Sarah Taylor Club Photography.
Last summer, Mrs. Tom and I received the Lilly Teacher Creativity Grant. Thanks to the generosity of the Eli Lilly Endowment, we were able to go photo document a trip through seven national parks. In our journey, we studied how photography brackets narrative, how it perpetuates the recognition of the natural world, and how it propels historical memory. When we received the grant, we knew that upon our return, we would name our club photography group for students the Sarah Taylor Photography Club to keep Sarah's legacy alive through the art of photography. We also want students to bracket local narratives, recognize the natural world, and embrace an active role in archiving historical memory of Indiana. Below are some of the photograph compositions from student photographers, from our table at the Spring Festival, and from our state park photography trip:
Happy Valentine's Day.
Non-Fiction Jars for February.
Guess I'm just trying to keep magic alive this winter. Students selected a text and then created a jar to represent their reading. We had a Socratic seminar discussing each text and jar.
365 Project- Sassy Cat.
I am not a big gift person, so Christmas always stresses me out. It's expensive and capitalist and just not what I want the season to be all about. SO, I suggested no gifts this year- just a bring yourself and some food and we'll just be together (that kinda thing). BUT, no. My sister was not having it. She ended up bringing gifts for everyone. One of the gifts that she bought me was a "sassy cat." If you have no idea what that is, it's okay, I didn't know either. But, it's this cat figurine that can hold a pencil. So, after Christmas, I sent a photo to my sister of this sassy cat holding a rock... and that was where it all started. Each year, my family participates in the 365 photography challenge- a photograph every day for a year. Then, we share our projects each new year. It's simple and something that chronicles the past year. This year, my 365 project is themed- the Sassy Cat. And, every day, my sister and I send each other Sassy Cat pictures of the day. This is honestly getting me through this winter. Brought my students on board with this adventure as well.
AP Holiday Parties 2021.
GLOW*like*SARAH
Sarah Taylor taught everyone that brightening the world is an endless journey. This weekend, about a hundred community members, teachers, and students came together for the Glow Run- part of the bigger GLOW like Sarah project that reminds people of Sarah's joy and her faith. After a year and a half of social distancing and a lack of events, coming together as a community during this November night was magical.
Go Jets. Fall 2021.
What's happening in English class and Hope, Indiana? See below.
AP Retreat 2021.
The AP Retreat returns for the 2021 academic year. From team building to stress management, and from multiple choice practice to advanced expository writing activities, the two day retreat is jam packed with content.
Join FFA! 2021
If you are looking for something extracurricular this year, join FFA! Not only is it sponsored by two awesome teachers (Ms. Dressler and Mrs. Dickerson), but it is also a great opportunity to help out the community and get involved in local work. I know a lot of people think FFA is just for farmers or people coming from ag backgrounds. However, you don't have to live on a farm to want to learn more about agriculture and all that it covers- from horticulture and growing plants to animal science and food security. There are so many branches of study within the field of agriculture. You'll have opportunities to work at the local food bank, join the World Food Prize program and present your ideas for food security to a world-wide audience, work in the green house and prepare for the plant sale in the spring, and be a part of bigger community awareness projects.
BC I Was Inspired. 2021.
CONGRATULATIONS SENIORS!!!
LET'S STROLL DOWN MEMORY LANE... (select the thumbnail to augment the photograph)
Best Classroom Contributions.
Here's to a 2021 line up of awesome classroom contributions:
My Beloved Seniors. 2021.
Senior walk and college plans!
The Return of Chaucer. 2021.
It all started with Hot Chaucer... Now, each time I have a sub, I find the return of Chaucer on my board. Classic.
Nonfiction Jars. 2021.
