I had the chance a few years ago to spend some dedicated PD time creating a unique experience for my students first five days of school. Under the direction of Mark Wise @wisemancometh I was given some important questions to ponder. What kind of culture did I want in my classroom? How could I create that culture? How do I create a culture of learning and care when my 11 year old students are afraid to even walk in the halls of this new middle school experience? And that last thought is exactly what inspired me.
The Middle School Fear Project was born. For 3 years this project has been the introduction to my classroom and thus the beginning of our class culture each year. Students arrive to the first real day of social studies class (after the chaotic day 1 of opening lockers, touring the school, and making sure we don´t lose any 6th graders) and grab a small piece of paper. On one side of the paper is a scared face, the other side is blank. After sharing a short story with my students about my own middle school experience I ask them to write down what the scariest part of middle school is. I remind students that I don´t know their handwriting. They do not write their name on the paper. ¨Just focus on the fear¨, I continually remind them. Already their faces are shocked- why is this woman who is supposed to teach me telling me to be afraid?
After they write their fears, it only gets stranger. I ask the students to stand up. Push their chairs in. Grab their paper. Closer their eyes. And crumple it up. And then throw it. Keep throwing. Grab another crumpled paper and throw it. We don´t stop throwing until everyone has a smile on their face (it doesn´t take long). Then I ask every student to find a piece of paper and sit down. I let the room get quiet. And then we open them up. Students read the fear they found. I ask them to raise their hand if they have the same fear as the one on the paper in front of them. No one knows what each paper says. But they can see the commonalities. They can see that everyone has the same fear. It usually gets even quieter here. So then we stand up and throw things again. This continues for a few rounds.
After turning our fears in to laughs and smiles the fears turn in to our first project. Choose a fear and argue why its the scariest. We spend the next week learning about making a claim and supporting it with evidence. Students research their fears. Students afraid of using their lockers time how long it takes to open one. Students afraid of getting lost count the number of classrooms in the building. Students afraid of stress take to the internet and research the impact of stress on kids their age. Students can turn their claim in to a slide presentation, video, poster, essay, honestly any product. And they DO NOT present the project. No one sees it but me.
This project is our introduction to SEL. The students don´t know it but they are creating their own classroom culture. They are free to share their fears and honest selves with each other. The rest of the year, we lean back on this project. By June, it becomes something to laugh about. And reflect upon. Students realize their growth when they can reopen a project about being deathly afraid of evil 8th graders at the end of June, after becoming friends with some of those perceived evil creatures.
Speaking of evil 8th graders, this project only worked because I taught 6th grade. As I transition to 8th grade in September, I need a new first five project. I have a few ideas, inspired by this Fear project. Thinking about turning the question from ¨What is the scariest part of middle school?¨ in to ¨What is the scariest part of our world today?¨ or something along those lines. Want to go more global, bigger picture, social justice with it. But I´m still not sure. So I´m open to anyone with an idea! Feel free to comment below.
The Middle School Fear Project was born. For 3 years this project has been the introduction to my classroom and thus the beginning of our class culture each year. Students arrive to the first real day of social studies class (after the chaotic day 1 of opening lockers, touring the school, and making sure we don´t lose any 6th graders) and grab a small piece of paper. On one side of the paper is a scared face, the other side is blank. After sharing a short story with my students about my own middle school experience I ask them to write down what the scariest part of middle school is. I remind students that I don´t know their handwriting. They do not write their name on the paper. ¨Just focus on the fear¨, I continually remind them. Already their faces are shocked- why is this woman who is supposed to teach me telling me to be afraid?
After they write their fears, it only gets stranger. I ask the students to stand up. Push their chairs in. Grab their paper. Closer their eyes. And crumple it up. And then throw it. Keep throwing. Grab another crumpled paper and throw it. We don´t stop throwing until everyone has a smile on their face (it doesn´t take long). Then I ask every student to find a piece of paper and sit down. I let the room get quiet. And then we open them up. Students read the fear they found. I ask them to raise their hand if they have the same fear as the one on the paper in front of them. No one knows what each paper says. But they can see the commonalities. They can see that everyone has the same fear. It usually gets even quieter here. So then we stand up and throw things again. This continues for a few rounds.
After turning our fears in to laughs and smiles the fears turn in to our first project. Choose a fear and argue why its the scariest. We spend the next week learning about making a claim and supporting it with evidence. Students research their fears. Students afraid of using their lockers time how long it takes to open one. Students afraid of getting lost count the number of classrooms in the building. Students afraid of stress take to the internet and research the impact of stress on kids their age. Students can turn their claim in to a slide presentation, video, poster, essay, honestly any product. And they DO NOT present the project. No one sees it but me.
This project is our introduction to SEL. The students don´t know it but they are creating their own classroom culture. They are free to share their fears and honest selves with each other. The rest of the year, we lean back on this project. By June, it becomes something to laugh about. And reflect upon. Students realize their growth when they can reopen a project about being deathly afraid of evil 8th graders at the end of June, after becoming friends with some of those perceived evil creatures.
Speaking of evil 8th graders, this project only worked because I taught 6th grade. As I transition to 8th grade in September, I need a new first five project. I have a few ideas, inspired by this Fear project. Thinking about turning the question from ¨What is the scariest part of middle school?¨ in to ¨What is the scariest part of our world today?¨ or something along those lines. Want to go more global, bigger picture, social justice with it. But I´m still not sure. So I´m open to anyone with an idea! Feel free to comment below.