Scaffolding

I think I already do a pretty good job of offering support for our study of Julius Caesar. It's a challenging text, and one of the things I hate most about it is that there's not a lot of GOOD supplemental material. The Shakespeare Set Free series from the Folger Institute is awesome, but there's nothing in it for Caesar.

Additionally, the feature films are WAY out of date and somewhat painful to watch. I'm sure that film buffs may be able to appreciate the way that the costuming, lighting, camera work, use of color, etc. fits that particular era of film, but... that's not the audience I'm working with.

I've contacted a local Shakespeare group; they did a series of readings a year or two ago that I went to & it was pretty neat. You could tell that they were there simply because they enjoyed it. Thing is, their website hasn't been updated since last February, and I don't know if that's because they haven't had anything to add, or because the webmaster quit & hasn't been replaced, or because the entire group is kaput.

My next step will be to see if I can dig up a literature or drama class at a local college, contact the professor, and see if any of the students would be willing to come and present to my classes.

I'm not sure what else I can do. The workshop at the beginning helps generate interest, but the text is just HARD, and it doesn't take long for things to degenerate into absolute torture. I'm not sure what I can do to maintain engagement and focus. I can't say I blame the students for their frustration - it's mentally exhausting!

I feel like I'm hamstrung. A play is meant to be SEEN as a PERFORMANCE, and I've got zero access to top-notch performances. HEY RSC. WTF? WHY CAN'T YOU SELL DVDS OF YOUR PERFORMANCES? I WOULD TOTES BUY ONE. OR LIKE BUNCHES, ACTUALLY.

I would love to have some help/suggestions.

Image thanks to http://www.zdnet.com/blog/emergingtech/

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...just to make it today

So we had an unexpected mid-year retirement in the department. Fortunately the teacher who retired is going to be all right, but he's having some health problems and between being in the hospital for testing and for treatment, he used up all of his sick days. So he chose to retire rather than take unpaid leave.

That means that the search is on for a new language arts teacher. The thing is, none of the other teachers in the department are close to retiring. (We have one who's eligible, but hasn't seemed the least bit interested.) This is likely to be our only new hire until/unless someone leaves, and I don't see that happening this year.

I did remind the principal that I do not want to be in charge of the yearbook OR the newspaper next year. He seemed fairly receptive to the idea, so I've definitely got my fingers crossed.

And overall, I guess it's good that I'll at least have SOME idea about whether or not they're going to try to foist Journalism off on me again before it's time for us to sign contracts.

But if you're the praying sort? I wouldn't mind in the least having a few more voices on my side...

Image thanks to http://kellysinging.files.wordpress.com

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How Long Can You Tread Water?

Right now, I hate teaching.

Specifically, I hate teaching under the constraints that administration has placed on me for journalism, and it has spread out to "I just don't want to do this" in a more general sense. I said last year that I was ready to give up journalism so that I could focus on teaching English (and also, in a huge-but-unspoken reason, because I hate these constraints) and was asked "well, if we can't find another journalism teacher, will you do it for one more year?" and I said yes, but that's it.

And now I feel like Bill Cosby's Noah talking to God, asking how long it's going to rain, and being asked in return, "How long can you tread water?"

It hasn't helped that, with a new administration, the rules that have straightjacketed me have gone from "ridiculous" to "cacking insane." I am full-on in survival mode, and it's awful. I hate being That Kind of Teacher.

I can't think of anything positive to say. Nothing. But there's enough poison out on the internet that I don't really want to add to it. So that's why I haven't posted anything in quite awhile. You know, Thumper's Law: "If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."

(Not to be confused with Thumper's Secondary Law: "Eating greens is a special treat; it makes long ears and great big feet.")

Hopefully I can still get the Stupid Publications done from survival mode. The problem is that thinking about it makes me start to freak out... so I'm trying not to think about it. But I'm not sure that avoidance is the best strategy.

Fortunately, I have been very clear that this is to be the Last Year No Matter What.

