Fun Friday

Fridays in my classroom mean "Fun Friday Free Writes." I set a timer. We all have to keep writing until the timer goes off. 

It's hard. Especially at first. Students think I'm cruel for calling it fun. 

But when the timer goes off, anyone who wants to can share what they've written. At the beginning of the school year, no one wants to share. As the school year wears on, students start to open up and see the potential. 

I have a student that started weekly "Thoughts with Ben."  He comes in excited to write. And his classmates are eager to see what he has to share each week. 

He spends his week coming up with jokes--and on Fridays he can't seem to move his pencil fast enough to get them all down before the timer goes off.  He writes one liners like Mitch Hedberg. 

Some from this week:

"If you have two pens--and a friend asks you for one...at least you've got a friend."

"You can drink spring water in winter."