I can count down the number of contracted days left on one hand, and let me tell you, I’m ready. More ready than I’ve been in a while. I changed so much in my curriculum this year, and teaching four preps instead of my usual three kept me busier than usual, too.
Result: My brain is fried.
So were my seniors’ brains. The last few days of every seniors’ final years–for most of them–seems to be a final crawl to the end of that marathon line, especially if their grades are pretty well set. However, I’m not one to stop with a week left. I wanted some language/writing activity for my composition class that didn’t actually feel like writing.
Answer: Found Advice Poems.
I gathered old magazines from the school library that are free for the cutting. Then I created my own found poem, cutting out a few dozen words and phrases from headlines. Gradually, I found some that stood out more than the others, some that created parallelism, and some that could make a good opening. In the end, I formed a poem that shared my final advice for the seniors.
After showing them my poem, it was their turn. They grabbed scissors and dug in, spending the next 2-4 creating their own advice poem for either their classmates or for the underclassmen.
Result: Success!
The seniors had a lot of fun–to be honest, most high school students still love playing with markers, glue sticks, and scissors. And some of their poems turned out pretty darn profound. Check out some samples below: 
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