. Maybe dont make them think about the physical and digital, but make them thinking about only one or the other.
*Everything needs to be structured bit by bit  - instead of introducing PEA - Point, Evidence, Analysis all at once I need to introduce P - point, thats it and then E - evidence, and then A - analysis. The templates I give them need to be very much broken down.
*How I organize the handout MATTERS - labels need to be clearly defined, did I mention that everything needs to be broken down? (lol)

Success for today:

-they got their ideas onto a venn diagram - albeit slowly but the ideas were there

Teaching to students with emotional problems

One question that has consistently been on my mind is how to teach students who are going through emotional problems. I think oftentimes we can forget that the children / youth we are teaching come from complex and often painful backgrounds. Some students come from troubled and broken homes - absentee, strict, harsh or abusive parents or family members that make life for them unbearable at home. The classroom, therefore, or high school environment is their own safe place or respite from the difficulties at home. It can be very challenging thus for teachers to teach with these difficulties in mind. We see in the classroom how these challenges in students' living environments manifest in behavioral problems in students - students who are distracted, unable to stay on task, disruptive and attention seeking, angry, etc (the list goes on).

Last week during my volunteering one student disclosed to me that she has difficult family problems that she faces at home - her father tends to be quite strict and does not understand her. This student is also dealing with friendship problems in the school - not fitting in and not feeling safe with the current friends that she has. She explained that she suffers from depression and has self-harmed in the form of cutting and suicidal attempts. Another student, I learned this week lives with her mother, but her mother is ill and in and out of hospital. She has other siblings but they do not live with her. She lives only with her mother. My guess then is that she is home alone a lot. This student also has a boyfriend. Both students are only 13 years old. 

I question to myself how a teacher teaches students who are going through such unbearable circumstances in their living environments. I was reading a few articles online that offered good points to consider.

1) Making curriculum relevant to students' lives - I already hold to the importance in making sure that curriculum and in classroom material has a personal connection to students' lives or that the teacher works to create a personal connection to material. Oftentimes resources in the school system are scant, so in the English classroom teachers must use novels, etc that could be rather outdated. Teachers then must endeavour to create and draw personal connections to the text. For example, a novel study on the book Coraline by Neil Gaiman could have students explore their own personal fears and the virtue of courage - areas in their own lives where they must demonstrate courage, why courage is necessary in life, how courage can impact not only their own personal lives but the lives of others. I think the goal is to make their learning in one area transferable to other areas, not only in the field of academics (essay writing, etc), but their own personal growth and development. One article suggested giving students a survey of their own personal interests and how they use their spare time and developing lessons that are geared to student interests.

2) Create positive peer interactions and relationships - developing a sense of classroom community. One article explained that peer relationships are second to impact in a student's life - group learning, peer tutoring/editing, classroom meetings.

3) Relaxation Techniques
4) Teaching students how to cope with stress
5) Developing & encouraging student strengths
6) Keeping classroom rules and instructions simple
7) Using texts (novels, short stories, poems) to help children navigate through their emotions (what was the character feeling, why do you think she was feeling that way, how would you feel in the same situation, how could she deal with this emotion, how would you deal with it?)


http://www.ascd.org/publications/classroom-leadership/nov2003/Helping-Students-with-Emotional-Problems-Succeed.aspx

https://developingminds.net.au/articles-for-professionals/2017/5/21/helping-kids-deal-with-negative-emotions-in-the-classroom

Goal Setting & Teaching Constant Self-Reflection

I am blogging about this as it has come up again. During my time in the classroom this week I noticed that a lot of the students in the classes are constantly on their cell phones. The teacher will tell them to put it away but it will find its way back out again, until she decides to confiscate it.

Personally, I feel it is a good idea to confiscate cell phones for the entire lesson. Students have their phones before and after school and during breaks, so for them to go a few hours without them is actually a good idea for student self development - character development (self regulation and control).

I think it is so important in life and such a valuable skill to go without the thing that you really desire just so that you can realize that you really do not need it and that there is more to life than that thing...whether it be a person, or object, etc. I also feel that there is a lot of self development to be had in letting go of the thing that is consuming the majority of time or is transitioning into, if not already, an addiction. There is so much of ourselves to be discovered that unfortunately remains hidden or locked up or does not have a chance to grow or develop because something else, of lesser importance, is competing for us - our time, our potential. In many cases, unfortunately, that addiction, temptation, etc robs and sadly destroys parts of us that we may not ever get back.

