Easy First Day Seating Plan for Secondary

One thing I realized when I went from elementary to secondary, and especially a secondary elective, is that I DO need a seating chart to maximize class time but it can be a huge hassle to get kids in their seats! I wanted to show you a quick method I have been using, which has been very successful for getting kids in the classroom and into a seat on the first day of class or any time I change a seating chart where it doesn't have to be too exact.

First, I drew out a diagram of my room. I labeled each table with a number, then put in line for the number of chairs I have at each table. 

Then, I look at each class and the number of students I will have. I cross out any seats I would like to remain empty. In the seating chart above, I only have 26 students in that class. I have 31 seats, so I crossed out an entire table and one seat on a table that can become crowded.

Then, I made note cards for that class. The class is period 1 on A-days. I made 26 note cards, labeling them for each table. So, for example, since I have just 4 seats I'm using for table 7 in this class, I have four note cards with table 7 assigned to them.

Last, I made table tents on each table with the table number. This way when students walk into the classroom, they can easily find their table.

On the first day of class, as students come in, I will greet them at the door and hand them a notecard at random. Then, they can quickly find their seat with directions that will be on the board!

I have each student write their preferred name (and last name) on the note card. Then, I collect them at the end of class and can use them to put the seating chart on paper! It's a great way to easily get their preferred name. I can also take a look at who is where and move students accordingly if certain students need preferential seating via IEPs or 504 plans. When they come in next class, I can quietly move those couple students that might need it without much fuss.

I know not everyone has tables in their classroom, but you could easily use the same method for groups of desks or rows by labeling the groups or the rows similarly to how I named my tables.

Some of you may wonder why I even have a seating chart, but it is my style. I teach an every other day class that is 42 minutes long. I see over 300 students over the course of two days, so it works for me.

What do you think? What have you tried that works for you?

The Space Between

I asked my advisory students what their ideal learning environment is. Where do they learn best. Describe it.

I learn best in my room. (It has) a bed and a beanbag to rest and think. Plenty of open space.

I learn best at home in my room. It's quiet. It's me. Alone.

I learn best in a stimulated room where we get to experience what we're learning. (I need) a good teacher and hands-on experience. 

I learn best in a colorful environment. Interacting with things. With friends. Trial and error.

I learn best in a quiet environment. There's a table, pencils, and a stack of paper. A person to teach the concept. It's a quiet room.

I learn best in a quiet room. There's comfy chairs.

I learn best in a dark room, a cozy chair, a quiet area. It's a comfortable spot to learn.

It's quiet, slightly messy, cozy, dark. There's exciting stuff to learn, experiments, fun ideas to learn.

And this is where I'm at.

Where do I go from here?

a good reminder

As a teacher, we often flee to summer break (a much deserved one, might I add) with a hands in the air, I'M FREEEE, attitude. Many of our students radiate this attitude, too. I admit, I was that way this year for sure.

Yesterday, however, I saw a student at the store. He said, "I miss school so much." It hit me like a rock. A reminder: summer break isn't happy for all.

As I saw the student hand over a handful of change without counting it to the dollar store clerk to buy a pack of cheap soda and some crackers, I gathered that this might be his lunch for the day. I knew a tiny bit of this student's history and home life. I asked the clerk if he'd given her enough as she counted it and offered to make up the difference...

Summer break isn't happy for all. School is a place many students receive more love and care than in their homes.

I don't really know where I'm going with this... and given I haven't blogged here in over a year, I'm not sure why I decided to return for this short of a post, but I just felt it needed to be said.

Reflections on my first year as an elective teacher.

I was becoming exhausted as an elementary classroom teacher. I wanted something new. So, I ventured into the elective teacher world. I wrote previously about my new gig here.

One thing I did love in the elementary classroom was the deep connections and relationships I could form with students throughout the year. I even felt myself become a little sad that I probably wouldn't experience that this year. I have 300 kiddos come in and out of my room over the course of two days.

Cue the last day of school. A student, who I truly had connected with, showed up at my door with a plant and a two page hand written letter.

Cue the tears.

I knew I had build a special relationship with her, just relating to common experiences, sharing common interests. I really had no idea I'd made SUCH an impression. Thinking about her, she really is just like me when I was in sixth grade. I'm so glad I connected with her.

Just like that starfish story, I made a difference with that one.

