If you are anything like me, your educational experience probably consisted of a lot of lectures, notes, homework, tests, and papers.

Then, when I started teaching, I gave a lot of PowerPoint lectures, had my students take a lot of notes, and focused on rigorous tests, and all kinds of papers.

Seemed to be a cycle.

This is the basic structure for every 11-Minute Essay:

Essentially, the minutes are broken down like this:

✅ Students react to the truism = 1 minute

✅ Students connect their belief about this truism to something they've read = 3 minutes

✅ Students connect their belief about this truism to something they've seen in a movie or show = 3 minutes

✅ Students connect their belief about this truism to something they've personally experienced = 3 minutes

✅ Students elaborate on the significance of this truism = 1 minute