Holding the World by the Tail by: Jason Augustowski

The past few months has been completely consumed with musical at the middle school where I direct.  Every year our production company ups the ante and provides the greater northern Virginia area with some of the highest quality musical theatre at the junior level in the area (if not nation).  In fact, the only thing "junior" about our productions is the age of the kids involved (11-14 years old).  But what the accomplish is absolutely jaw-dropping.  Each year, our program boasts two completely separate casts and crews performing the same Broadway-length show (this year, Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame), and perhaps most impressively a full middle school pit orchestra that learns and plays the original score.  In total, there are 200 students involved and about 40 incredible parent volunteers who literally work year round to make these experiences happen.  So needless to say, as the executive director of this program, every waking second of my life not spent teaching has been dedicated to this for the past few months.

But none of that is the "impressive part."  I tell the students all the time that at the end of the day, a great play is just a great play.  Amazing talent doesn't make a show.  Nor do fast crew transitions, perfect light or sound cues, or amazingly synced violins.  Because at the end of the day, a musical is just a musical until you make it more than a musical.  The most impressive aspect of these musicals is how absolutely incredible each and every student behaves to one another.  Back in our early days the kids use to call each other family, in recent shows: a company, and with this past performance: a community.  And this should be the endgame of our English classrooms.

When looking back, no one judges another on their lexile score, on their ability to analyze figurative language, on their eloquent explication of a conceit, or for being a wonderful orator.  They are remembered by the kind of person they were.  And we as English teachers have the unique ability to present the humanities to children in a way that helps shape the people they are and become.  An English class is only an English class until we make it MORE than an English class.

One way we try to measure success in my classroom is by "becoming the person that others want to be around."  This is the greatest of all successes.  This person holds the world by the tail.  A great way to encourage this environment is through constant group work.  Here are some items to consider.

1.  Allow students to choose their groups.  But create criteria for them to do so.  For example, in my 10th grade classes, students choose their groups based on their core values (which has been scaffolded in previous classes) or they will choose based on desired future career, or they will choose based on people they have NEVER worked with before, or they will choose their "dream team."  By the end of the year, each of my students will have worked with every single student in the room at one point or another.

2.  Make group work a routine.  Groups don't only occur when we are participating in a group project, group work is literally the second half of every class period (similar to how some teachers spend a majority of their time on SSR).  My classes will begin with a quick write, move into a full class circle discussion to analyze a text, song, or poem, and then into their group work.

3.  Make the group work relevant and fun.  The groups aren't simply getting together to complete vocabulary worksheets or packets about some full-class novel.  They are working in groups to address real world issues.  Some ideas include: working together to plan a dream vacation (full itinerary, costs, flight plans, hotels, restaurants - the works; synthesizing literature to find real-world application; opening a place of employment based on career goals ie: a hospital, engineering firm, a school; launching new products like on Shark Tank; presenting roundtables on personal passions, presenting PechaKuchas on necessities, and participating in panels mirroring a PTO, an HOA, an athletics board, a fine-arts booster, etc.

Now one may argue, how is this English?  It sounds an awful lot like business/marketing!  Perhaps these would be good projects for our school's DECA or FBLA chapter.  But remember, we in English have the unique tasks of marrying literally all other disciplines.  For without reading and writing and speaking, how can anyone hope to be successful at Math, History, Science, etc?  As long as the projects are real world, the students will never ask "when will I need this?" and they will be simultaneously learning how to read, write, and speak analytically and critically (all while fostering collaboration and celebrating each others' victories).

It is important for our students to become good people (while learning the important elements of our discipline) and that is why it is my belief that students should work together to discuss values and ethics, create common goals, innovate and take risks, and strengthen each other all the while.  In my experience constant and careful group work creates these environments and allows students to not only master our curricula but become inclusive, understanding, and productive kiddos who accomplish impressive work.  But even better, they're just nice people who get along with each other.