It was a great reminder to me just to keep doing what I'm doing. This year has been wonderful. I have really enjoyed the world of electives. And I still can forge those deep connections.

Thoughts on Wikipedia

Today I introduced my students to their next research project for communications class. Each were assigned a social media site and asked to answer some questions about its history, purpose, and use by individuals and businesses. We have quite a locked down web filter in our school at the present, so most of the sights they wanted to research about are blocked.

I told them flat out, other teachers may tell you to avoid Wikipedia, but I want you to use it. It might be your best source of information.

Yep. That's what I believe.

---------

I told them..

Yes, pages get changed. Yes anyone can edit it. But, most pages that get messed with are the controversial ones.

If you're unsure if the page is correct, check another source like you should be doing anyways.

The footnotes of most Wikipedia pages are treasure troves of other resources you could check out.

 

People adopt and edit Wikipedia pages to make sure they stay clean. 

These pages may be the most up to date information you can find.

Use it.

Be critical of it.

Wikipedia is not bad.

It's good.

More Homework Meme #morehomework

My wonderful brother invited me to share some things about myself with you.  Enjoy!

First, 11 things you may not know about me.

1. While applying to college, I had two very different paths in mind. 1) Go to Iowa State and major in Marketing. 2) Go to Wartburg and major in elementary education. Because of financial aid, I chose #2, and my life would never be the same because of that choice.

2. I never want to own a dog.

3. I have a small Etsy shop. Though if you've been reading my tweets lately, you'll notice I've been a little more vocal about it.

4. I document what I wear. I wouldn't say I'm a fashion blogger, but I enjoy looking nice.

5. My first job was at a restaurant called The Garden of Eatin' complete with Adam and Eve on the pizza boxes.

6. I worked running a parts washer machine at a metal factory the summer after my freshman year of college. Just call me Rosie the Rivieter.

7. When I was in college, my brother and I co-hosted a show, "Townsley Time," on the campus radio station.  Russ and his buddies were about our only dedicated listeners as we reported on the cafeteria menu and other random things. I did not know him at the time. We met over a year later.

8. I've never been out of the country.

9. We don't do Santa at our house, and I think Elf on a Shelf looks creepy, but I don't voice my opinions about it much.

10. I clip coupons and have had a manager's approval on some of my purchases because of the amount of discount.

11. Pumpkin is my favorite scent and taste. Second is peppermint.


 Now onto Matt's questions:

1. What book written prior to 1990 has influenced your professional growth as an educator the most?



Not sure I've ready one prior to 1990 that I can recall right now. I thought Teaching with Love and Logic was old, but that's just 1995.

2. Why did you decide to start blogging?


I wanted to share my thoughts, and I enjoy writing.

3. Which educational author do you disagree with the most?
Any that back up letter grades.

4. What is your favorite fast food joint?
McDonald's for their Frappes and bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit

5. When was the last time you told someone you loved them?
Today - I tell my boys all the time.

6.What is most picturesque place you've visited?
Grand Lake Colorado, on the Fourth of July

7. What is your favorite holiday song?
Oh Holy Night

8. What was the last book you read?
Currently reading Allegiant (last in the Divergent trilogy). I'm a junkie for a good dystopian novel.

9. If you could work any job outside of education, what would it be?
I'd own a shop that sells cupcakes and fun accessories.

10. Android or iOS?
iOS - never going back to Android

11. What was the first computer you owned? 
An eMachine desktop that looked something like this. I took bought it for college.


I'm supposed to tag bloggers and make a new list of 11 questions, but I just can't think of 11 bloggers. I'm going to have to end the chain, sorry, but this was fun!!

Always on the Clock

 

image from Providence Public Library

As a teacher, the job doesn't end when contract time is up at the end of the day. I don't mean the paperwork or the planning, I mean the title.

Today started out like a normal Saturday. We headed off to the local fireman's pancake breakfast.

"Hey, Mrs. Goerend! Is that your baby?" - Student.

"Yep, this is Wesley. He's sleeping." - me in my non-showered, pony-tailed, baby wearing appearance.

Which proceeded into an introduction to the student's mom. (I teach 300+ kids over two days, so, no, I haven't met every parent yet.)

- 30 minutes later. Still at the pancake breakfast - 

"Hi, Mrs. Goerend! Is that your baby? Where's Mr. Goerend?" - Student.

