I have never been so prepared. I have submitted copies weeks ahead of time. I planned all of September and half of October in August. With my schedule this year, staying ahead is essential. While this great and I focus on fine-tuning instead of creating new lesson, I thrive on coming up and developing new ideas. The curriculum writing part of my job is one of my favorite parts. Last night when I was reviewing my lesson plans for the week I just was not happy with my introduction to my next unit. After dismal results on the last unit test, I really wanted to hook the students before we started in on the political revolutions of the United States, France, and Latin America.
Then it came to me. Sure it was 10:00pm and I had to teach it at 7:45am the next morning, but when I see potential for something good I just have to go with it. After a short class discussion about the concept of a revolution, I played seven or eight songs that exemplify revolutions in music. I started with a 1950’s song (Lollipop), move to Elvis, Bob Dylan, the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Sex Pistols, New Order, and finally Nirvana. It obviously went well in part because it is something different, many of the kids were really involved – including some that haven’t said anything in class all year. I’ll have to see if the excitement about the concept sticks once we are knee deep in actual content, but it was a great start!
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