Hm. Who knows. In a couple of weeks here, I am planning to go down to Disney World to try out for a summer position as a performer. And if in June/July I am informed that my administration has said "screw what she wants; stick her in Journalism again!" I may just stay down there instead of resigning & returning to teach.

Image thanks to http://mariovittone.com/2010/05/154/

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Not Ning

One of the things I'm pretty proud of is that I actually have a functioning class website this semester. Two, actually; one for my English II classes, and one for Journalism.

For next semester, I want to do a bit more planning-ahead of how I can use those sites more effectively. It's especially important for English II, where the class is large enough that I need to sign out a laptop cart if everyone is to have a computer to use. I really don't know what I'm going to do next year when I don't have daily access to the Journalism computers as well. It's sheer idiocy that the school bought laptop carts that are significantly smaller than the classes are.

I can't rely on students having internet access from home. So I need to make sure that I plan to use computers in class for the work that we do. I can, however, offer extra credit for work done outside of class time.

Pages

Pages allow students to add short examples with explanation that fit the page's topic.

* Class Log - This page keeps track of what we do in class, including notes, descriptions of assignments, due dates, etc.
* Word Sleuths - Earn extra credit by providing connections to words that are intriguing and challenging! Describe where you came across the word and include a link to its definition.
* Celebrations - What's going well? What are you thankful for? What makes you happy? This will be a single page where students add entries onto the page.
* Phenomenal Phrases - Song lyrics, poetry, or a mesmerizing sentence, sometimes a group of words fits together just right. What word combinations have you noticed lately? What made them stand out?
* News & Views - When you pay attention to the news, you understand what's happening in the world around you. Use this space to have your say about it! Include a link to an interesting news article and describe what's significant about it.
* Link List - Here's where you can list websites with helpful resources. Be sure to explain why they're useful.
* I Thought Of English - Making connections strengthens what we already know and helps us learn new ideas and information. When something outside of class reminds you of something from inside class, write about it here!

Hubs

Hubs are central pages that include a list of links to pages that focus on a subsection of that topic.

* SSR Book Talks - This is a place to discuss stories you love and stories you love to hate! A central page will provide links to pages that discuss different books.
* Lights, Camera, Action! - Movies, TV series, individual episodes - film provides an incredibly diverse medium. Discuss what works and what doesn't. Central page provides links to a page for each title for discussion.
* FAQs - If you have questions about navigating or using this ning, why not post your questions here in case others are wondering the same thing? Rules & grade guidelines are listed here. Questions posted in comments; page itself will (hopefully) not be able to be edited by students. Students can submit requests for pages to discuss school policies; links will be added to hub.
* Journals - This will provide a place for students to craft more personal writing. Students will create their own pages and write their own entries, but can comment on others' pages.

Assignments

(1) Weekly blog post - Students will share original writing in a semi-public space. 150-250 words. Topic and content must be school-appropriate. Main page will include links to lists of topic ideas.

(2) Weekly comments - Students will respond in an appropriate and thoughtful way to three discussions. This may be challenging to keep up with; I haven't decided how I'm going to be able to track it.

(3) Extra credit - For up to 5 points per week, students may contribute a useful new example to the Word Sleuth, Link List, or Phenomenal Phrase groups, or a new discussion to the SSR, LCA, or News&Views groups. Posts should be at least 50 words, including explanation and supporting information. For up to 2 points per week, students may respond to any current posts in a way that adds new ideas and encourages further discussion. This may be challenging to keep up with; I haven't decided how I'm going to be able to track it.

Guidelines

1. Work hard: It's okay to have fun in this space, but if others are having a learning conversation either add to it positively or make your comments in a new post. Anything you post here should be somehow related to the course. The connection can be direct or indirect. If you're asked to explain the relevance of what you have contributed, you should have an answer. The level of usage here is "informal standard English"--which is what is used in business, government and education for everyday work. No texting abbreviations. Use complete sentences and standard spelling. Remember, the whole world is watching.

