No Dull Days

I've been looking for different quotes and sayings to post in my classroom, and while I was walking through a Hallmark store, I found a notepad of various Dr. Seuss sayings. This one in particular caught my eye, and I think I'll make it into a sign to hang in my room!

We could have a dull day and just sit, sit, sit... but that isn't likely! Not one little bit!

Teaching history I had a GREAT mentor who loved to get the kids up and moving and involved. We had great hands-on activities almost every week. We put tape maps down on the floor and battled for land in Greece, we excavated tombs in ancient China, we took a riverboat cruise down the Nile, we re-enacted battles, we spent a day pretending to be medieval monks... it was honestly the most fun I've ever had teaching!

Returning to the classroom this year I'm going back to teaching English. I have some mixed feelings about it based SOLELY on the awesome experience I had teaching history. My previous English teacher mentors were seriously old-school. They were all about grammar drill and practice, worksheets, quizzes... you know the type. I was even told by one of them that I was "an English teacher, not a drama teacher" and I needed to "calm down and stop getting so excited." So I'm sure you can see my dilemma here. English is what I have to work with now. So the question is, can I infuse my English class with the excitement I felt teaching history? The sign mentioned above is more a reminder for me than anything. I don't want to fall back into those old patterns of dull sitting and lecturing and quizzing. That sucks. It sucks for the kids, and it sucks for me, and I don't like it, not one little bit! So now my challenge is to figure out to translate that history experience into some rockin' good English lessons!

If you have any ideas, send 'em my way!