Because I wished to teach deliberately

As I was planning out a unit in reading non-fiction text for my juniors in AP English Language and Composition, I decided it was time to go to the Transcendentalists.  Not everyone's favorites, I know, but close to my heart (the inspiration for the title of this blog), and the source of some of the most well-known lines in all of American literature.

One of those lines, from the "Conclusion" of Thoreau's Walden, famously reminds us that he "went to the woods because [he] wished to live deliberately." As I read it this time around, I was also reminded that the "teach deliberately" mantra I have been repeating to myself this year echoes that passage I have read so many times.

Continuing my preparations, I came across this line from the "Sounds" chapter of Walden, and knew it was the thought-foundation on which I would build a project for my students:

"Follow your genius closely enough, and it will not fail to show you a fresh prospect every hour."  

 That was how the Follow Your Genius Project came to life.  

 I set about the most deliberate planning I have ever done for a project.  I got out a copy of the Common Core Standards.  While I have considerable uneasiness at the thought of national standards, much of what is in the ELA standards makes sense to me, and I have been building all of my instruction using them as the starting (and end) point.

 What standards would form the foundation and the goal of the Follow Your Genius Project, and still allow students to follow their own animating spirits?  I focused in on the key skills I wanted the project to address, while still allowing for flexibility in how they were addressed.

 Here's what I came up with.
  
FYG project teaser intro
Initial FYG project overview

And I set the students to work on what will be the hardest part for some of them - deciding what in the whole wide universe they'd like to focus on for this project.

I can't wait to see what they come up with.

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