There are many things in my classroom that just bring me endless joy on a daily basis. Witty comments. Well-timed jokes. The lightbulb moments (you know, when your students suddenly realize something about what they're learning). When they beg me to stay in my class instead of going to Spanish.
But also memes. (pronounced "meem")
I 100% do not regret the amount of time I sit around trying to plan and make the memes I put on my blog. I know this isn't new, or innovative, but it is SO MUCH FUN.
Often, my students roll their eyes at me as I get shamelessly excited about my latest, extremely cheesy, creation. But to state an opinion that I have that is probably not going to be very popular, teachers do not have enough fun in their own classrooms.
I love learning. It may piss me off sometimes. It may seem tedious and time consuming and frustrating. But there is not an hour that goes by that I'm not trying to figure something new out. Literally everything I do is part of my own process of growth. Even when I'm sharing my knowledge, I'm learning about human interaction. So why do we have to be so serious about it all of the time?
One of the biggest complaints I hear from students is that (insert subject here) class is "boring." The second biggest is that they don't like their teacher. For a teenager these can mean a lot of things, but what matters to me is that they don't want to be wherever they have to be.
I want to be in my classroom ALL THE TIME. And half the time when I tell students I'm happy to keep them after class to finish whatever exit slip or required assignment they didn't do, I have students that say, "How bout I just stay here for the whole next period?"
But also memes. (pronounced "meem")
I 100% do not regret the amount of time I sit around trying to plan and make the memes I put on my blog. I know this isn't new, or innovative, but it is SO MUCH FUN.
Often, my students roll their eyes at me as I get shamelessly excited about my latest, extremely cheesy, creation. But to state an opinion that I have that is probably not going to be very popular, teachers do not have enough fun in their own classrooms.
I love learning. It may piss me off sometimes. It may seem tedious and time consuming and frustrating. But there is not an hour that goes by that I'm not trying to figure something new out. Literally everything I do is part of my own process of growth. Even when I'm sharing my knowledge, I'm learning about human interaction. So why do we have to be so serious about it all of the time?
One of the biggest complaints I hear from students is that (insert subject here) class is "boring." The second biggest is that they don't like their teacher. For a teenager these can mean a lot of things, but what matters to me is that they don't want to be wherever they have to be.
I want to be in my classroom ALL THE TIME. And half the time when I tell students I'm happy to keep them after class to finish whatever exit slip or required assignment they didn't do, I have students that say, "How bout I just stay here for the whole next period?"
My class can be boring and frustrating, too. I'm making them write a novel. I'm making them finish said novel over Thanksgiving break. I make them sit in silence and type for whole class periods sometimes. I don't negotiate.
But I know I get excited about it. And I know they see me get excited about it. And I know that they fight me when I tell them they can do less work.
And man I love making memes. (I giggle uncontrollably every time I see this one to the left.)
My point is this: making memes is one small way that I can show my students that I WANT to be there with them. That I want us all to want to be there, and that I'm not afraid to have fun, and they shouldn't be afraid to have fun either.
One of my students, on the Friday before our week-long break, planned a prank for me to use on April Fools Day using Google Forms. It's not great, but also amazing. I may use it.
Another tried to tell me terrible puns so that I'd give her a NaNoWriMo button.
And oddly enough, amidst the chaos, my class wrote MORE of their novels that day than they had over the previous few.
I created some memes to send them over break to encourage them to continue writing even though they're not at school. You've already seen a few a couple I've made in the past week.
I created this one from an actual picture of my student. He told us he wanted to have his picture taken. Then he did this:
But I know I get excited about it. And I know they see me get excited about it. And I know that they fight me when I tell them they can do less work.
And man I love making memes. (I giggle uncontrollably every time I see this one to the left.)
My point is this: making memes is one small way that I can show my students that I WANT to be there with them. That I want us all to want to be there, and that I'm not afraid to have fun, and they shouldn't be afraid to have fun either.
One of my students, on the Friday before our week-long break, planned a prank for me to use on April Fools Day using Google Forms. It's not great, but also amazing. I may use it.
Another tried to tell me terrible puns so that I'd give her a NaNoWriMo button.
And oddly enough, amidst the chaos, my class wrote MORE of their novels that day than they had over the previous few.
I created some memes to send them over break to encourage them to continue writing even though they're not at school. You've already seen a few a couple I've made in the past week.
I created this one from an actual picture of my student. He told us he wanted to have his picture taken. Then he did this:
I decided to create a blog to keep the memes I create. Some only apply to my classroom. Some might only fit English classes. Some might be cross-disciplinary. I'm trying to tag them. And I'm hoping it'll expand.
It probably won't amount to anything beyond my own entertainment. Regardless, I know I'm having fun.
I may be wrong, but I think that matters.
It probably won't amount to anything beyond my own entertainment. Regardless, I know I'm having fun.
I may be wrong, but I think that matters.