2. Be kind: We are helpful, polite, and appropriate at all times. Remember that many students, teachers, and others will view your comments.
Anyone is welcome to comment or join a discussion as long as he or she is respectful. If I could disable the Friend feature of this ning, I would, but I can't. So, let's have no "Friend-ing" dramas. If another student requests to be your ning friend, you must accept that request before you do anything else on here.

3. Follow directions: Keep the school's internet use policy in mind. Be reserved about revealing private details on web sites. You don't need to use your full name, but use enough of it so that everyone in your class will know who you are. Though this is a password-protected site, it is digital information that anyone could copy, forward, save to hard drive etc. Anything you type into a digital forum may last forever, so respect your own and others' privacy. Arrange your personal site to your taste, but keep it school-appropriate. Please, no gross, disgusting, immoral or irreverent photographs. Avoid designs that makes your text hard to read. Communication is a primary purpose of this site, and style should enhance rather than obstruct communication.

I'm a little bit nervous, because I don't know that I'll be able to rely on having access to a lab or laptop cart every week. We only have two labs for the entire school, so it feels like I'm being a little greedy.

On the other hand, my journalism classes are smaller, so I've been able to have them on the computers in my room every day, and the amount of improvement I'm seeing in their writing is fantastic. I feel confident that part of that, at least, is because they know that others are reading what they write. We do daily writing in English II as well, but it just goes in their writer's notebooks... I wonder if I need to do more sharing from there. Dunno.

(Many thanks to Mr. Michael Umphrey, author of The Power of Community-Centered Education: Teaching as a Craft of Place, and Mr. Gary Anderson for their help with this work.)

Image thanks to http://videoproductiontips.com/

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Balance

Dang. How did it get to be quarter of ten already? I didn't get to do any of the schoolwork that I brought home. I did put dishes away and do a load of laundry. The Hunk was wonderful enough to cook dinner for us - PANCAKES! YUM! - and we watched last night's episode of Castle.

There just never seems to be enough time in the day to get everything done that needs to be done. I doubt I'll even be able to make this anything better than just "reasonably coherent." The days are flying past - winter break begins NEXT FRIDAY, for goodness' sake!

I wanted to get our bookshelves moved into the library over Thanksgiving break, and it just Did. Not. Happen. We did get the space for them cleared out. Let's see if anything gets moved over winter break.

Between staying late at school, running errands, exercise class, and dinner... it's bedtime. I feel like I haven't done much of anything at all today, and yet the day is over! What's up with that?!

It doesn't help that I've been double- and triple-posting; all of my classes do some journalling each day, so I've been doing that along with them. It's a heckuva lot of writing.

Tomorrow for English II we'll be in the computer lab and they're to be typing up their research papers. Ooooo, I hope we don't crash and burn!

We actually have a few weeks left in the first semester after we get back from winter break. It's a little on the crazy side; usually everything finishes up neatly before we leave in December. Not this year, though. We started so late that we'll be going through the end of January before classes change. It'll be interesting to see how that goes...

Image thanks to http://angelalutin.com/

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Survey Says:

I decided to take a survey posted over at the EC Ning.

Details after the cut.

What grades do you teach? High school; mostly sophomores right now, but others 9-12.

Do you have a classroom library? yes

How did you collect your books? And how do you get new ones? (Garage sales, gifts, bookstores, grants, school money, book fairs, etc.) Mostly through donorschoose grants, giveaways at conventions, and used bookstores.

Do you make a point to continue adding to your classroom library? yes

What sorts of resources do you have in your library? Books (fiction, non fiction, graphic novels, etc), newspaper articles, magazines, music, movies, etc? Just books - fiction, nonfiction, and graphic novels.

What materials do you wish you had? I always want more books, but at this point I need more bookshelves. I wish I could have a fluffy rug and a reading lamp, but I'm not allowed to have those because of fire code (or so we've been told). I'd like some floor pillows.

What books do you think should be in every classroom library? I doubt there are any books that belong in every classroom library, because it really depends on what kind of reading the students are doing. A classroom library in a 3rd-grade room probably won't have any of the same books I do.

