Well, I wish I could say with confidence that I survived the first week of classes, but it was a rather wimpy excuse for a week, what with holidays both secular and religious…check back with me at the end of next week!
It was, however, a pretty successful week, all in all. It was great to get back in the game, greet the students, and start making connections. So, riding the wave of back-to-school optimism and enthusiasm, I thought it might be a good time to make a list of five things that I’m looking forward to this year…
1. Reading Workshop. So excited about this. Following the lead of one of my brilliant colleagues, I’m going to incorporate independent reading into my Sophomore classes as a regular thing. Every Friday is going to be Reading Workshop day; sometimes we’ll read silently, and other times we’ll do activities. My colleague experimented with using Goodreads, the sort of nerdy-book-lovers version of Facebook, with his students last year and it met with success, so I’m going to give it a go. The goal? Nothing more than to help kids discover books that they actually enjoy reading (gasp!) and to help them recognize reading as a social activity, rather than an isolating one. It seems like such a simple goal in the greater context of English requirements and standards…and I’m really looking forward to spending some time working towards it.
2. Teaching Creative Writing again. At my previous school, I was THE creative writing teacher. It was my identity. I had a little following and everything. While I don’t expect a following (it was, after all, at my previous school a chosen elective, and here it fulfills a required English semester), I do expect it to be fun. It’s fun for all of the expected reasons, but one of the reasons I love teaching it is because I get to see students who don’t normally excel in the traditional English class really find their writing niche and, sometimes for the first time, feel proud of something they’ve written. Very gratifying. Plus, since I try to write along with the students as much as possible, it keeps me inspired to stay on top of my own writing!
3. Being Mrs. B. Upon getting married this past summer, I did change my name, which is kind of a big deal for a teacher, who, moreso than in other professions, is identified solely by her last name. It’s something I really wanted to do, though, so here I am: Mrs. B after 7 years or so of being Ms. C. I like it. It’s like a marker for this new phase of my life; the one in which we are creating our own little family. It’s been a little awkward/confusing (oh, you’re Mrs. B! says a confused guidance counselor who knew me in my former life as Ms. C.), but the kinks will work themselves out and something tells me I’ll be used to it pretty quickly. Also, this means I have a Mr. B to come home to…I mean, I had him last year and the year before, but now he’s not just a boyfriend. He’s my husband.
4. Being a better advisor for Amnesty International. So, last year I was unwittingly pulled in as the faculty advisor for Amnesty International. They were desperate for an advisor; I was in my 2nd year at the school and felt I should take on some sort of extracurricular…. It was run by a group of seniors, though, and I struggled all year with asserting myself as the advisor. I mean, I do think a club like this should be student-run, but they were making poor decisions and they completely ignored my advice. These were over-extended kids with way too many obligations and it didn’t take long for me to realize that this was really just an opportunity for them to put the word “president” on their college applications. Grrrrrr. This year, though, we have a new committee running the club and I plan to lay down some ground rules before we even have our first meeting. My first ground rule: “we’re supposed to be working for global human rights, people, NOT for our own selfish obsession with getting into a good college!” Again: grrrrr.
5. My Hero’s Journey Project. I feel like I’ve worked hard to solidify my sophomore curriculum. We read some great books, I have some strong projects, and I felt generally happy with how things went at the end of last year. But, I always like to incorporate something new to keep it fresh, and I have wanted to try to figure out a way to get more creative writing into my curriculum. Hence, the Hero’s Journey project. I taught Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison for the first time last year and I’ve been teaching The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver for a few years. They are vastly different books in terms of their themes, characters, and language, but they both tell the archetypal Hero’s Journey story. So, my idea is to read them both during first semester, discuss some other examples of Hero’s Journeys (ie, Star Wars, Lord of the Rings…), and then have them write their own fictional Hero’s Journey story. It should not only be fun, but also a great way of engaging the students as participants in the American mythology that we discuss throughout the year.
These are a few of the things that I’ll be blogging about this year; hope to get your insights on them as well! What are you looking forward to this year?
