Every Once in a While. . .

Teaching is hard work. Sometimes, it's a slog. The only people out there that know better than the students exactly when school ends (by number of days, hours, and even number of minutes) are teachers. No matter how much you love your job, hard work is hard work.

However, every once in a while there's a day that reminds me why I teach. Today was such a day.

I'm currently juggling three Shakespeare plays. My freshmen are working on "Romeo and Juliet," my seniors are tackling "Macbeth," and the drama group took on "Midsummer Night's Dream." I'm actually a weird lit teacher in that I am not over-awed by Shakespeare. Don't get me wrong, I love his plays. I'm just not sure why we make kids slog through one of his plays every year except whenever they have American Lit. I think it's disproportionate and that there are better things we could be doing...but hey it's no real hardship to do them. So, I teach Shakespeare.

The problem with teaching Shakespeare in general, and to LD kids specifically, is that its a struggle for a solid four weeks minimum. While I find Shakespeare very readable, I have to admit that I have an intimidatingly voluminous vocabulary. It's hard when you have to look up every third word.

Ok, so how do we make it fun.

At the NTCE conference this year, I went to one of the Folger Shakespeare Library sessions and picked up the idea of "Shakespeare Tag." It's a brilliant idea. The idea is to get kids up acting and interacting with the text.

So, pick a monologue, one that we've already covered in general reading. Get a brave student to be the actor. The actor reads the monologue to the class. Most kids naturally read pretty flat. The rest of students are directors. So, when they spot a point in the text where the actor should change his or her delivery, they tag the actor and explain what they want them to do and why. The actor then starts over from the top incorporating the suggestions.

This achieves several goals.

• First of all, it's a lot of fun and the kids get into it.
• Second, they read, reread, and really get the big monologues without really noticing how many times they just read it.
• Third, they start to really scour the text for clues on how the actors should perform.

I ran it in all four of my classes today. It was amazing. I had kids commenting as they walked out the door, how much fun it was.

It's a great feeling as a teacher when kids say they enjoy your class. Especially when they don't know I can hear them.

The Beach

Most people think that I am not a beach person. I avoid the sun and I'm not a big fan of sitting in cheap salt resistant lawn furniture. I don't much like crowds and loud noises for that matter. I can see where they get the idea that I don't like beaches. However, I actually love the ocean and by extension the beach. I just tend to like it in the winter when nobody is there and I can have it to myself. I love the way the air smells and watching the weather come in over the water. I listen to the surf at night and find it comforting. I even like fishing, though I haven't done it in years. If I could, I'd live near the ocean.

Last year we won a week in Destin, Florida from the end of year raffle at school. We are here now. The condo is amazing, right up against the beach and I've spent the week walking along the surf and cooking. I know most people go out of town to avoid household chores but I actually like to cook. Especially for appreciative eaters. So, for me, this has been an excellent vacation and I will be sorry to return to normal life.

I'd never been to Destin before this. It turns out I like it here. I found the local fish counter pretty early on and we've been travelling up and down the coast a little to see attractions. Wednesday we took Thomas to the Gulfarium up at Fort Walton Beach. We also went to walk on the nature trails at Henderson State Park. Most of the rest of the time,we've just wandered around the beach. 

It's been restful.

Thanksgiving - a Small Meditation

Little known fact - Thanksgiving isn't a strictly American holiday.

Way back in the day, it was common for a day of thanksgiving to be announced for any number of reasons and at any level of community. Days of Thanksgiving were announced for the births in the royal family. They were announced for good harvests, or near misses (think fires and floods). They were announced for things like peace treaties and successes in battles. There were quite a variety of them announced in early american history, and various libraries have the sermons preached in the little community churches. It was common and could happen at any time of year.  In fact, the Thanksgiving that we celebrate these days didn't become an official holiday until 1863. Over 200 years after the theoretical first thanksgiving of the pilgrims (1621).