(proceed to have a conversation...then one with the student's mom about my class)

- Three hours later at the grocery store -

Wave and say, "Hi" to a former student selling Boy Scout popcorn as I lug the baby in his carseat into the store.

- 10 minutes later -

Wave to two students as I drive home.

- Three hours later -

Woman shows up to buy something from the local swap page.

"Oh, I was looking up your address and my daughter said, 'oh, that's my Leadership teacher!'"

 ------

And that was all by 2pm.

Do I teach in a small town? No. Fastest growing district in Iowa.

Today was a reminder to me that I'm always on the clock. I'm always Mrs. Goerend. 

Do you choose to live in the community in which you teach? If so, why? If not, why not?

My new gig

Phew! It's been a long time since I've blogged over here. April 7, I had a beautiful baby boy, and was off school for the remainder of the year.

Then, mid-summer, I interviewed for an in-district transfer, and I got the job! What's the new job? Awesome.

I have been an elementary school teacher for the past seven years (one year in second grade, four years in sixth grade, and two in fifth). Going into teaching, I figured I'd be an elementary classroom teacher for a long while, and I guess seven years is a long while, but I was itching for some change. My new job is in a middle school (the same middle school my husband teaches at...awwww...yep we now carpool and eat lunch together). I teach sixth grade, but I'm a "specials" or "elective" teacher, though my classes are required courses for sixth graders. This first semester I'm teaching Leadership Development - an awesome course for these students transitioning into middle school. The main goals of the class are:

• applying a problem solving process to solve daily life problems
• learning how to work appropriately with others
• using personal strengths and weaknesses to create goals
• understanding ethical behavior

We also touch on why it's important to have a good outlook and  attitude, organization, and gratitude.

Sounds like a sweet class, huh? In the spring I'll teach another course, Communications, which focuses on inter-personal communications, communicating with technology, and presentations.

I can say so far, that this position is a great fit for me. It's such a huge change from teaching reading, math, science, etc. and being on a team (who I miss greatly by the way), but it is so refreshing to spend my day not stressing about the core and focusing on these "soft skills." I get to see students in a whole different light than their core teachers because it's just different material.

So, if you've been wondering where I've been (sorry University of South Alabama students who visit here and just see old stuff!), I've been transitioning. Transitioning to being a mother of two. Transitioning to being a middle school elective teacher. I'm enjoying this new journey and hope to share more about it with you soon.

Turning it over to them - Success in the making!

image used from flickr

I mentioned in my last post about my struggle with too much social/not enough learning focus happening in our classroom and that I'd share what we're trying out. After 2 weeks down, we've been able to celebrate some success!

Here's what we're trying:

1) We identified as a class the three main behavior areas we struggle in: on task, voice level, and caring/respect toward others.

2) We made a rubric to score these behaviors.

• I divided the class into three groups and they each started with what a secure classroom might look like, then went up from there for exceeding and down for beginning and developing.
• Then we came back together as a class to share out and make sure the language and numbers matched up for the whole rubric. 

3) We identified the 3 key times in the day that students struggle most: math, Words Their Way, and independent reading.

4) I chose two students per day to assess the class during those times. Those two students had a quick discussion after each of those subject areas, came to an agreement on how to score the class, and reported their assessment to the class. We did this for four days and then looked at the data and set a goal.

5) I compiled the data by assigning one point to a beginning score, up to 4 points for an exceeding score. The first four days, students scored 65/144. Many were able to see that it was below 50%, and that an average of 50% would be all developing scores. Then we set a goal for the next four days. The class agreed that we should shoot for 50%, so 72/144. Different students continued to assess and report to the class each day.

6) At the end of the four days (yesterday), I compiled the rubrics again. Good news! They exceeded their goal! They got 78/144 - 54%! We set a new goal for next 5 days. Students decided on this goal and are aiming for a little above 50%. We'll see how it continues.

Here are a few questions I would ask someone if I read about this. If you have more, feel free to comment and I will get back to you!


Where did this idea come from? I shared my struggles with one of my building administrators. She came in to observe and noticed I was working a lot harder than the students. We sat down and brainstormed some ideas, and this is the one that stuck and felt like the responsibility was being passed over to the students.

Are we seeing classroom behavior improvement? I'd say somewhat. There are still areas we struggle with that aren't necessarily during the three times students assess with the rubrics, but we can't do it all, all the time. Plus, we've just been doing this for two weeks!

