October is a rough month in school. The newness of the semester has worn off, and the next break seems so far away. Weekends don't feel nearly long enough, and patience is wearing thin for both students and teachers. We've been together long enough to get a sense for each others' moods, and we have little tolerance on both sides for caring about another's bad day or attitude problem. Everyone is stressed, overworked, and tired. ...Mostly tired.
Last week, I found myself feeling particularly hostile toward my students. I didn't care about their excuses, I didn't care if I hurt their feelings with my comments, and I certainly didn't care about their personal drama. I do not like feeling like this because, in general, I enjoy being around these young people. Their personalities are so diverse, and most of the time, they are just looking for someone to notice them. For some reason, the novel The Secret Life of Bees popped into my mind: the scene when August Boatwright is teaching Lily how to care for bees, and she tells her that she just has to send the bees love while she's working with them, and everything would go just right. "Act like you know what you're doing, even if you don't. Above all, send the bees love. Every little thing wants to be loved." This quote stuck in my heart all day, and I realized that rather than trying to make things go right through force, threats, or anger, I needed to go back to love. When working with students, love should be at the foundation of every interaction.
So, this week, as I stand in the hall outside of my door and greet my students for each class, I think: "I love you, I love you, I love you...." As I watch hundreds of students pass by me during my morning hall duty, my thoughts of "I have so much grading to do! I'd rather be doing that than watching all of these hooligans and listening to their foolishness" are replaced with "I love you, I love you, I love you...", and I found myself smiling at no one in particular. :) I'm going to try to continue with this thought all week. I already feel like I've pushed past the mid-semester slump and can make it through this last 6 weeks.
Meanwhile, here's what has been going on in my classes:
SOPH WORLD LIT
We've finished reading Oedipus the King. Last week, the students took their test on Part II of the play, and wrote an essay about humility, relating it to Oedipus's ignorance throughout most of the play and the lesson that Creon tries to teach Oedipus with his last words of the play. I've also had the students in the Media Center, working in PhotoStory on the computers. This is such a cool program! The students chose to work alone or in pairs to summarize a section of the play with photos, background music, and their own narration. We're finishing today with narrations, and then I'm going to put all of their parts together to create an Oedipus the King movie of sorts. They have done really well with it, and I'm excited to see the finished products for each class!
LA II
We've just finished Unit 2 of the Visions red book. This unit was all about changes. The students will do a unit review for the next couple of days, then they'll test on Friday. I'll probably reward them with a movie that relates to the theme we've been talking about. They will, of course, have to write a couple of paragraphs to discuss that connection. I don't think I've shown a movie to this class yet! It's so easy to get into a routine with the Visions series that I sometimes forget about being creative or fun with lessons. Hey, when you teach 4 preps, something has to give, right? It's sad, but true.
LDC III
We finished reading Night about a week and a half ago. The students enjoyed the book, and I enjoyed reading it to them and discussing it with them. Last Monday, they did an alphabet review of important names, objects, words, and themes from the book--for each letter of the alphabet, they wrote a word or phrase that related to the book (i.e. A: Auschwitz, B: Buna). Then, I took them to the computer lab on Tuesday and Wednesday so they could create Prezi presentations of their reviews. They did such a great job, and even taught me some new things about the program! Here are some examples of their work:
http://prezi.com/_iomalhezjpq/night-alphabet-review/
http://prezi.com/fywxwtas286g/night/
This week, as a reward for working so hard, and so they can see another excellent example of individuals were affected by the holocaust, we are watching Life is Beautiful. So far, they love the movie, and one of them even said he's going to find the movie to show to his brother and sister. :)
JR AMER LIT
This group of students has been very disappointing to me. Together, they are immature, impatient, and disruptive. This is the first year I have not enjoyed teaching The Crucible, and the first year that I felt my students incabable of appreciating the play and what it teaches us about human behavior. We barely got through Acts 1 and 2 together, so I quizzed them on both of those. Then, instead of reading the rest, we watched the film version of the play. They enjoyed the film, and we did have some good discussion after each Act. I just wish these students had more patience for comprehending and connecting with text!
Since they didn't have much patience for the book, I'm going to take them to the computer lab this week. They, too, are going to do Prezi alphabet reviews, but they will be required to look up photos and additional information of each of the words or names they use, and incorporate those things into their presentation. That way, they will have to connect with the play and characters on a deeper level.