Somewhere along the way the idea of Thanksgiving got generally tied up with our national holiday and with the Pilgrims. The history with the Pilgrims is really a little dodgy if you think about it. I mean it's great to be grateful to the Native Americans getting the Pilgrims through their first winter, but wouldn't it have been better to show that gratitude a little better? There's two sides to anything.

Don't get me wrong, I love Thanksgiving. I love being with my family and celebrating each other. It just really never had anything to do with the Pilgrims. Their Thanksgiving has nothing to do with our Thanksgivings. In Abraham Lincoln's proclamation declaring the formation of the national holiday, there is no mention of the Pilgrims at all. Because it's not about that and it shouldn't be about that. It's about having and showing gratitude. Meaningful and real gratitude for things immediate to our lives and not some fictionalized candy floss dream of a time no one can personally remember and that we should perhaps look at more critically than we do.

So, I'm grateful. I'm grateful for my family and for my son. I'm grateful for my husband who is perhaps the most patient and generous man I know. I'm grateful that I found teaching. I'm grateful for my students. I'm grateful that I have my vision and I can read. I'm grateful that I had 35 years with my grandfather and that his passing in the end was gentle.

It's about gratitude people. Look around. No matter how unhappy we are or what bad things happen, there is something we should be grateful for.

NCTE Conference

So, this is my first experience at a large scale professional conference. I've been to our local Independent School conference loads but that's tiny compared to this. I really had no idea what to expect.

Tip #1 dress comfortably and no one cares if you wear jeans

It's overwhelming. It's like being at Dragon Con but calmer. There's tons going on and somehow I have to select 5 sessions maximum a day out of 250 offerings...crazy.

Tip #2 if you are feeling stressed out, find someone to help. Helping others is an excellent anxiety drain.

The exhibitor hall alone is worth the price of admission. The place is absolutely lousey with publishers, authors, and literary agents. It's like being in a giant whirlpool of geeky-cool. I actually trod on Sharon Draper's foot....she was very nice about it.  And I got to shake the hand of Jason Reynolds....Squee!

Tip #3 always keep a hand free for shaking

The Sessions themselves were generally pretty top-tier. I went to one on differentiation of Shakespeare instruction. Brilliant!! I will do it all! I went to one that was run completely by higher education professionals explaining to us high school schmoes what they are seeing from our students when they get to college. Actually they were very nice and frank about admitting where the colleges could be doing better too. From this though I have an idea for block scheduling a couple days with science for close reading practice on textbooks.

Tip #4 don't get so excited you don't eat

But maybe better than all that. I was surrounded by 3000 people who get as geeky about books as I do. I've never -repeat never- had that before. I jumped in and out of conversations about the merits of adaptations of shakespeare into YA lit, socially active material, dealing with parent concerns on subject matter. I actually got to butt heads with someone on the merits of handing of Tolkien vs. Rowling as an entry point to fantasy literature. I always felt like such a freak when it came to books as a passion. I guess if I am, I'm not the only one.

Tip #5 remember to smile

A Series of Unfortunate Events (revisited)

Dear Everyone,

Do you remember when I wrote a post about the random nature of the Universe about a month ago? Well it continues to be "random." By which I mean, I seem to be jumping from catastrophe to catastrophe. I think it is wearing me down because I've been sick much more than usual.

I don't really want to get into a tirade of negativity so I'm not going to get into specifics. However, I do have a bad tendency to navel gaze. Otherwise known as introspection when done in a healthy way, navel gazing is a form of self-absorption and I try to avoid it. I feel myself sliding into it and damnit, I'm not going there.

There are a lot of good things going on amidst the bad. So, I'm going to start lining up projects to keep myself busy. Here's what I got so far:

• mulching the front "lawn" until the spring
• planning out next spring's expanded garden
• Sourcing materials for said garden
• Build composer
• Finish hanging the last 4 curtain rods
• Clearing brush from back yard for primary path
• yanking kudzu and English ivy off the trees
• Organizing and cleaning basement post flooding catastrophe
• waterproof painting basement wall
• Finish retaining wall
• Repaint back bathroom with mold retardant paint
• Get better fan for bathroom

That's enough to keep me busy....right?