Do you have suggestions for how a new teacher can build a library? Donorschoose has been very helpful. If you're in an affluent area, ask parents to donate books. It takes time; I've been building my library since I started teaching, and it's taken me seven years to get it to where I'm actually proud of it.

How do you use your classroom library? The students have daily reading; we also use the books to study grammar, writing, and literary techniques. This prevents copying and (in theory) ensures that each student is working with material at a comfortable challenge level.

Do you have a system for students to check out books or can they borrow them at will? They show me the book and I keep a record of what book each student currently has.

What are the most popular books? I currently do not have a copy of Hunger Games because the three I've bought have all been not-returned by someone. I've never had a student ask to switch out of The Graveyard Book.

Do you keep potentially controversial books in your library? Why or why not? Yes; I live in an area that is so conservative that EVERY book is "potentially controversial." So if I wanted to avoid all controversy I couldn't have a classroom library.

Do you require parental permission for students to borrow certain books? A few, due to language or thematic issues. I like my job and would prefer to keep it.

What do students think about your classroom library? It's an interesting change of pace, I think, from their other classes. I get new books on a fairly regular basis, though, so sometimes I think they kind of take it for granted.

What do you wish this survey had asked, and how would you answer? Hm. I can't think of anything right now. If I do, I'll come back and add whatever it is I think of.

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Moneyball and Education

A claim that I hear a lot -- and one that invariably raises my hackles -- is that "everyone 'knows' who the good teachers and the bad teachers are." I was reading a post over at The Learning Nation, and Cale neatly summed up my thoughts:

When we visit a classroom, we might observe the teacher and their students for a few minutes and walk out saying "That was good teaching!".  Someone could walk into a school and chat with an Administrator for a half hour and say "She really has it going on, what a great Principal."  But how do we REALLY know?

The point, obviously, is that always relying on your gut means you're not always going to get the best result. That's not to discount professional instinct, but it should be weighted in with other useful information -- including data like student test scores.

But thinking about that in terms of Moneyball and using stats to build a better baseball team got me thinking about the way that baseball teams and schools are very, very different…

• With baseball, it's entirely competitive. It only matters how good your team is because you need to be better than the other teams.
• Schools involve competition for two reasons: fun, which can also be used to increase student engagement, thereby also hopefully increasing student achievement as well; and limited resources. We can't offer university scholarships to everyone (or, more accurately, we choose to allocate our resources in different ways), so we give them to the students who have excelled the most in academics, athletics, or other endeavors.


• Baseball is competitive between players in training, but a player may be called upon to make a personal sacrifice for the good of the team in a game. (Bunting?) The player's stats suffer, but the team succeeds. At least, I've heard of this; to be honest, I don't really watch that much baseball.
• Schools don't typically ask students to make sacrifices like that. Can you imagine seniors being asked to tank some of their classes to avoid having the graduation rate rise so high this year that we can't maintain the rate of improvement next year?


• In baseball, how each player does matters because it affects the success of the team as a whole.
• In school, how each student does matters because that IS the success of the school as a whole.

A totally different way of thinking about teacher achievement

I've also been influenced by reading Young Classroom Conquests, a blog by a brand-new teacher. In one of his first posts, he writes about beginning to "understand that I’m not going to be the perfect teacher when I first get into the classroom."

Well, T, let me reveal one of the worst-kept secrets in education to you: you're not going to be the perfect teacher EVER. Doesn't matter how many years of experience you get, how many conferences you attend, how many additional degrees or certifications or awards you attain. It's not gonna happen, because there ain't no such thing.

Each student is an individual, and has his or her own unique areas of strength, struggle, and style. And as a result, even someone who is a truly great teacher in a general sense will not - CAN not - be a great teacher for every student.

The goal of a school should not be to hire the best teachers. A good school should hire a diverse group of excellent teachers (which isn't easy!), and then match each student with the teachers whose styles of instruction and management best suit that student's individual needs (which, of course, is even LESS easy).

