Despite being busy with school and just life in general, the desire to try some of Mr. Roughton's lessons continued to simmer. Every once in a while I got an inkling and revisited his website. I wanted to take the leap and try some of his ideas, I just wasn't ready.
In the past I have done choice time activities, but that was when I was an elementary school teacher. I had never really thought to try it at the middle school level. That is until I stumbled on Mr.Roughton's website. He has a great list of choose your own adventure activities, and by adventure he means learning!
It was time to turn the back burner off and take the leap. Sorry for the mixed metaphor. I was nearing the end of a unit of study on Mesopotamia in seventh grade, and I thought to myself why not? Why not use the choice time to review for the test? So once again I perused Mr. Roughton's website and found the choice time activities that I wanted to use, along with a few of my own ideas, and created my choice time sheet.
What I discovered was a delightful surprise. Every student was engaged. Conversations were about Ancient Mesopotamia AND...they were enjoying themselves! So thank you Mr. Roughton. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. Thank you for sharing your wonderful ideas. Thank you for creating engaging and challenging activities. Thank you for giving me the courage to step out of my comfort zone, and by comfort zone I mean my strong need to be in control, to try something new in my classroom. Thank you!!