Once we finish with The Crucible, we're going to move quickly into Rationalism: The Declaration of Independence, Poor Richard's Almanack, Ben Franklin's Autobiography, and others. I love this period, and gain a greater appreciation for it as I get older. The literature is dry (I mean...it's Rationalism, you know?!), but to understand the period is to understand why it is that way. I put together a great PowerPoint presentation to introduce the period after I gathered information on it during a trip to Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown a couple of years ago. I even have a newspaper from a printing press that includes the Declaration of Independence and a picture of myself with a bronze T.J. in the process of writing the Declaration.
What I'd REALLY love is if I could show clips from the HBO miniseries of John Adams because they show Thomas Jefferson's composition of the Declaration, and when it was first read aloud to the public. They are such a moving scenes! Alas, our Media Center does not have John Adams in the library. :( Perhaps I can change that....
Showing posts with label Oedipus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oedipus. Show all posts
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Open House AKA Extra Planning Time
As an ESL teacher, I've become used to the fact that "Open House" night is an extra 2-3 hours I spend at school in the evening planning lessons for the next couple of weeks. Parents just don't show up. At best, I get 3-4 of my students, and 2-3 of my advisees. That's about it. I understand that there is a lot keeping ESL parents from the school in the evening, but it's just another example of how very little parents are involved in school these days. Those numbers also speak to the amount of parent contacts I get during the year, too.
Anyhow, I'm definitely going to plan out the next month of lessons for all 4 of my courses as soon as I finish typing this! :) At least that will get me well-organized for the next few weeks, and it will be less stress on me.
Here's what's going on in my classes:
SOPH WORLD LIT
We are just about finished with Gilgamesh and Genesis. I'm doing something new this year: I've separated my units into sequential themes and put up a poster-sized paper that says, "How It All Began: An Archetypal Foundation." On that poster, I've put words like "Archetype" "Epic" "Tragic Flaw" "Immortality" "Flood"... Yes, it's like a word wall. As a review before the test next week, I'm going to ask the students to define these words the best they can from memory, and then use them all to write a long paragraph explaining what we studied with these two stories. :) They'll hate it, but it'll be SO good for them! Tomorrow, they'll start planning for their Utnapishtim/Noah compare/contrast essay. That way, when they get back from Labor Day weekend, they'll have their brainstorming and notes all ready to go!
We are all kind of excited to be moving past this period of literature, though. It's exciting at first, but it gets old very quickly. Next up: Oedipus...and I ROCK at Oedipus. :) (The kids like it, too, which is always a plus!).
LDC 3
We are just finishing our unit on Mystery. We read a Sherlock Holmes story from one of the novel adaptations the ESL dept. has. It was "The Adventure of the Speckled Band." The kids took notes and were little detectives as they read. As previously posted, they used detective story terms, and followed the clues. We even talked about plot and used Jim Burke's plot diagram and the students' notes to map out the plot of the story. We had some good discussions about rising action and climax. I was able to clarify some things for the students, and some of them made observations about how inaccurate plot maps are because the "climax is NEVER in the MIDDLE of the story. It's always near the end!" Very astute. :)
I'm not sure what our next unit will be, but I've found that these students (all freshman) are in great need of some writing skills. I'll be introducing them to DOL and chunk writing very soon. :) Mwahahahahahahahaha!
LA 2
This class is adorable. Most of the kids are hard workers, and my 2 trouble students have been removed from the class, so it goes much smoother now. My worst problem is all of the talking! These kids are so quick to start up side conversations! I've been able to tamp it down as of late, though, by sending one student in particular to do her work outside when needed; and walking around the whole time to help individuals as needed.
The students haven't figured out how to study for the quizzes I give them (if they'd only take my advice and study 2 specific documents each time, they'd be all set!), but they'll learn soon enough.
JR AMERICAN LIT
We just concluded our unit on Native American literature (origin myths) and the students did relatively well. There were a few disappointments with the unit test, but it was expected. I'm a hard tester because I give them the same tests any other CP (and sometimes Honors) students would get. They'll catch on, and they'll be that much more prepared for the Graduation Test and End of Course Test at the end of the year.
