Took me allllll year, but finally planned/executed a lesson that had my students for all intents and purposes engaged and [seemingly] excited about learning for all 90 minutes of the period. I wish I could teach like this everyday. Maybe that comes with years. Or maybe just with more thoughtful planning. Or skill.
Last week we learned about the 3 types of irony in literature: verbal [saying the opposite of what is really meant], dramatic [when the reader knows something a character doesn't], and situational [when the opposite of what you would expect to happen happens]. We took Cornell Notes, talked about examples of irony in real life and in movies we've watched, and practiced with pulling examples from "The Tell Tale Heart" [that didn't go so well]. I thought they were ready to try out something that required a higher level of thinking and far less teacher direction...
Irony Detectives! I grouped the students in 3s or 4s and gave them the task of reading a short passage about a real crime which involved irony in some way. As a group, they had to determine which of the 3 types of irony the passage demonstrated and then, on the provided worksheet, 'state their case' for why they thought so. We did a practice case beforehand which involved a boy who joined a gang in order to protect his little brother from being further harassed. His initiation was to steal a bike and throw it off the roof of the building. In the end, his brother comes to him crying and claiming his bike had been stolen... The stolen bike had been his... It took some prompting to get my students to explain why they thought this was situational irony. Once they did though, they seemed eager to read and crack the other cases.
I gave the groups 5 minutes per case, and they completed rotating through all six without being off task at all. I loved hearing them debate and discuss their thoughts on a somewhat difficult concept to grasp and then come to consensus. The best part was, it was all them! Makes my heart happy to see them excited and using their brains to think critically.
As an important end note: there are several teachers at my school, that teach like this each and every day. They're enthusiastic, dedicated to their craft,creative, and most importantly devoted to their students. Yet, they've received pink slips due to the budget crisis and because they don't have 'seniority'. They aren't just numbers or salaries, they are inspiration. It's absolutely tragic and I'm hoping for a miracle.