It's time to stop pretending that education is about the "big picture." We can't risk losing sight of all the little pictures - because they are what truly matters.

Image thanks to http://www.boston.com/community/

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Challenges with Technology

And in this case, it's not even really a technological challenge, so this isn't really an accurate image. (But it's certainly more interesting than the problem we had.)

Because we have all of next week off for Thanksgiving break, our administrators scheduled a volleyball tournament this afternoon as a way to encourage students to be even more distracted and fidgety. As a result, our classes were shortened to about 2/3 of their usual time.

I'd reserved one of the laptop carts, but our librarian asked that I let the cart charge in the library for the first 15-20 minutes of the period. Not a big deal, because we start every period with writing time anyway. However, once we finally get the laptops, it takes ten minutes to get them all signed out and set up. And then of course we can't work to the bell; we have to shut down the laptops and sign them back in at the end of the period.

As a result, we really didn't get that much done. Some of the students forgot to check to see if they were correctly logged in to our website so that it would save their work instead of reloading and MRS KEYS MRS KEYS IT'S GONE! I don't know how many times I've told them - write one sentence and click save so that you can preview it and make sure it's doing what you want it to do. Then go back and finish your assignment.

Anyway, because of the shortened classes, today kind of flew by. I'd like to do more with tech in the classroom. The students seem to enjoy using the computers, for all they get incredibly frustrated when their failure to follow directions results in wasted time.

I try not to let them show how much I enjoy seeing them go through what I deal with EVERY DAY. ;p

Image thanks to http://www.maximumpc.com

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Yuck.

One of the things I both love and hate about teaching is how individualized it is. I love being able to tailor the lessons and pacing both to my personal style and interests, and to the interests and abilities of my students. This week we're spending a little more time on sentence structure than I'd originally planned, but getting to watch students notice more about authors' choices in writing has been delightful.

However, it makes substitute planning pretty miserable. I carry so much of what we're doing in my head; the lesson plans I submit to the department head really aren't enough for someone else to teach with (although they do make it easier for an observer to follow along).

It is a HUGE amount of work to get everything set up for a qualified sub, which is what I had to do for yesterday. And honestly? When you feel awful enough to NOT go in, it seems even worse.

So today, even though I don't feel great, I'm here at school. However, I'm thinking that next week I probably will not be going to the ALAN conference. I need the rest - and we also just got another set of medical bills (whee).

Right now I am just so tired. I'm tired of feeling gross. I'm tired of stress from the publications. I'm tired of bills-bills-bills. I'm tired of being ignored and repeating myself and being ignored again. I'm tired of people saying they'll do XYZ and not following through. And of course I'm tired from my meds.

I had about a week of feeling really good. I miss that.

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Because I Said I Would

Our social studies teachers are putting together an EF Tours trip to Europe for 2013. And... well... we'd like to go. I try not to listen to those announcements too much, because it's incredibly expensive and all that, BUT then the Hunk went and made puppy-eyes and said HE wanted to go, and how can I just squelch that?!

Thing is, I think I'm the only member of my family who hasn't left the hemisphere. Not in either direction, I'm not-really ashamed to say. So SO WHAT if it's going to cost the equivalent of two months of BOTH our salaries (before taxes).



Anyway, what brought that up is this video. Social studies teacher (and postgrad student!) Philip asked me to post it. This is a band that he was part of years ago when he was an exchange student in Croatia. I'm afraid I can't provide a translation of any of it, what with being not-very-well traveled and all; the only bit I can pick out is "for Croatia, sunshine nation," which of course is because that bit's in English.

Well, and the Wo-oh-oh-oh-oah! part.

So yeah, I'm still not sure we're REALLY going to do the Europe trip. It'll mean tightening our belts for a LONG TIME to save up for it. (SUCK.) But still... it would be pretty cool.

We'll have to see!