Are students being honest with their assessments? Yes. I even noticed that when a few of my more off task students had their day to score the rubric, their behavior was better because they were focusing on their work and the rubric.

Why do I have students do the assessing? It turns the responsibility over to them. The idea that the students should be working harder than the teacher wasn't happening before this. I was the nag, the reminder, even the babysitter at times. Now they students get an honest reflection about their behavior from their peers and some of the pressure is off me.

Doesn't this take a lot of time? To begin with, yes. It took us a few hours as a class to come up with the rubric. I have to copy rubrics and plan who is going to assess the class. We have to take a minute to report at the end of each of the three subjects, but things that are worthwhile do take time. If this helps the learners in my classroom focus more, it's totally worth it!

Struggles

image used from flickr

It's nearing Spring Break...which means it's getting closer to the end of the year...which means my fifth graders are preparing to become sixth graders/middle schoolers. Lately we've been struggling as a class to put learning time ahead of socializing time. I know it's something so many teachers struggle with and this time of year seems to be prime time for it.

Teachers have a variety of different strategies they try to get kids to stop talking and focus on learning. From taking away recess minutes to erasing letters of a random word on the board to having them put visual reminders on their desks to who knows what else.

My biggest struggle has been how to get the students to intrinsically monitor themselves instead of me being the external reminder voice that feels like a broken record at the end of the day.

I'm going to be experimenting with something over the next few weeks in an attempt to turn it over to them. It's something I've talked over with some colleagues, and I'm going to give it a whirl. Students at this age are very aware of what appropriate behaviors look like in the classroom, but sometimes just become oblivious to what they're doing in the moment. I hope to come back here to share how it went, and maybe it can be something you can try! So, come back in a few weeks and I'll post about it then.

How do you help your students internalize the importance of the work they need to do? I know socializing is necessary. I know it's important, but how do you balance it with the learning priorities in your classroom? I'd love to hear some things you have tried. What has worked? What has flopped?

 

Posted with Blogsy

The Checklist

I've come upon a new way (for me) of assessing/having students self assess writing this year. It isn't mind blowing by any means, and it isn't working 100%. But, I would say I'm getting a lot better quality products this year. The first writing unit we did was on Personal Narratives. It really just hit me after a conversation with our instructional coach that this is non-fiction writing. I mean, duh, yeah, but I hadn't thought of it that way before for some reason. She found  a great resource that had basically mini-lessons for each day to complete the whole piece with quality including a short mentor text that we referred back to often.

As we went mini-lesson by mini-lesson, we began creating a checklist of what a good personal narrative looks like. I used this instead of a rubric to assess their pieces. I also had them, after the fact, go back and assess themselves using the same checklist. I realizes that many of them weren't using the chart paper checklist as a guide, and missed some parts, but after looking it over with their own checklist in hand, they were able to provide a more honest picture of their writing. Unfortunately, I did this after they had submitted their final copy... I really should have allowed them to go back and fix mistakes then and there, but as life sometimes goes, we were in a hurry and part way into their next assignment. I should have slowed down, but I didn't.

So, the next writing unit came along: book and movie reviews. Again we looked at some mentor texts, had mini-lessons, and created another great checklist. THIS time, I got a little smarter. I printed the checklist twice on a piece of paper and asked them to assess themselves on the top checklist before they submitted their piece to the blog. This allowed them to catch things they'd left out and go back and fix it before my eyes landed there for the "final" assessment. Much better this time! Still, I had some friends who were in a hurry themselves, realized they didn't have everything, and didn't take the time to fix it.  (You can lead a horse to water, but you can't force it to drink....) Hopefully next time I can help those friends see the benefits to doing that.

Below you can gaze at the checklist for the reviews.

Maybe this will work with your classroom! Enjoy!


-->

___________________________________’s Book/Movie Review

My Self-Assessment

I included:

o   information about the author/director and the audience

o   a catchy title

o   an introduction that hints at my opinion

o   a quality summary

o   at least two strengths or weaknesses with details and examples to support them

o   a satisfying conclusion

o   my voice – it sounds like I wrote this

I checked for:

o   capital letters

o   correct spelling

o   conjunctions with a comma before them to make compound sentences

I think I did well with:

Mrs. Goerend’s Turn:

You included:

o   information about the author/director and the audience

o   a catchy title

o   an introduction that hints at your opinion

o   a quality summary

o   at least two strengths or weaknesses with details and examples to support them

o   a satisfying conclusion

o   your voice – it sounds like you wrote this

I also noticed:

o   capital letters

o   correct spelling

o   conjunctions with a comma before them to make compound sentences

Comments:

All They Wanted

I write this more in shame than anything, but in a hope you can learn from it. This is probably common sense to most of you, but sharing this failure might click with someone.