I fear that a lot of these students are addicted to their cell phones and I worry about how these addictions will play out for the rest of their lives. Also, how addictions are transferable - for example, continued cell phone use during times or moments of the day where it is inappropriate teaches children addictive behavior and encourages addictive thought patterns which may be transferable to other situations in life.

As educators, I do feel it is our responsibility to teach our students how to place regulations or restrictions over these things and develop a pathway of cultivating self control. These skills are transferable and do not only have impact within the classroom. The other day I stumbled upon an activity where at the beginning of the year students have to do goal setting and have to choose one or two goals that they wish to accomplish during the course of the year. I feel that this could be a good community building activity to have in the class as the teacher and others students can keep their classmates accountable and it can also be a topic of discussion through the year. Goals can and should be worked on smaller and larger scales. For example, setting a quick daily goal at the beginning of the class or the teacher can even put up a class goal on the board that s/he can continually refer back to during the class.  Goals can be something like: no cell phone use, not talking when others are talking, making sure to encourage one's peers, challenging oneself more, etc. I feel that implementing goal setting in the classroom will turn into an invaluable lifelong skill for each student.

Narrative Writing Lesson & Purpose - Having Students Ask WHY

Today I was privileged to take part in leading a lesson on narrative writing and it went really well. As usual I was nervous beforehand but I think when I take the stage....the teaching stage, I just have this voice in my soul telling me to give it everything I have.

The teacher wanted me to read some examples of narrative writing with the students and something that has been continually coming back to me is talking to students about WHY we are teaching them the things we are. I almost feel sometimes that we are raising up mindless students and I want my students specifically to question WHY they are learning the things they are, basically to have a questioning, critical mind and to engage with curriculum first on this level. I feel, somehow, if students understand WHY they are doing or learning something it will help them to do it with more motivation and purpose.

I asked the class why it was important to learn or write narrative paragraphs and a few of them noted the importance of being able to explain information. I also added in our discussions and wanted to explicitly state that they all had voices and it is important for all of them to utilize their voices to encourage, support and help others. They just listened on. Sometimes I wonder when teachers say things like this, if students are really listening or if it just goes in one ear and out the other, but I think it is important to repeat these important "take home" points - for students to hear them over and over again until they understand them. I know even for me, I have to hear something over and over again before I understand it and even then I still forget.

Carrying on, I explained that narrative writing allows us to write about a story from our personal experiences clearly in such a way that our readers can understand and learn from it. The students basically had to write about an experience from the past where they experienced personal growth or learned a lesson.

By God's grace, I was able to find some examples of narrative writing online that my teacher really enjoyed and related to the teaching she was doing, as the examples I found online each stated a moral or lesson that the narrator learned. As a class, we each read one of these samples and after we read each one, I tried to lead a conversation about it. The first narrative was about a person who was impulsive with his friend and ran out into the street and his friend was hit by a car, the second one about a person who was afraid of meeting people from different countries, and the last one was about sharing sacrficially. I found that each narrative allowed me to engage in deeper conversations with the students and even share about my own struggles and difficulties in my own life. From there, the students brainstormed in groups some of the stories/experiences that have happened in their own lives that they can write about and had a worksheet where they had to plan out the paragraphs they were going to write.

I found that a lot of students had problems thinking about certain things they had learned over the years and chose to use examples that we a bit more shallow or on the surface. Perhaps it is challenging for students but they also need to learn the skill of self reflection, growth, knowing how far they have come. It is such an important quality for students to have and certainly something that should also be taught in schools.

Overall I really enjoyed my time in the classroom that day.

Descriptive Writing Lesson & Cultivating Student Wonder

A few weeks ago a had a chance to lead a lesson on descriptive writing in the classroom I volunteer in.

As per my usual style, I like to make lessons a little bit different and exciting for the students by including different forms of learning and stimuli.

The teacher wanted me to lead the students in brainstorming creative ways to express their thoughts as they were starting a unit on how to write different types of paragraphs: persuasive, expository, narrative and descriptive. For this lesson, they were brainstorming to write descriptive paragraphs.

I thought it would be a good idea, thus, to introduce sounds as a foundation to get their thoughts going. I produced 4 different soundscapes: forest ambiance, waves crashing on a beach, "space noises,"and children on a playground. As the students listened to each soundscape they had to write down what they imagined and I also provided a guided description to get their thoughts going. During each soundscape, the students had to write down what they could visualize with their minds eye.

I felt that the students were quite engaged. It took some students a bit of time to fully immerse themselves in the activity, but once they did, they seemed to really get going. After each soundscape, we discussed as a class the types of descriptions they came up with. For example, with the beach soundscape, students said things like they envisioned ice-cream, squishy sand, water, etc.

