72. Create an elective that interests YOU!

I have learned in my nine years of teaching that “if you create it, they will sign up”.  I have created several courses in my teaching career and they have all been successes.  Why is this?  It is because it is material that interests me.  Let’s face it, not every state mandated course required to graduate is full of excitement.  Electives on the other hand, enable you to be a master of your own domain!

Fortunately, when I have had an idea, my principal has been open to it.  All it takes is a course description and outline, along with the proper avenues for approval and my course was scheduled.  Sometimes it meant a larger teaching load and at times, I had to recruit students to get underway.  Despite the barriers, my courses have always been a success and there is a simple explanation for this.  Students feed of the enthusiasm and creativity of their teacher.  Below are a few of the electives I have created, followed by some resources to get you started.

            Web Design – This type of course was not available until the late 90’s, so I enrolled in several online classes myself and then created the class.  It is an introductory course but each student learns to build working, effective web sites.  The final exam for this class consists of students designing a site, for free, for business/organization outside of the school.  Trust me, there are always takers!  These web sites can get you started:

http://www.hwg.org (registration for online courses)

http://www.w3schools.com (free web tutorial)

            Sports Entertainment on Film – I love sports movies, so I created this class.  This is not an easy class.  Students must complete two years of high school English before taking my course.  Here’s how it works.  We research a movie (most always, based on a true story) such as Miracle, about the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team, on the following site: http://www.imdb.com. Then, we watch the film and each student keeps a journal pondering questions that I provide daily.  At the conclusion of the film, they write a 1-3 page essay.  The essay for Miracle would deal with determination, focus, work ethic and how these characteristics could help each of them succeed in life.  The result is students actually enjoying a class where they are writing a weekly essay/paper!

            Public Speaking – Students are always reluctant to take this type of course simply because it is their worst fear!  When I taught public speaking, I kept the class size small and a typical week would result in one speech per student.  There would be one day of notes/material, two days of preparation, three days of speeches.  Sometimes I would tape their speeches and then we would bring in food and critique them.  It was actually fun! We did speeches that were relevant to students such as accepting awards, off-the-cuff, wedding toasts, etc.  Obviously persuasive, descriptive, and demonstrative speeches took more time, so the five day cycle did not apply.  These web sites can get you started:

http://www.speechtips.com (provides free information)

http://www.school-for-champions.com/speaking.htm (speech resources)

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