I was attending the Solution Tree PLC conference in St. Louis earlier this summer. I attended many sessions on assessment because it's something that has been an interest of mine for a while. I have knowledge of many good formative assessment practices. I'm big on the retake and standards-based assessment and reporting.

This past year, and many years before it, students would ask the same old question, "How long does it need to be?" I would come back with the response, "I interpret that question as meaning, 'How short can it be to get by, Mrs. G?'" Sadly, some students caught on to this and would give that response to students before I could even give it. I realized got a big slap in the face after attending a session at the conference (I can't remember which) that all the students wanted were more examples of good writing. They really aren't asking to see how short it can be, well maybe a couple are, but most really want to know so they can do their best!

Writing is not one of my strong suits. I have allowed students to fix things and resubmit their paper, and I blog with my students so they have a larger audience for me. One thing that really hit home with me at the PLC conference was students' needs for many examples of writing that meets, does not meet, exceeds the standard.  I was giving them a rubric with descriptors and sometimes one good and one poor model to look at, but many weren't able to transfer to what that would look like in their own writing. They need more. They need more models posted. I even have a sweet little box called "Mentor Texts," for their writing, but I need to be more explicit with its use.

So, this is one of many improvements I hope to make this year. After 6 years of teaching, there's never been one year where I say, "I hope next year is an exact repeat of this year." I archived all of my students' blog posts from last year and hope to use them as models for this coming year (names omitted of course).


What are some mistakes you've made in your classroom? How can you take a risk and be transparent about those mistakes to help others learn?

Another lesson from the garden

Spring has sprung around here.  New plants are growing, but this also means there is a lot of clean up to do. Cleaning out of the old plants must happen for the new to grow. This is the same in life - sometimes if we want to try new things, we must clear out old ideas that get in the way.  If we allow the old to protect the new little plants, it shelters them from the cold for a while.  After time though, the old must go for the new to grow.

What sort of cleaning out of ideas or practices are you going to let go so that new ones can grow?

Creative Juices

Lately, if you follow me on Twitter, know me on Pinterest, or are connected with me on Facebook, you  see I haven't been sharing much about education.  More of my time outside of school work has been spent crafting, idea gathering, starting a shop, and sharing about what I'm doing.  My husband never knows what I'm up to.  I will go in the other room, run the sewing machine or hot glue gun for a while, and come back with a creation.  I feel alive!  How can we transfer this feeling to our students who may feel trapped in the day-to-day reading, math, and writing?  What sort of things are you doing to allow your students (or staff, my administrator friends!) to feel alive in their creativity?

Putting it in their words

Kelley Tenkely tweeted this out today, and it totally fit what I was thinking about blogging!

I also wonder why the things we expect our students to know aren't always written in words they can understand.  Students should understand what they are expected to learn, just like I am supposed to understand what I am evaluated on as a teacher. 

Yesterday, we started discussion on our first Essential Learning in reading.  This is the wording that is given on the progress report:

Use text structures to determine main idea when reading text consisting of multiple organizational patterns.

There are some big words in there that some fifth graders might struggle with, so we talked it out.  We read through it, picked out words they knew - like text and main idea - and then took words they weren't sure about - like text structure, determine, conisisting - talked about what we thought they might mean, reworded them, and rewrote the Essential Learning in our own words.

Here's what we came up with:

 
It's not a huge change, but it is written in words that all of my students can read and comprehend.

What are your thoughts?  Should our progress report statements and the Common Core be written in student speak?

Workin on the Chain Gang

Building community continues to be important in our classroom.  A few years back, I came across the chain gang activity.  I really like it because it leads to conversations about how we are one as a class but all have our unique strengths.  Try it with your class and hang the chain proudly so students can see how their individuality is important to our classroom.

