A recent blog post on a private ning about making our planning transparent has me thinking. 
I am teaching a ninth-grade English class on Introduction to Genres this year for the first time, using plans from a former teacher.
So far, it has worked well since I have a solid base in short stories and autobiographies and the familiar readings.
However, I am about to head into drama using Antigone and two other plays. If I ever had an understanding of Greek tragedies, it is gone now! And the other two plays are also just distant memories for me (I've been teaching almost 30 years now and NOT in this division).
So….I think I will do some thinking and planning right here. That way, if anyone has any great ideas, well, they can share with me!
My first thought is that I will ask the students to help me plan the unit, too. I've never done this before–actually let the students move in their own direction with a unit of study. One of my goals this year is to define and explore student-centered learning, so this seems like an opportunity to let them go and further my research.
The goal is to help them fully understand the concepts of drama, just as they did for short stories and autobiographies. And, ultimately, they will write a one-act play. But how we get there is undecided at this point.
I will spend some time today reading some background material and, of course, checking the previous plans. This almost sounds like a contradiction– creating a plan to let go.
However, if you want to pass along any nuggets of brilliance, please do!

Uploaded on October 23, 2007
by lochnessjess