Hedgetoad Teaching

One of my goals this year is to really get into purposeful teaching... I know, I know. If it doesn't have a purpose why are you teaching it? But let's be honest. Anything can have a purpose if the teacher is creative enough. My mentor teacher spent three days watching "Finding Nemo" and turned it into a really great spring board for an essay topic. The students really connected with the topic she drew a parallel to and it was probably the most worked on writing assignment the entire year. I am not that good. I posted on the English Companion Ning, looking for a planning buddy. I actually got way more replies that I thought I would. However, I have yet to really figure out the Ning technology. (You cannot believe how hard it was for me to type that... I am disgusted with myself. The fact is, I just don't have the time.) So, I'm posting what I've done so far here. I have a lot of great ideas. Many, many great ideas and materials from others, but it just fee...

When I lived in NYC, it always made my day when I found a new poem displayed in the subway car. Sitting alongside advertisements for English lesson and zit removal, it was a little pick me up amongst a sea of riotous ads. How's that for poetic? I never claimed to be good. The other day, I forgot to erase a poem I'd written on the board for one of my AP classes. A couple of sophomores mentioned it - one had seen it before; another asked what it meant... and suddenly an idea was born. If I post a short poem on the board and just never mention it, all of my students will assume it's meant for another class. They'll still read it, thinking it may be important, and get a little poetry in their lives. It's an idea anyhow.

Rarely do I have specific stories about students - I always feel kinda guilty for talking about my students because they're only really interesting to tell stories about when they're being nutty. As a class started this afternoon, one boy announced that his "butt itched real bad". A little distracting, but he then proceeded to stand up and wiggle around, and let us all know that his "butt was really itchin'". I said, "sounds like a medical issue, do you need to see the nurse?" Oh, yeah. He was on a role. Anything to keep us all off of task and not writing. So, while the antics continued, I wrote him a pass to the nurse and off he went. Thankyoujebus that the nurse wasn't actually at the school today... she doesn't seem to have much of a sense of humor. This particular student is fairly notorious for making similar statements in his classes with female teachers to throw them off and establish his control of the classroom. The counselors ...

Last night was our school open house. My babysitter crapped out on me at the last minute, and I could not find another. Every back up already had plans - two were planning on actually attending said Open House. So, as any good single mom, I brought them with me. All was well until the third group of parents. By then Lala was comfortable and the cuddler had run into his second wind. While I was trying explain the class requirements to parent, I had a little boy sitting in a stroller chattering away (or rather "bok-ing" away... he really does sound like a chicken trying to lay an egg!) and a little girl rolling on the floor under my feet saying "momma" over and over. Luckily, the scene reminded all the parents of when their children were young AND those were happy memories. I know it was certainly memorable for me!

One of my students is worried about me. Apparently it appears that I have a fixation on death, because I keep mentioning "old dead white guys". Is it my fault that none of them have ever heard of the literary canon ? One of the ongoing assignments for the class is read two books from the literary cannon to pump up their background knowledge. However, none of them know what a "classic" is... and I am at somewhat of a loss as how to explain the difference between Twilight and Wuthering Heights without insulting some hard core fans. In the meantime, I guess I'll hold off on the whole "best way to hide a dead body" discussion for later in the semester. I don't want to creep them out too soon. On a personal note, what is the deal with Jay Leno? When Carson retired he was a gentleman about... but Leno has to come up with a show to kill off the Tonight Show? Is retirement that boring? Would no one hire him? Was he a major Madoff investor? Seriously, just ...

I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. So far, so good. Then again, we're all honeymooning - the students are attentive and studious, for the most part. It's a little scary. The class I was sure was going to torture me has so far not done so... but I have a feeling will soon. I have a horrible habit of allowing students to shout answers or questions at me when it's quiet and then scolding them for not raising their hands when it's not or when I'm lecturing. It's inconsistant and probably angers some students since the ones asking during quiet times are "good" students and those who aren't are the "bad". Not that I really categorize them as that, but you'd be surprised at the number of students who do for themselves and their classmates. My two sophomore classes are turning into completely different preps. One class is full of academically skillsed students, who are very capable of working independantly. The other is a class that c...

I've been trying to write a post for the past week or so, but life kept getting into the way... it has a habit of doing that. Just before school started, I didn't really go in and set things up. I did for a few hours, but honestly, I had bigger things to do. Besides, planning curriculum at the local coffee shop is waaaaayyy better than sitting in a stuff classroom. The chairs are no where near as comfy and the coffee shop does not have annoying "protect us from the big bad world" internet filter. If someone recommends a site, I can actually see it in all it's glory. Sadly, I can't share it with my classroom... but I can use the ideas. Plus, I had family over, two kids and a ton of things on my to-do list that I procrastinated all summer long. Also, if I was at school, I knew I would not be able to resist looking at my class rosters and having a freak out. Freak one would be the deminishing number of students in my AP classes. I was told that due to the lack of...