1st hour: I tell my students to take their phones, go out into the school and take a photo with one word as a guide–steps. Students come back, upload their photos to Google Classroom, and we look at about half of them on the big screen. I am thrilled by their creativity and nascent photography skills.

2nd hour: After I finish a lecture, students work on an assignment to practice the critical thinking skills I taught them. They ask clarifying questions. They try. Every student turns in the assignment.

4th hour: Yesterday was a little rough in this class and we fell behind. Today students participated in focused discussion and by the time the bell rang, I felt more confident in their understanding of the content.

6th hour: To practice interviewing skills, students have a press conference, with me as their subject. Their questions are thoughtful and thorough, and even questions that start with “who” and “where” are constructed in a way that I offer paragraph-answers instead of one-word answers.

7th hour: I hear mild chatter amongst my newspaper staff as they fine-tune story angles and seek out sources. They are working hard, asking questions of me and each other when needed.

A perfect day.