Classroom Practice: Quote of the Week

The procedures may change, the quotes may change, but the benefits of creating students who think critically, meaningfully and deeply will never change.

As I began teaching, I knew that I wanted what I did to mean more than filling in blanks on a worksheet and checking off a grade. Each year I tried to figure out how to add more meaning into what I was doing. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, "Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education." A couple of years ago I saw an idea on Pinterest (obviously-I wasn't on Twitter yet) where students responded to a quote by writing about what they thought it meant and how they could connect the quote to their life. This  I thought I can do! And so I set off full force into incorporating a quote of the week into my classroom.
I am not a big fan of a rigid curriculum that doesn't adjust to students needs, so doing a quote of the week where I could pick out the quotes that were relevant and meaningful to my students was something I knew would work. Each week I set out to pick a quote that related to what my student were struggling with at the moment and would prepare the quot for the following week. It was sometimes incredibly easy to pick out a quote, and other times I struggled to find something that fit just right. At the end of the year we, as a class, realized that the quotes really fell into two categories: our character (and how we treat others) and how to handle failure.
Character and how we handle failure are two big things that kids can often struggle with. I found that having these quotes in the back of my student's minds not only helped them see what famous and historical people had to say, but also was something we could discuss together and they understood. Now the understanding part does take time-students don't always walk in thinking deeply about the meaning of things, but they can develop this as a skill. With practice and modeling, all of my students were able to analyze what each quote meant and how they could personally connect to it. I found that often preparing them with a video before discussing our quote was a great way to get their brains in the mindset of what I wanted them to learn. Procedurally, students would come in and grab their "Quote of the Week" journals. I would already have the quote displayed on the board as they began to copy it down. On Mondays, they would write the quote and what they thought it meant, and as a class we would discuss. Discussing is where all the magic happens! Don't skip the discussion! I found that students who didn't think about if very deeply or really didn't understand were the ones who benefitted most from our discussions. I also found that students learned to respect one another and their ideas during discussions. On Tuesdays, student would grab their journals and then write how they could connect this quote to their lives. Seeing students apply what was said to something they experienced is really is powerful for them. It was giving students an action with the idea, and it really helped them reflect. 
Using quote of the week, not only are students being critical thinkers and learning respect for one another, they are also practicing writing, analyzing and text to self, text and world connections. This one activity showed so many benefits for my students that the time invested in it really paid off! At the end of the year, we did a culminating presentation where students picked their favorite quotes and created screencast videos and slideshows about them. It was amazing to hear what their favorite ones were, especially when they were ones we hadn't visited about in a LONG time. It showed that the work stuck with the kiddos and that they were actively remembering what they were learning. It was also great for the students to see how their understanding has changed and grown over the year. I heard over and over, "Well this is what I thought then, but I think.....now. Is it ok to change it?" to which I would answer "YES!!!!" This truly was a powerful and impactful classroom practice for my students. 
The procedures may change, the quotes may change, but the benefits of creating students who think critically, meaningfully and deeply will never change.