From here, we move into the early explorers and Puritans--one of my favorite units to teach because we do The Crucible, and it is WONDERFUL. :) This is a huge class, and they're pretty rowdy, so I'm hoping they keep it together enough to focus and enjoy. I can always tell them that we won't watch the movie if they misbehave...that always does the trick. Ha!
Meantime, these students are still working on their autobiographies every Friday in the computer lab. Using Google Docs so they can share their documents, and I can edit and comment online has presented some challenges; but it's been an overall useful tool.
This Week's The Bad/The Good
The Bad: Even though I'm getting my 7 hrs of sleep each night, I'm starting to still feel tired in the morning. Has the school year already worn me down?
The Good: My students asked me why I smile when I "try to be mean." I guess this means--even though I get irritated with them--I'm still having fun. :)
Anyhow, I'm definitely going to plan out the next month of lessons for all 4 of my courses as soon as I finish typing this! :) At least that will get me well-organized for the next few weeks, and it will be less stress on me.
Here's what's going on in my classes:
SOPH WORLD LIT
We are just about finished with Gilgamesh and Genesis. I'm doing something new this year: I've separated my units into sequential themes and put up a poster-sized paper that says, "How It All Began: An Archetypal Foundation." On that poster, I've put words like "Archetype" "Epic" "Tragic Flaw" "Immortality" "Flood"... Yes, it's like a word wall. As a review before the test next week, I'm going to ask the students to define these words the best they can from memory, and then use them all to write a long paragraph explaining what we studied with these two stories. :) They'll hate it, but it'll be SO good for them! Tomorrow, they'll start planning for their Utnapishtim/Noah compare/contrast essay. That way, when they get back from Labor Day weekend, they'll have their brainstorming and notes all ready to go!
We are all kind of excited to be moving past this period of literature, though. It's exciting at first, but it gets old very quickly. Next up: Oedipus...and I ROCK at Oedipus. :) (The kids like it, too, which is always a plus!).
LDC 3
We are just finishing our unit on Mystery. We read a Sherlock Holmes story from one of the novel adaptations the ESL dept. has. It was "The Adventure of the Speckled Band." The kids took notes and were little detectives as they read. As previously posted, they used detective story terms, and followed the clues. We even talked about plot and used Jim Burke's plot diagram and the students' notes to map out the plot of the story. We had some good discussions about rising action and climax. I was able to clarify some things for the students, and some of them made observations about how inaccurate plot maps are because the "climax is NEVER in the MIDDLE of the story. It's always near the end!" Very astute. :)
I'm not sure what our next unit will be, but I've found that these students (all freshman) are in great need of some writing skills. I'll be introducing them to DOL and chunk writing very soon. :) Mwahahahahahahahaha!
LA 2
This class is adorable. Most of the kids are hard workers, and my 2 trouble students have been removed from the class, so it goes much smoother now. My worst problem is all of the talking! These kids are so quick to start up side conversations! I've been able to tamp it down as of late, though, by sending one student in particular to do her work outside when needed; and walking around the whole time to help individuals as needed.
The students haven't figured out how to study for the quizzes I give them (if they'd only take my advice and study 2 specific documents each time, they'd be all set!), but they'll learn soon enough.
JR AMERICAN LIT
We just concluded our unit on Native American literature (origin myths) and the students did relatively well. There were a few disappointments with the unit test, but it was expected. I'm a hard tester because I give them the same tests any other CP (and sometimes Honors) students would get. They'll catch on, and they'll be that much more prepared for the Graduation Test and End of Course Test at the end of the year.
From here, we move into the early explorers and Puritans--one of my favorite units to teach because we do The Crucible, and it is WONDERFUL. :) This is a huge class, and they're pretty rowdy, so I'm hoping they keep it together enough to focus and enjoy. I can always tell them that we won't watch the movie if they misbehave...that always does the trick. Ha!
Meantime, these students are still working on their autobiographies every Friday in the computer lab. Using Google Docs so they can share their documents, and I can edit and comment online has presented some challenges; but it's been an overall useful tool.
This Week's The Bad/The Good
The Bad: Even though I'm getting my 7 hrs of sleep each night, I'm starting to still feel tired in the morning. Has the school year already worn me down?
The Good: My students asked me why I smile when I "try to be mean." I guess this means--even though I get irritated with them--I'm still having fun. :)
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