Team-building: Paper Towers

The first week of school, my classes participated in several types of team-building activities to foster a healthy community in the classroom.  One of these activities was a challenge to build the tallest possible tower out of computer paper without the use of any type of adhesive.  It was extraordinarily fun to watch the students work with their groups and brainstorm the best way to complete the task.  There were so many ideas, and so many possibilities.  Through this task, the students learned:

• Teamwork: Students had to put their heads and hands together to complete the task.
• Creativity: They really had to stretch their imaginations to visualize what building method would be the best option!
• Mistakes are okay: Students understood that if something wasn't working with their tower, they needed to go back and alter their methods for building it.  
• Never to give up: Even if the towers fell at the last moment, teams still tried their best at the challenge.

This year's sophomores had an extra-special task.  They had done the same exercise the year before, and so to compensate for them using their previous experience to build, I added the extra rule that not only did their tower have to be the highest, but it also had to support the weight of a small ball on the top.  This made the task much more difficult, but they worked through it!  Afterward, we talked about the way our towers represented their growing knowledge of English, and how the ball symbolized the extra challenges, additional responsibilities, and other obstacles to their learning that they might face this year.  We also discussed how the strategies they used to overcome this additional challenge were alike to the problem-solving skills they'd need to use in school.  All in all,  I'm enormously proud of them!

Some pictures from the activity are below:

It was an absolutely fun, useful activity.  Thanks to my husband for suggesting it!

Welcome!

 

Welcome to Mrs. Tripp's English Class blog and a brand-spanking new school year!

Please feel free to look around and get acquainted with the site.  This blog will primarily be used to provide occasional updates or news on the content covered in my classroom, celebrate student success, and offer extra, fun resources for both parents and students.  I will also sometimes use it to gather student and parent information, so keep and eye out for surveys!  Although it's content is sparse now, this blog will eventually be bursting with updates, posts, and multimedia relating to the content being taught in English 9 and English 10.  Here's a short visual guide to give you an idea of where everything is on the blog and what its purpose is:

Top Menu:

On the Top Menu you'll see the various courses I teach.  Click on the class you're interested in and it will take you to its website, where you can view a Google calendar filled with assignments and due dates, a list of handouts used in class, and other useful resources.

Side Menu:

• Google Translate - For students and families who may not have learned English as their first language, my blog is fully translatable into several languages.  

• Labels - Labels are kind of like hashtags for blogs.  I can tag blog posts with labels for easy organization.  There's only one label now, but soon there will be many, many more!  If you click on a label, it will filter the blog content to only show posts with that tag.

• Reminders - This widget shows all of my messages sent through the app Remind.  It allows a teacher to send text messages to groups of students and parents without having to share any phone numbers or personal information!

• Goodreads - This widget is my Goodreads bookshelf.  Goodreads.com is a wonderful site that is often hailed "Pinterest for books."  It's a great tool for anyone to record the books they have read, rate them, and receive personalized suggestions on additional reading based on their interest.  I encourage all students - and parents - to join and check it out! 

• Followers - You have the option to follow the blog if you have a Google account and want to receive the updates and news as soon as possible.  Just click "Join this site" - the more, the merrier! 

• Blog Archive - Want to make like Marty McFly, The Doctor, or Spock and travel back in time?  The Archive allows you to view older blog posts without much effort.  Just click on the month you want to view, and you're off on your excellent adventure! 

As always, the blog's content will be shifting, changing, and growing - much like the brain of a life-long learner, so you should check back often for updates!  Thank you!

~Mrs. Tripp