CEC FIPP Activity Report
Name Holly Schumacher
Date 10/27/2010
Department Student Services - Counseling
FIPP Partner Karla Coti
Class title & section # Human Development 8 - Section # 9249
Name of Activity/Strategy Late Paper Activity
Category: (Please select only one.) (Reminder: You will submit one report from each of
the categories.)
Classroom Activity
Classroom Environment
Classroom Expectations
Feedback & Evaluation
Homework & Out-of-Classroom Learning Experiences
Briefly describe the activity/strategy, providing enough detail so that a colleague can
replicate the activity/strategy.
1. Introduction I let the students know that we were going to do an in-class activity
that would earn them 5 points! All they had to do was formulate an opinion and
then I would take a poll on what everyone in the class thought about this
situation noted in the activity. "Everyone likes easy points, right?" I joked. The
class had a laugh with me.
2. Set-up & Supplies I gave the students the handout on the Late Paper Activity
and we processed to do a "pop-up" reading of the activity. Student's used their
own pencils to write down their anwers. I wrote all the possible answers on the
board as people read off the characters involved in the story.
3. Directions When we got to the end of the story, I explained how to number their
answers and then gave them about 5 minutes to write their answers down. We
then proceeded with the polling of opinions and discussion in class.
What worked well? I asked if anyone has done seen this story before and eveyone said
"no," so I knew it was going to be a good activity. I started by reading the beginning of
the story and then I had some students do the "pop-up reading" for the rest. It was
funny to see the students' eyebrows raise when they read about how mean the "Arnold"
character was in the story. The students had lots of great opinions. Overall, they said
that Kim was most responsible for the grade of "F" and Arnold was second. One student
said Mary, the secretary, was at fault because it was her job to convey accurate
information to Kim. The other students jumped in a said that it was Kim's responsibility
to be on time. We then brainstormed different choices that Kim could have made to
make her outcome better.
The students came up with the following solutions:
1. Kim should not have attended the party. She should have gone straight to school to
drop off the paper.
2. Kim should have had her friend, Cindy, drop her off at school first to turn in the paper.
They could have then gone on to the party.
3. Kim should not have slept in after the long night out. Rather, she should have gotten
up earlier and caught the earliest bus to school to drop off the paper.
4. Kim should have communicated her difficult home situation with her husband to the
teacher early on in the semester. She could have then emailed the teacher the paper
the day of the due date and let the teatcher know that she would catch the earliest bus
to school and drop off a hard copy in person. Communication with the teacher may have
saved Kim from the "F."
What would you change? I would not change anything. The students seemed to respond
well to this activity and they all had not seen the story before. Their input was great. The
activity got them thinking not only about taking responsibility for their actions, but also to
break situtations down logically. They students come up with cleaver solutions to Kim's
issue and they learned how not to take the "victim role".
Would you use the activity/strategy again? Why or why not? Yes. I would use this activity
again in my Human Development 8 class. I would also use it in the Human
Development 10 and 5 courses I am slated to teach in 2011. I think students will
continue to have strong opinions about Kim's story. Student's willingness to share can
only enhance the classroom environment and that is what I am trying achieve.
Please describe any student learning and/or changes that you observed after the
implementation of the activity/strategy. I think the students were more laid back. They
openly began to talk to each other as the class came to a close. It helped loosen people
up a bit. Students were laughing and joking with each other about Kim after the activity
was done. Someone stated that Kim's first move was to get a divorce! That joke made
me laugh, as well.