Ah the Joys of Teaching

I love teaching really. There are many many things I thrive on. I'm never bored for one. Also being responsible for others usually snaps me out of whatever funk I'm in. Sometimes I just really enjoy teenagers. (Crazy, I know.)

Our electives often focus on either sports or creative activities. My Tuesday/Thursday elective is Jewelry Making and Metal Working. Today, in my elective, there was a lot of chatter. It's been a tense couple of weeks and the side chatter was a little out of hand. Most of it was benign, but part of my job is safeguarding the privacy of the students and keeping gossip in check on school grounds. After several general warnings to limit side conversations that were collectively impeding my co teacher, I said to one of the primary instigators of random conversation:

"Jeez, you really can't not talk today, can you?"

He turned to me and with a big grin said triumphantly, "Is that a challenge?"

I looked at him for a long moment, blinked once, and said, "yes."

I love teenagers, especially smart ones. I could see the message from some part of his brain teletyping one vitally important update to another part of his brain. The message read, "oops!" The look on his face was virtually indescribable.

So there he sits, in a jewelry class, silent. The low buzz of conversation continues around him. However, one of his peers had the only pair of high strength cutters in the room that he really needed to complete his project; she was also very focused on riveting two pieces of metal together. 

Very focused.

There he sits, silent. He waves at her. He taps his foot. He tried banging the desk and ripping up pieces of paper. Somewhere around the time he starts desperately looking for a pen, I start giggling. I couldn't help it. Here's a kid, who I really appreciate and enjoy, but I know he'd really like to "win" a round against me.

Unfortunately, my giggles draw the attention of the rest of the class. So soon there are six pairs of extra eyes watching this kid trying to to get the attention of a very focused other kid. There is a whole side conversation going on between two girls about my "evil laughs" and when it's time to run. 

Two and a half minutes later, in a voice way too loud: "Can I have the cutters please?"

The other student, "yeah sure, here." She didn't even look up.

The whole room erupts in gales of laughter.

My student looks at me. I'm sure I'm grinning like a fool. "Yeah, yeah. You win," he says, but he's smiling.

I love teenagers.

Thomas is 2

Thomas is 2 today. It's strange to think how much and how little time that is. Three years ago when we were starting all of this, I had no idea how wonderful being a parent can be.

My memories of the event two years ago began when I was woken abruptly at 4 A.M. by a swarm of nurses and a midwife because I'd a) gone into spontaneous labor during an induction and b) the umbilical cord was tangled around Thomas's neck. I had one very freaked out midwife saying "what do you mean you can't feel that, you're in labor." Luckily my OB was already there and everything worked out just fine. It was totally worth it to get my lovely sweet boy.

Happy Birthday Thomas.

Have I mentioned. . .

I hate writing bios. I have to write one for my camp nanowrimo profile. But what do I say? Can who I am be meaningfully encapsulated in 100 words of text. Of course not. So, I have a couple of options.

1) I can sum up my personal/professional careers as a facet of my identity

I am a 36 year old teacher working in special needs and a former librarian. I've had a life-long love of literature and have always wanted to write my own novel. 

2) I can focus on my aspirations as a projection of what I want to be

Someday I will be a world famous author and holder of the nobel prize. Someday. In the distant future.

3) I can make something up in an attempt to be humorous

Among the lonely shelves of a distant library lives a creature steeped in adjectives and subsisting on plotlines. This creature sorts, organizes, and analizes literature and is responsible for the casual serendipity of passersby finding the right book at the right time. This semi-mythical creature is the bibliovore and it looks a lot like me.

Choices, choices, choices