Before the activity, I advised them to tap into their five senses...what do you smell, what do you see, what do you hear, what can you touch?

I did find that students had a bit of trouble making their sentences very descriptive, creative and a thought does cross my mind that perhaps this technological era has aided in stifling the creative minds of our younger generations.

I feel in a way, perhaps it is hard for all of us to be still and really take in our surroundings and lose ourselves to the beauty of what we see and experience everyday and just appreciate this beauty for what it is: beauty. Why have we lost this wonder for life and why is it hard for youth to cultivate this wonder? Would it have something to do with the fact that a lot of teaching these days is stuck in the classroom or maybe that learning is heavily based in worksheets, handouts and textbooks, rather than perhaps going outside, fieldtrips and creating experiences.

I think in many ways I may have lost some wonder I once had, or perhaps never had a chance to cultivate wonder for certain things. My mom has a hummingbird feeder that she keeps in our back patio. She fills it with nectar water and hummingbirds come to feed and while I think it is really wonderful that she does this, I feel that I do not have the awe and wonder in seeing these beautiful creatures that she has. My best friend, when she came over, was so enamoured by the fact that we own one of these that her family bought one for themselves, and it was really nice hearing from her and her excitement when she saw hummingbirds coming to her feeder that it created in me a type of shared joy. Certainly this reflects God's glory.

Today as well, on my way to volunteering, I noticed that there was snow on the mountains and it was stunningly pretty and another day driving to work, the moon was a juicy yellow-orange and so penetratingly huge that it frightened me in awe. I feel that it is very important to create and cultivate wonder in students. A lot of them have lost this wonder for the world or perhaps never really created it. What makes us lose our wonder when the world is so full of it? If wonder is not the thought that runs through our minds when we experience this world, what other thoughts are replacing it. I am finding that a lot of the students in the classrooms I enter seem very tired, disconnected, disinterested or distracted. How do we ground them into the things that will activate them and make them feel alive and why do they always seem to be so tired? How can we ground them? How can we ground them? I keep asking myself this question and I keep toying with different answers.

I think if I was to make any alterations to this lesson, I would want to take the students to these different soundscapes so that they could actually hear, touch and see with their own eyes, and write descriptions of what they are actually experiencing in that moment.

Overall it was a good experience. At the end of the lesson, I had the students try their best to make this sentence more descriptive: the car stopped at the sign.

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I saw this posting below from a page I follow on Facebook: Youth Launch Initiative: Helping Parents Navigate Through School and Beyond

If we can agree that education is not simply the filling of an empty vessel but the ignition of a flame inside a vibrant soul, full of its own potential...

Then where do we start?

We start with intrigue, curiosity.

WONDER.

At the world around us. At nature. At numbers. At connections...

What IS the moon? What is beyond it? Look at all those stars...
It is easy to get overwhelmed with program plans, homework and curricular requirements.
Don't forget to take as much time as you need with your kids to observe and admire all the beautiful and mysterious things around us.
Wonder and awe are not experiences relegated to the forest or the night sky, but an attitude with which we approach ALL of life.
All kids start out with this amazing appreciation for curiosity and intrigue... it's our job as parents to help them treasure and keep it ❤

Active Education

One thing that has been on my mind this week is cross disciplinary education. For example, I think it would be interesting to do a crossover of English (paragraph writing) and physical education. I find that students are often restless in the classroom and while there is of course a host of reasons, one reason is that students are sitting in most if not all of their classrooms (besides physical education).

It could be beneficial to students, not only to engage their minds, but also engage or activate their bodies. I feel somehow, that activities that captivate the mind and body may increase concentration levels and reduce a lot of the mindless chatter and off topic distractions.

This week in one of my volunteer classrooms, students had to write "How To" paragraphs (which I thought was really genius by the way) where they had to practice writing an expository paragraph where they teach their reader, step by step, how to perform a certain task. Students had very creative ideas such as teaching their readers how to take care of pets (turtles, rats), how to avoid fighting with siblings, iPhone use, making eggs, etc.

While certain students had trouble coming up with both topics and ideas, I found that it was challenging having students stay on task for any given amount of time.

