This is your way of providing a roadmap for your students, It shows them that you’ve put thought into the day’s work and you know where it is heading. It’s best if the objectives are clear, brief, and realistic. As each objective is completed, remind your students of what they’ve accomplished together.  For example, in a high school literature class, an objective might be to complete a close reading of a particular poem by the end of the period. Some teachers find it helpful to post that day’s objectives on the board. It’s okay if not every objective is met every day. In some cases it's better to follow the flow of a particular conversation, instead of railroading back to the original subject matter. Ask them open-ended questions after they’ve made a statement. Encourage them to ask you questions as well. Show that you are listening to them by nodding your head or gesturing for them to continue. Give them eye contact while they are speaking and try your best not to interrupt, unless you must redirect the conversation.  Being an active listener shows your students that you respect their voice in the classroom. They will be more likely to give you respect as a teacher in return. It’s also a good idea to model for your students how to respectfully listen to someone while disagreeing with them. You might say, “I’m not sure I agree with what you are saying, can you tell me more? Or, does anyone else want to jump in?” Set time limits for classroom exercises or activities. In discussions, use your responses to their remarks as a classroom management tool. For example, you might say, “I really like what you are saying. How do you think it connects with objective number five?” Try to create an environment in which your students will be constantly intellectually challenged. Let them know that it is okay to fail on occasion. You want to strike a balance between setting too high of goals for them and being a push-over. Use your students’ progress to guide your way. They should be steadily improving, but not without considerable effort. For example, you might give a short, advanced-level reading assignment to high school students and ask them to use a dictionary to look up unfamiliar words. If used sparingly, this is a great way to challenge students to expand their vocabulary.

Summary: Create a daily objective for your students. Listen to your students. Keep students on task. Push your students to succeed.


In order to write satire about current events, you will need to understand the major issues of the day. Read newspapers, blogs and websites that chronicle the news of the day and offer commentary. Watch television as well, especially news stations such as CNN, MSNBC, Fox News and CNBC.  Developments in current events change and evolve quickly, and with the instant online access, your audience will know the news as it happens. The more knowledge you have about current events, the easier it will be to identify topics to write about. Your topic should stem from something that you have a personal interest in. As you read or watch current events, notice anything that you do not like, that makes you angry, that you believe is wrong, or that you would like to change. These are the topics that you should write about.  Also look for inconsistencies, hypocrisy, cover-ups, or inappropriate words or actions as a potential topic. For example, a candidate may claim that security is their top priority, but fail to securely protect their own data. That inconsistency could be a topic for a satirical writing. Your interest is necessary because  you will be researching, thinking and writing about the current event.  If you do not have strong feelings about your topic, it will be very difficult for you to write about it. Choose a current event that is visible and well known.  This will make it easier for you to connect with your audience.  If you use a current event that people are unaware of, they will have a hard time understanding the satire because they will have no idea what you are talking about. However, keep in mind that if the current event is too well known, then other people might have already satirized it. In order for you to write about a current event, you must have a thorough understanding of the event. Have a  critical approach as you do your research. You want to understand all aspects of an issue and the different viewpoints of the event.  For example, if you plan to write about a case that is up before the Supreme Court, you would research the history of the case, the defendant and the plaintiff's point of view, similar cases and precedents, the general public's perception of the case, etc. Never take the current event at face value.  Always dig deeper. In literature, art, film, and other mediums, there are different techniques that people use to create a satirical effect. Some of the most frequently used satirical techniques include:  Exaggeration. Representing something or someone to a degree that is so far beyond reality that it is ridiculous.  Parody. Imitating the style or techniques of a person, place, or thing to make fun of it.  Incongruity. Presenting something or someone that is absurd in relation to its surroundings.  Reversal. Presenting things in the reverse order of how they normally happen. Satire is only funny if your audience thinks that it is funny. Find out the intended audience of your work before you begin to write. What resonates with college students will not resonate with elderly retirees.  If you are planning to submit your work to a particular publication, ask the editor about the target audience of the publication. You should also read some back issues to familiarize yourself with the publication. If you are not sure who the audience is, try to write in a more general tone. However, keep in mind that someone is always likely to be alienated by a piece of satirical writing. This is because writing satire requires you to take a side.

Summary: Stay up to date on current events. Identify what you care about. Research the current event. Learn about different satirical techniques. Know your audience.


Photoshop is the most popular image editor.  It requires a subscription from Adobe.  If you do not have a subscription to Photoshop, you can download and install GIMP for free.  It has similar features to Photoshop. Use the following steps to open and image in Photoshop or GIMP:  Click File in the upper-left corner. Click Open. Select an image. Click Open. If you want to edit the photo, do so before making a copy of the photo.  You'll also want to add "thumbnail" or something similar to the end of the filename. When you are ready, use the following steps to save a copy of the photo:  Click File  Click "Save As'. Type a name for the image next to "Filename". Click Save. If you want to make the image fit a certain shape, you can crop the image.  The crop tool has an icon that resembles two right angles forming a square. Using the following steps to crop the image:  Click the crop tool in the toolbar to the left. Click and drag over the section of the image you want to keep. Double-click inside the image. It's in the menu bar at the top of the screen. This is the option to resize the image. It's in the drop-down menu next to "Height" and "Width". Type this next to "Width" or "Height".  10% is a good image size for a large-sized thumbnail image.  The amount you want to reduce it may vary depending on the size of the image. Alternatively, you can select "Pixels" and type the exact dimensions in Pixels you want the image to be next to "Width" and "Height". This scales the image size down.  You may want to apply saturation to the thumbnail image  You can do so by adding a saturation adjustment layer in the Adjustment panel to the right in Photoshop, or by clicking the "Colors" drop-down menu at the top in GIMP. You may also want to apply a sharp filter.  You can do so by clicking the Filters menu at the top of both Photoshop and GIMP. Use the following steps to save the thumbnail image in both Photoshop and GIMP.  Click File. Click Save as (Photoshop) or Export as (GIMP). Select JPEG as the image using the drop-down menu next to "Format" in Photoshop, or below "Select File Type" in GIMP. Click Save (Photoshop) or Export (GIMP).
Summary: Open Photoshop or GIMP. Open an image you want to reduce the size of. Save a copy of the image. Crop the image (optional). Click Image. Click Image size or Scale Image. Select "Percent". Type the percent you want to reduce the image size. Click Ok or Scale. Save the image.