I read The BFG when I was in grade school. I don't remember much about it- but I do remember it sparking my interest and leading to the idea of magical fairy worlds and the stuff of dreams. I particularly liked the idea of having dreams stored in jars- like ingredients and/or spices. What if we could do that? What if we kept all the ideas we had about something in jars--- and then store them on shelves like books to take down and admire or re-live at some other time? So, I decided to try and adapt this idea in the classroom. Students had to find a nonfiction article, read it, and annotate it. Then, they were responsible for creating a visual display of the nonfiction article in a mason jar. Below are a few: (1) a jar to raise awareness about osteosarcoma (because we always remember Sarah Taylor, but especially this month); (2) a jar that represents the history of origami; (3) a jar that explores the genetic links between religious practice in families and fertility; (4) a jar that shows how exercise can help reduce anxiety; (5) a jar that represents how body image thoughts sometimes spiral (inside the water were bits of facts and body image thoughts).
I Love These Goon Shows. 2021.
Yearbook Spirit Week. These kids.... Love their hippie school spirit.
They Called Me 'Predictable....'
So.... my English 10 honors class said that I was 'predictable.' Then, they tried to sugarcoat it and make it sound better than it was. I didn't used to be this way. Pre-Covid, I was the millennial entertainer in each and every lesson. Every minute was mapped out, and I tried to seamlessly orchestrate the lesson so that it felt like time was always flying by. Since I am 'extra' and 'petty,' I accepted the challenge. The next day, I moved all of the student desks. Then, we had an impromptu drawing contest. We voted on which one we felt was the best. I made sure that the voting ticket had 'unpredictable' written on it... because I am that petty.
Gatsby Parties in the 2020s.
We celebrated the end of the Gatsby unit with the traditional junior year party. Even though we had a shortened class period due to the two-hour delay, the students still showed up ready to learn to Charleston.
This Time Last Year.
This time, last year, the junior class and I were running concession stands for boys basketball games to raise enough money for the prom (that never happened). The girls in my Resource showed me their memory timeline photos today of us exactly one year ago. Covid plays with the perception of time. Has it really only been one year? In so many ways, that feels like a lifetime ago. The athletic director gave me the left over roses, and I passed them onto the girls. They loved them.
When Yearbook Asks Me If I Have Any Photos That They Could Use...
Give me 20 minutes LOL I asked my seniors to brainstorm their favorite spaces during their high school experience. Here's what happened: the student section in the main gym, the ag facility, Mrs. Dalton's FACS room, the theatre/auditorium, the front lounge, and my classroom.... I made them go to the library... it wasn't on their list, but it should be. Wow, I miss them already.
Hauser Homecoming 2021.
Homecoming 2021. Congratulations to Homecoming Queen Emily and King Clayton! So proud of you both! Emily, you are going to thrive at Purdue! And, Clayton, you are going to love IU! Congrats to Marnie, Forest, Ben, Hannah, Aunaka, and Landon too!
Hillbilly Elegy & Fall Weather
We are reading J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy in AP Language and enjoying these beautiful fall days!
2020 RESOURCE BE LIKE:
Spontaneous Bob Ross Day.
"Go into the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art- no matter how well or badly- is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something." -Kurt Vonnegut
What do you do when you have 35 minutes every day in the middle of the strangest school year your senior year? You sit aside the scholarship essays, you hit pause, and you pretend to be Bob Ross. You turn up that Lizzo, and you just deal with life through cathartic painting sessions. This was my first cohort of students at Hauser. They came into my classroom as sophomores, and now they stroll in each day as seniors. They brighten my day each and every day. They are still deciding which colleges they plan to attend. They are starting to envision their futures. They are growing up so fast. So proud as these girls deal with this year and continue to brighten the world around them despite everything.
What do you do when you have 35 minutes every day in the middle of the strangest school year your senior year? You sit aside the scholarship essays, you hit pause, and you pretend to be Bob Ross. You turn up that Lizzo, and you just deal with life through cathartic painting sessions. This was my first cohort of students at Hauser. They came into my classroom as sophomores, and now they stroll in each day as seniors. They brighten my day each and every day. They are still deciding which colleges they plan to attend. They are starting to envision their futures. They are growing up so fast. So proud as these girls deal with this year and continue to brighten the world around them despite everything.
