Creative writing starters 7

The cherub sat atop the concrete slab building contemplating the consequences of his mistakes. Given that this situation was entirely new, he wondered if it were possible to undo his fateful shot. But therein lay the conundrum: that tricky word 'fate'. Even Cupid could not choose fate. Even the destination of Cupid's arrows was predetermined by some higher being.
All around the innocent victim, a commotion was exploding. The arrow's effect was taking over and the audience members affections were being stirred. Oblivious, the comedian continued to expound his stand-up routine, wooing thousands with every syllable, every smile, every mimed gesture. The security guards were struggling to focus on the task at hand, bursts of love emanating inexplicably from their hearts.

Ideas for group work in the high school classroom

Kia ora all! This blog post is a real train of thought, work in progress entry. I have a lot of ideas about using groups in my class and I'm sure this plan will be refined over the coming weeks. I really look forward to hearing your thoughts, suggestions and questions!

I have mentioned before that my department is invigorating our junior program and that these plans are ongoing. A key part of this change is that we are guided by four Kaupapa or themes throughout the year, one in each term. We are starting the year with Papatuanuku and I have explained to the students that we will be considering our texts through this lens.

I have also started the year with my desks in groups for the first time, having never had room before. And that's what this blog post is all about - how I am going to use these groups in the classroom.

Here is the plan:

- I will name the five groups of desks (six desks per group) after a local body of water or landmark: Ohiwa, Rangitaiki, Tarawera, etc. To be confirmed.

- As Trident is our iwi, I will refer to my classroom as a hapu and each group of desks would be a whanau (across classes, for example, there will be at least three groups of students who are "Ohiwa" across at least three different classes)

- each group, in each class, will decide upon an abstract noun that they will aspire to demonstrate. For example aroha, manaakitanga, perseverance... This idea comes from my husband's plan to integrate the qualities of a good teammate into his Sports in Education class.

- somehow, each group of desks will end up with a flag or sigil, a couple of abstract nouns (from the different groups in different classes) and most excitingly, a patron of the arts. Ideally the patron will be a New Zealand author, director, screenwriter, lyricist or actor.

I have two Year 9 classes and a Year 10 class so I'm not sure how to divvy up the research and decision making when it comes to the flags and patrons, but I'm excited about how these decisions can be part of my classroom teaching about visual and verbal texts as well as the context of New Zealand art and literature.

Some decisions I am yet to make are:

- will these groups be flexible? Might I have to jiggle students throughout the year, or is the point to work through any issues with each group by falling back on their core value, as well as my school's core values?

- how will I determine the groups? I will certainly not be splitting them into curriculum levels from lowest to highest. The next obvious choice is to spread each level of ability across each group of desks. Alternatively I could base my decision initially on personality, and subsequently on reshuffling if I notice a predominance of a certain curriculum level at one table. While one of my classes is technically 'streamed' the students do cover a range of two or three curriculum levels, the other two are definitely mixed ability due to their special interest nature (Great Barrier Island group and BYOD class).

- I am also keen to get my seniors to buy into this, but as my Level 1 class is tiny and my Level 2 class is strong willed and very 'cool' I may struggle. They may dismiss the whole thing as very primary school. One strategy might be to not even mention it to them and see if they react to the posters and values going up around the walls.

What do I hope to get out of this?

- accountability, enthusiasm, belonging

- bonding within each group

- I hope that awareness of the other groups who occupy your set of desks will encourage more responsibility as a citizen of the classroom: less graffiti, rubbish and gum under desks.

- More interest in wall displays and therefore other students' work

- behaviour management through positive peer pressure

- more opportunities for peer teaching

- an increase in student progress (hopefully this is the overarching reason why we do anything in the classroom!)

I will see how Term 1 goes and if these ideas are not enough on their own to achieve my goals I may look at introducing some form of inter or intra (or both) group competition. Thankfully we have a fantastic PB4L system of core value certificates and of 'coffee club' stamps that are a simple way to acknowledge and encourage positive behaviour and work ethics. I'm not big on competition in the classroom, but my boisterous junior boys may require that kind of motivation

As you can see I am very excited about how this will work. I'm already thinking about the future and whether I would keep the names the same across the years or whether I could branch out and use different kinds of philosophies, names of novels, international authors, past successful students, the options are limitless...

I would love to hear your ideas, suggestions and advice. Do you use groups in the classroom? Do they stay the same all year? What do kids like or not like about this approach?

Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei

Pursue excellence – should you stumble, let it be to a lofty mountain

Creative writing starters 6

Snowflakes melted on the tips of his eyelashes. Swathes of snow crunched underfoot. The smelt distinctly of nothing except cold. His eyes crinkled against the intense white light reflecting off every surface.
In the distance a fir tree trembled and snow fell to the ground with a wumpf. The boy flinched, startled. He shaded his eyes with numb fingers and stared at the tree. Was that...? No, it couldn't be... A large beaver, perhaps the size of a 12 year old child, was standing upright, brushing snow from his glistening coat.

Creative Writing Starters 5

"It's so nice to finally meet you," it said, grinning from ear to ear. 
The shaggy polar bear registered his visitor's glistening white fur and glanced down at his own yellowed pelt.
He emitted a low growl as his eyes cast down to the watery depths surrounding him. Shame engulfed every inch of his being and tears stung at his eyes. The polar bear swallowed back his shame. The visitor realised the impact his presence was having on the captive animal and began to nervously fidget with his own glistening coat, shuffling his plastic paws from side to side.
After a moment of shared anxiety the polar bear could take it no more and pushed his gigantic paws against the thick glass, launching his body away from the visitor, leaving a swirl of bubbles behind.
The visitor drooped his head in disappointment and turned to leave, confused by the whole experience.

Creative Writing Starters 4

It was finally there, after all those years, right in front of him. He reached out a gnarled hand and grasped at the square of glistening air in front of him. The particles shifted and danced under his light touch, drawn towards the density of his skin. The square of air looked to be caressing his arthritic fingers. He flexed his wrist, his palm, his thumb, each taut digit. Slowly, he reached through. Slowly, the tips of his fingers began to disappear: first his nails, then each knuckle 1 2 3 4, then again 1 2 3 4 and now his thumb knuckly and the last 1 2 3 4 and 5. All that remained was his palm, his fingerless palm.
Suddenly he felt his fingers grasped from the other side and his palm, forearm, elbow, his whole being was jerked through the square of air. His feet left the solid ground and he was plunged into darkness.

Creative Writing Starters 3

You have a set of minions for a week...

If I had a set of minions for a week would ask them to:

- complete everything on my to do list (everything at school and at home)
- buy a freezer and prepare a year's worth of food
- make me an emergency kit because I keep putting that off and one should always be prepared
- finish sewing the dresses that I bought the material for over a year ago
- load my iPod with all my new music
- custom build a book shelf and coffee table from recycled wood
- finish the fence on my property so I can get a dog.

Creative Writing Starters 2

I am 28. I am absolutely sure that I will never forget the joy of listening to a wide variety of music. Not all adults have forgotten this, but I get the impression that the older one gets the more narrow ones taste in music becomes. I love exploring and discovering new artists, sounds, lyrics. I hope

I am 28. I am absolutely sure that I will never forget the fear that I am missing out on an alternative life. I am on a certain track now: a home, a partner, a job, cats. Could I  be living in New York, being an artist? In France being a nanny? In Asia being a translator? Am I missing out? People older than me seem so certain about their choices and so dedicated to the one life path that they have in front of them. Or perhaps it is that no one wants to give a voice to these fears, no one wants to look a gift horse in the mouth and question their happiness.