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Crash & Burn

We're finishing up our Julius Caesar unit and it has been miserable. I know I'm already on record with how much I hate, hate, hate, HATE this play, and how infuriating it is that I'm required by my school to teach it despite having other options that I feel are far superior.

It doesn't help that I'm sick. But with the test tomorrow, of course I dragged myself in today so that we could review. I'm stopped up and dizzy and exhausted and now I'll probably be out for TWO days, instead of just one, but you know what? I really don't care.

And after getting called on the carpet yesterday for not having enough test grades in my gradebook, I started thinking about what exactly constitutes a test, rather than a quiz.

Our calendar was frickin' GUTTED by the state, so now our quarters are eight weeks each instead of nine weeks. And the principal is saying that I should have at least five test grades. By my way of thinking, that's an awful lot - it's about every week and a half or so.

But my units run about four weeks long. So this means I need to shorten them, or else test part way through the unit. I figure one test every other week is about as often as I can manage without feeling like it's just test-test-test.

And I've also been told that ad sales for the publications are now to be done by ME rather than by students. I mean, it's nice to know that they'll be handled accurately, but it's getting to the point that I'm like WTF am I supposed to have them doing?

Image thanks to http://www.gamereality.org/peliarvostelut/xbox_crashnburn.html

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Trapped

This year is particularly challenging in Journalism. We're not allowed to do any interviewing during class time, and the students DON'T do much interviewing on their OWN time.

Their articles for the school newspaper are understandably much more like personal essays. And some of them haven't completed the article requirements and as a result are failing.

I'm scared because I feel like I'm going to be hauled in and fussed at for something I can't really control :(

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Is a "Fair Tax" Really Fair?

So I've been catching up on old episodes of The Daily Show, and while usually I just play it in the background, I actually listened to Stewart's interview with Bill O'Reilly. It was pretty interesting, because while O'Reilly got in a few good zingers, Stewart was surprisingly gentle. (At least much more so than I would've expected.) Anyway, I went ahead and found the link to the rest of the interview on the main site, and they start talking taxes.

Now, I haven't finished watching the interview, but O'Reilly started mentioning a federal consumption tax - I don't know if he means instead of raising the top marginal tax rate(s), or if he means instead of federal income taxes at ALL, but whatevs. Not my point. (Yet, anyway.)

Quick note - I wasn't real clear on what a consumption tax is, so I googled it, and Wikipedia says that it's a category of different types of taxes based on spending rather than earning. Sales tax is probably the type that we're most familiar with, but the wiki article lists other types as well. Quite helpful. But also not my point.

MY POINT is that I am a teacher. A teacher who works with teenagers. And as such, I may not know a whole heckuva lot about high finance, but I know an awful lot about WEASELING.

According to the wiki article, investments are not taxed. Nor are the proceeds, until they are spent for consumption. "That house in the Hamptons? No, that's not a luxury... it's an investment property. The yacht? It's part of the company's client development budget."

I mean, I get it. It's not THAT different from the way things are now; there's an awful lot of stuff that us regular schlubs have to fork over to get that if you're rich, people will give to you for free to get on your good side so that maybe later you'll do them favors. Rich people are good at that - how do you think they GOT rich in the first place?

On the other hand, it might make college at least a little more affordable - after all, that's money you wouldn't have to pay taxes on, because isn't that an investment?

Image thanks to http://www.uproxx.com/

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Why I Write

So apparently it's National Day of Writing? I dunno for certain - Google isn't saying anything about it, that's for sure. But I saw "Why I Write" up on a couple of blogs today, and someone mentioned it, and I haven't posted here since before fall break, so why the hell not?

I write because I'm supposed to. Because I keep hoping that I will hate it less. Because maybe this time it won't be quite as annoying. I'd say frustrating, but that's giving it too much credit.

I continue to write because two teeny-weeny paragraphs look awfully pathetic next to a decently-sized photo. And because although I am quite content to repost someone else's image to supplement my text (with credit, at least, these days) I am not yet comfortable posting someone else's text as well.

I wonder why that is.

And I am noticing that there are a hell of a lot of "I" statements here.