Personal Narrative Workshop. 2020.
"Of course, this is not the whole story, but that is the way with stories; we make them what we will. It's a way of explaining the universe unexplained, it's a way of keeping it all alive, not boxing it into time. Everyone who tells a story, tells it differently, just to remind us that everyone sees it differently. Some people say there are true things to be found, some people say all kinds of things can be proved. I don't believe them. The only thing for certain is how complicated it all is, like a string full of knots. It's all there, but hard to find the beginning and impossible to fathom the end. The best you can do is admire the cat's cradle, and maybe knot it up a bit more." -Jeanette Winterson
This academic quarter, we've been working on the art of narration, the techniques of storytelling, and the impact and significance of literary and rhetorical analysis within the realm of fiction and first fiction writing. Whether it's word specific analysis webs, rough drafts on these beautiful fall days, or tree-climbing, this cohort is working on the art of storytelling, of paying attention to detail, and of deriving meaning in all its forms.
This academic quarter, we've been working on the art of narration, the techniques of storytelling, and the impact and significance of literary and rhetorical analysis within the realm of fiction and first fiction writing. Whether it's word specific analysis webs, rough drafts on these beautiful fall days, or tree-climbing, this cohort is working on the art of storytelling, of paying attention to detail, and of deriving meaning in all its forms.
These People. 2020.
How do you get through post-quarantine teaching, a tension-filled election year, and not burn out?
Step One: You find your people. I don't know what I would do without amazing colleagues that (1) inspire me to be a better teacher, (2) listen to me rant about how I regret all my life choices in one minute, (3) listen to me rant about how I am so blessed by all my life choices in the next minute, and (4) accept me for the contradictions, mood swings, and intellectual rabbit hole conversations. They inspire me to try new lesson ideas. They create safe spaces to complain. They offer honest and constructive feedback. They let me have my moods. They have my back when life comes crashing down. They inspire me to be a better human. I think in a job, and in life, you can't hope for much more than that.
Step Two: You read good books. You ask hard questions. You listen for answers.
Step Three: You embrace the little things- the last sunflowers of the year, the current trend in artistic paintings, the red sunrises, etc. You notice the things that exist despite the world of hate rhetoric and contentious behaviors.
Step One: You find your people. I don't know what I would do without amazing colleagues that (1) inspire me to be a better teacher, (2) listen to me rant about how I regret all my life choices in one minute, (3) listen to me rant about how I am so blessed by all my life choices in the next minute, and (4) accept me for the contradictions, mood swings, and intellectual rabbit hole conversations. They inspire me to try new lesson ideas. They create safe spaces to complain. They offer honest and constructive feedback. They let me have my moods. They have my back when life comes crashing down. They inspire me to be a better human. I think in a job, and in life, you can't hope for much more than that.
Step Two: You read good books. You ask hard questions. You listen for answers.
Step Three: You embrace the little things- the last sunflowers of the year, the current trend in artistic paintings, the red sunrises, etc. You notice the things that exist despite the world of hate rhetoric and contentious behaviors.
Cohort 2020 Memories. 18-20
You'll Be Missed. Summer 2020.