Sometimes when I write, or brainstorm ideas, I like to get up and move around, even write ideas on a paper that I have taped to the wall. I think therefore it could be a good idea to combine certain writing activities in English classrooms with actual active games where students have to move around and quite possibly work in teams. I have been brainstorming some ideas that could possibly work. Here are a few:

Human paragraph
Divide students into groups of 5-6 and each person will represent a sentence in a paragraph. One person is the introductory sentence, 3-4 people are the supporting detail sentences, and 1 person is the concluding sentence. Students can brainstorm and work in their groups to come up with their sentences. This could take a relay race type of structure where two teams are paired against each other. Each person is given 2 minutes to write their sentence on the board and then they have to pass the chalk/dry erase marker to the next person in line. The point of this activity is to work in a team and have students get better of thinking up ideas quickly. Teacher goes over each paragraph and shares with the class. Or can have the students read their paragraph to the class.

Stations
Class can be divided into stations based on paragraph structure. For example, there would be one station for introductory sentences, another station for supporting detail 1, 2, 3, another for concluding sentence. This may work because it puts demarcations and borders surrounding each tasks and breaks things down nicely. I think that element of quickness helps students to stay on task more easily.

Paragraph Hamburgers
This is based off of the paragraph writing model that is in the structure of a hamburger. Each time a student finishes a sentence, they have to go and stick it onto their burger. They write their introductory sentence, and stick it onto their burger. They write their first supporting detail and go and stick it onto their burger. They do this until they have finished making up their burger completely. This activity can be done in partners or groups.

This is just a start but I think combining writing and active activities could be a good way to get creative juices going.

Distracted Students

One of the things that I have come across in the classrooms I am volunteering in are distracted students. Whether it be cell phones, peers, or simply the inability to concentrate on the task at hand, it is very easy to notice many students who are not able to focus or work on the current lesson.

I have tried to understand or brainstorm the reasons behind this behavior. Is it that there is a growing wave of apathy in general among youth these days? Is the material or method of learning not stimulating enough? Are students lost because they question the relevancy of the material to their own current lives? As educators are we failing in drawing connections from the material to the student's life so that they understand the significance of learning about these topics? Is technology (cell phones - social media, youtube etc,) altering students' attention spans? Are students tempted to look at their cell phones in the classroom? The answers may be found within all of these questions, not to mention there are many factors surrounding the student themselves - their personality, home life, routines, physiology (ADHD, Anxiety, learning disabilities), etc.

Here are a few suggestions I pose from my own ruminations, which I have also noticed on websites on the same topic.  


Instructional 

Directly connect the lesson to the students' lives

Instructional material appears dry to students. While the material is infact interesting and does directly impact their lives, perhaps students have difficulty making the connection on how the topic directly influences their lives and perhaps as educators we need to teach them this how.  As educators, I believe it is our role to create those bridges and connections for students. For example, I was reading with a student and the main character in the novel meets a student in his class who is deaf. I think it is important to draw connections for the student by example, asking the student if they have ever interacted with a person who is different from they are and perhaps what the benefit of such encounters would be. Another example is studying with a student on the Industrial Revolution and how it changed the nature of agriculture and food production. I was able to ask a student if he ever thought about where his food came from. I feel that this is just the beginning but perhaps rooting or grounding the lesson within the personal lives of the students and drawing constant connections helps to keep them engaged. I also enjoy activities that connect students not only to themselves, but to their peers, teacher and the outside world.

Keep it simple

Perhaps concepts or readings are beyond student learning level in the sense that students do not understand what they are reading/learning and thus "check out." I can see this a lot in ESL classrooms, where students do not completely understand what they are reading and perhaps have not developed the capacity at this point of their lives to persevere through the material. I think in this case, maybe it is best to focus on one or two ideas or concepts and only stick to teaching those.

• Break up lessons so that students are not working on one thing for long periods of time - students become restless 
• Hands on learning involving movement, getting out of ones desk
• Active participation - students are not to be passive in the class but may be called at any time to answer a question or participate in an activity

I visited a few websites and they also discuss some good ideas for keeping students focused

Organizational

• Planning - creating a plan for what the class/students are to be working on for that session and maybe have charts or checklists and even exit slips to monitor their work...."by the end of the next 20 minutes, I would like to see that you have completed 3 sentences..."
• Seating - best to have students sit with people they do not know, but still to encourage an atmosphere of community. Sitting with friends, I have found in a lot of classes increases the noise level and lowers concentration levels
• Goal setting - have students, especially distracted ones, create goals for their learning and attentiveness. Have them be honest about their strengths and weaknesses and create goals to improve their weaknesses especially as it concerns being distracted.

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/15-strategies-managing-attention-problems

https://www.learningliftoff.com/study-finds-school-distractions-affect-student-learning/

https://www.impactteachers.com/easily-distracted-adhd-students/teacher-tips