Building Community

 

I love how quickly community can be built in a classroom if one makes the effort.  I'm at a new school this year and the teachers I work with in my grade level have made it a tradition that students bring a grocery bag with a few items about themselves to share.  It's really a simple thing, but it has turned out to be a wonderful community builder.  We just finished our second day of school, but it is amazing to me how quickly community has been built.  Sure, by the 27th bag that had been shared, kids were getting a little weary, but I spread it out over the two days not listening to more than 4 students share in a row.  The 27th sharer did get a huge round of applause when she was finished sharing!

I already know that I have a student who collects elephants, a few aspiring gymnasts, some avid readers, some painters, some crafters, a couple aspiring bakers, some sports enthusiasts, one who has 500 silly bands, and that family is very important to many of my students.

I also shared a bag about me.  If you've seen very many of my photos of the day, you will know that I'm a crafter/sewer/baker.  Today as I left, a couple students asked when I was going to wear one of the dresses I've made soon.  After the second day.

We're building community, and I can't wait to see where it goes!

How do you build community in your classroom?  How do you show your students that you want to know them as a whole person?

Lesson from the garden

Tonight I was out weeding the garden. It's been raining cats and dogs here, so I haven't been able to get out there for a while. It was weedy! I was trying to yank handfuls of weeds out at a time and all I was getting was fistfuls of leaves, keeping the nasty roots to the weeds intact. It made me think about how this relates to life and my calling as an educator.

When I was trying to pull out tons of weeds at once, it was messy and unsuccessful. When I focused on one weed at a time, I was able to get the whole thing out, roots and all. There were/are maany weeds, but small steps make progress toward getting the job done.

In life and in my classroom, I have to focus on one thing at a time. Trying to tackle all many things at once can end up messing with many incomplete jobs. Focused, small steps get the job done well. This is huge for me to remember as I enter a new grade level and new school next year!

What lessons from nature have you experienced that relate to your life, school, or classroom?

Collaborative Writing with @jonathanferrell's Class

My students recently worked on collaboratively writing fractured fairytales with Jonathan Ferrell's class in Kansas.

We skyped initially as classes to read some fractured fairy tales from The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.

 

Skyping the first time with Jonathan's class

 

One student reading to both classes from The Stinky Cheese Man

We set up a group on Edmodo where we posted information and shared the links to the TitanPads (We chose TitanPad because it was available to Jonathan's students.  Google Docs would have been a great place to collaborate, but his students don't have access to that this year.) the students would work on.

 

a screen shot from our Edmodo group

The students were so excited!  We split them up into groups of two or three across classes.  It was wonderful because we were also able to schedule it so that students could work on the document at the same time! I checked in on the TitanPads each day so that I could peek in on the group's productivity.

Here are a few screenshots of snippets of students conversations in the side chat box in TitanPad.  Notice that they use text speak in their chats, and that's ok!  Their stories did not include text speak.

 

One student hadn't heard about Paul Bunyon, so he went to learn about it!

 

pondering how to get started

making changes to wording and deciding how to share

The students collaborated for about 30 minutes each day for a week.  At the end of the project, we Skyped again, and many student groups read their stories aloud to the classes.  

 

a student reading his fairytale with his partner

Many of the students posted their completed stories on our blogs:

These links may not be relevant past June as I plan to take down my students' blogs in preparation for next year.

• My class's blog
• Jonathan's class's blog

Afterward, I talked with my group about what they thought about the project.  A few of there thoughts were:

• It was fun to be able to work on the document at the same time.
• It was hard to come up with an idea that everyone agreed on.
• Some people took over the group and wouldn't allow others' ideas.
• I was aware of this and tried to intervene to make sure all authors were a part of the story.
• It was nice to have someone else to give ideas when I was stuck.
• It helped having other eyes to catch errors I made.

All-in-all we came to the conclusion that it had similar drawbacks and benefits that we encounter with face-to-face group work, but it was motivating to work with students outside our building.  It was a good end of the year activity because students were engaged when they were working on their tales together. It's definitely something I would do again with my students.  

How could you apply this to your classroom?  What collaborative projects have you tried?

Choice

Image used from Flickr

Students appreciate the opportunity to be able to choose.  Currently, my students are sharing their poetry projects.  They had to research a type of poetry of their choice, find examples, write their own, and present it to the class in a creative way.  I've been so excited to see what they have come up with.  I've had a variety of presentation types: glogs, a blog, prezis, poems on our blog, books, slide presentations, and just students coming up and talking. 

What sort of choices are you giving to your students?  How can you make your content more open-ended for them?