We didn't want to end the school year this way with Covid. This wasn't really our ideal end-of-the-year AP celebration. BUT, that didn't stop us from showing our AP kiddos how much we care about them and wish them well in their future endeavors. We ended up having an optional picnic at Mill Race Park for our AP graduating seniors. We did this so that those who wanted to social distance could do so and still be part of the fun. Mrs. Tom and I made jars of accolades and quotations (just snippets of advice, positive notes, individualized quotations from their favorite books, songs, and films) for each of our young scholars. Mrs. Tom bought everyone a copy of Hornby's Songbook (and highlighted the songs that reminded her of each student). At the picnic, we talked about their fears and their hopes and their dreams for the future. We talked about college days and this next chapter that awaits them. Olivia, Grace, and I skipped rocks along the creek bed (and it's been a minute since I did that). I hardly ever take selfies.... so the kids had to walk me through that one. To the seniors- you are all amazing. Remember where you come from, but use it to inspire and motivate where you're going. Take all the obstacles that life throws your way, and use them as building blocks to make you a stronger person. Remember that if you can make the world a better place each day- then you will have embodied the definition of success. Il faux reculer pour mieux sauter. Sometimes, we have to go back (and have a proper goodbye) in order to jump further (into the future). Wishing you the best always!
Cohort 2021 Memories.
Preview of Coming Discussions. 2020
Culture Jamming 2020.
"You say you want a revolution... well, you know, we all want to change the world." Culture jamming is the process by which individuals use a pre-existing image or object and change it in some way to make a larger statement regarding society and societal practice.... SO, for 2020, instead of writing New Year's resolutions, we'll be making and/or analyzing New Year's revolutions. Annotation at its best.
Let Me Brag For a Minute. 2020.
Why Hauser? Because we have some of the best students. This senior cohort is beyond impressive. The senior class, the young adults that roll into my classroom at 7:30AM every morning (well- some of you are pushing 8:00AM- get it together), are going to change the world. Macie Hill and Brooke Hopkins want to attend Purdue to study veterinary practices. Melanie Taylor (pursuing journalism) and Shelby Fugate (pursuing finance) will attend Indiana University. Carly and Maddy Archer and Leah Joyce are interested in USI. Grace Isley will attend Butler University to study pharmacy. Chloe Kennedy will attend Oklahoma to study meteorology (just pick OU... I know you are thinking Valpo... but I can't send you Oklahoma musical recordings if you go there). Elijah Heslop is still deciding (but he will study political science with an interest in political and social activism). Olivia Wright is looking at Wittenberg to study psychology and special needs assistance (ABA therapist). Ethan Wallace signed with Trine and wants to be an engineer and also play tennis. Gage, well Gage, you have to tell me where you are going to go. I am so proud of each one of you. You make my day almost every day. Thank you for being the awesome people that you are! Shelby- it was an honor to sit in on your interview regarding the Horatio Alger scholarship. Mel- when I saw this in the hallway, it honestly made my week- thank you! America, 2001! Leah- look at you and your Homecoming Queen self! So proud. And that crown fits you perfectly. Elijah- your letter to me honestly has me at a loss for words, because thank you cannot even begin to express the sentiment that I would hope to convey.
AP Transcendentalists 2019.
Because romanticism. We covered the three Is- individualism, idealism, and imagination. Now, we must confront the role of Nature in romanticism, realism, naturalism, transcendentalism, and yes, even [post] colonialism.
YWP Still Frames 2019.
Shout-out to my English 10 Honors class for their awesome portrayals of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper." It's creeping season. Perfect time for a female Gothic production. "I kept creeping just the same." See their beautiful representations below:
AP Retreat 2019.
It's crazy to think that this is year two. Our AP program has flourished and grown so much in the last year. I'm continuously proud of the students that push themselves to take advanced courses and face all the challenges that come along with those courses. Just like last year, we have an awesome group of students enrolled in AP Literature and AP U.S. History. I work with some amazing colleagues- Kelli Hoeflinger and Stephanie Tom- who always go above and beyond for our students. This year, Mrs. Hoeflinger kicked off the retreat with an obstacle course that really made kids work together as a team. She later led some activities to reinforce stress management techniques. I led some of the boring, academic stuff (my niche), especially the workshop on close-reading, literary movement/time period identification, and multiple choice preparation. Mrs. Tom led crafts (kintsugi & essential oils) and the DBQ timed writing and thesis tower activities (it's so nice to have interdisciplinary writing standards). We also included a movie night where we watched O Brother Where Art Thou, drilled in analysis (versus summary), and identified the parallels between the film and Homer's The Odyssey. After the movie, our student musicians led sing-alongs around the camp fire. I painfully led the morning yoga session (definitely made up names of positions that I don't know). And, all around, despite the sleep deprivation that most faced on day two, we had a successful AP Retreat.
Other perspectives: check out our stories at HSJ Online and The Republic. See the links below:
https://hsjonline.org/Content/Hope-area-news/General-Hope-News/Article/Hauser-students-rise-to-challenge-of-advanced-courses/7/31/3412?s=1
http://www.therepublic.com/2019/09/23/from_the_classroom_to_the_woods_hauser_teachers_take_students_on_annual_retreat/
https://hsjonline.org/Content/Hope-area-news/General-Hope-News/Article/Hauser-students-rise-to-challenge-of-advanced-courses/7/31/3412?s=1
http://www.therepublic.com/2019/09/23/from_the_classroom_to_the_woods_hauser_teachers_take_students_on_annual_retreat/
Former Calendars.
I didn't really know where to post this... so here it is. These are just the calendar overviews from the 2018-2019 academic year.
TENTATIVE CALENDARS FOR SEPTEMBER
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TENTATIVE CALENDARS FOR OCTOBER
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TENTATIVE CALENDARS FOR NOVEMBER
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TENTATIVE CALENDARS FOR DECEMBER
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TENTATIVE CALENDARS FOR JANUARY
English 10H January | |
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AP Lit End-of-the-Year Celebration.
We ended up celebrating the end of the academic year by visiting a canvas studio in Indy. It was a nice way to de-stress after an intense year of DBQ practice, multiple choice prep, long hours of reading... and more reading... and more writing. It was neat to see that the same image could be created individualistically.
English 10C Final Exam Prep.
I know that Quizlet Live is old news now. However, I still LOVE it. This is my first period class reviewing literary devices that might show up on the final exam. This group of students was too cool for school at the start of the school year. I am not sure anyone (aside from a few) actually read the first novel I assigned. However, by the end of the year, everyone was reading (aside from a few). Yay- progress! This group was great despite their initial sass.
AP Lang End-of-the-Year Celebration.
WE SURVIVED the school year! I'm not as fancy as the APUSH teacher, Stephanie Tom. So, when the AP Lit and APUSH (the juniors) went on a retreat (thanks to the efforts of Mrs. Tom and my much-less demanding moral support), my AP Lang girls wanted to have a retreat as well. So, we ended up taking a half-day, driving to Anderson Falls, having a picnic, and painting canvases without directives. I think it turned out well! It was a hot mess trying to come to a consensus that made everyone happy... but we did in the end (!). Best wishes to these awesome people as they face the adventures that accompany post-secondary studies. Congratulations and enjoy this next part (it's the best)!
AP Lit Gatsby Party.
I wasn't originally going to teach Gatsby.... but that received a lot of criticism since junior year is the year of Gatsby. Plus, I guess 2019 is a fitting year since it mentions it in the text. So, my students ended up organizing a Gatsby party. They did all the work. They created a list, bought decorations, came in early, brought food, and dressed up. I also really like Valentine's Day, because I need something to cheer me up in the middle of February. So, this was perfect!
AP Lit. & APUSH Retreat.
Thanks to the efforts of Stephanie Tom and Kelli Hoeflinger, we were able to have an AP Retreat for students enrolled in AP Literature and AP U.S. History this September! The retreat focused on team building exercises, stress management techniques, positive reinforcement, AP-style multiple-choice test-taking strategies, thesis workshops, synthesis writing, and timed performance. Below are a few of the photos from the retreat.
"THE YELLOW WALL-PAPER"
STILL FRAMES.
English 10 Honors students recreate a memorable scene from Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wall-Paper" and provide a caption that explains the significance and representations inherent within the staged still frame.