To quote Willow: "Bored now."

I would SO MUCH rather be reading TV Tropes or watching people's home videos from Disney World. Or brushing my teeth and then tucking into bed. Or ... yeah, that's about it. I don't really feel like watching another episode of Numb3rs. Or even Sherlock. Wanted to watch that this afternoon but when I got home I was like "meh."

But no. Instead, because it's National Stupid Writing Day, I am doing a bit of Stupid Writing.

Also, I have my students writing about 300 words per day. Just write, okay? Just do it. It's not that complicated. I was at 240 after that last paragraph, so if I just keep typing whatever pops into my head, I should be at 300 in no time.

Dang. I am SO FRICKIN GLAD my students haven't ever found this. :P

I read recently that Finland kicked it into high gear by requiring every teacher to get a Master's degree (government paid for it). HEY OBAMA! HEY CONGRESS! YES LET'S GO FOR FINLAND-STYLE EDUCATION PLZ KTHX!

And I'm over 300 words now so I am SO DAMN DONE.

Image thanks to http://961joyfm.production.townsquaresites.com

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Torn

So, obviously, I really-really-really wanna go.

Thing is, of course, once again there's no money to SEND me. And thanks to medical bills and taxes (why the hell can't you deduct medical bills from your taxes, dammit? WTF, Uncle Sam?!) and our heat/air unit crapping out on us (in JULY, no less) we are even broker than last year.

Actually... maybe not. At least we haven't had to pay for car repairs AND a down payment.

It's up in Chicago, which is once again a bit of a drive. (And COLD! NCTE folks, what were you thinking?) But I'd be able to visit family over in Indiana, although I still feel it's a bit far for a daily commute, so I'd need to get a hotel room. And of course the conference ITSELF is a bit of an owie.

Is it going to be that different from last year? Will it really be as helpful, now that I've already gone once?

Essentially, is it worth giving up a trip to Disney World?

I just don't know.

Image thanks to http://www.ncte.org/

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Too Much

So we're off again, and all I can think of is "what all do I need to get done today and when do I need to do it?"

I need to turn in sign the purchase order for the 2011 supplements. (done!)
I need to find out if they've located the receipt books that I turned in last year. (done! though they're still looking)
I need to find out what to do about tax when I pay for something & get reimbursed. (done! arrange not to pay tax)
I need to review the second drafts of the letters… those are late! ugh! (done!)
I need to remind the Newspaper class that they are not to be listening to personal devices. (done!)
I need to have the Yearbook class type up the senior quotes. (done!)
I need to ask for an updated list of seniors who've had portraits made. (done!)
I need to print out and photocopy my list of sonnets. (done!)
I need to turn in the information about the donation from the used bookstore. (done!)
I need to create a form for the scifi club and send it to the students who expressed interest.
I need to check tardies and contact parents.

Oh yeah - and I need to, yanno, TEACH.

*sigh*

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Humor

I actually posted this over on the EC Ning, but then I figured, hey, why not include it here? Who knows, I may have some readers that don't frequent the ning.

So when I started pulling books from my classroom library to create themed sets, I noticed that I was having a difficult time finding ones I'd clearly categorize as "humor." I'd looove to hear some suggestions! Here are some of the ones I already have:

Every Man for Himself
Matilda
Nerd Girls
Skullduggery Pleasant
The Squire's Tale
Schooled
Wayside School Is Falling Down
Models Don't Each Chocolate Cookies

Suggestions have been

I Am a Genius of Unspeakable Evil and I Want to Be Your Class President, Josh Lieb
Soul Enchildada, David Macinnis Gill
Swim the Fly, Don Calame
Born to Rock, Gordon Korman
Beauty Queens, Libba Bray
An Abundance of Katherines, John Green
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian, Sherman Alexie
Word Nerd, Susin Neilson
Will Grayson, Will Grayson, John Green
Going Bovine, Libba Bray
The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks, E. Lockhart

Other ideas?

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Finally

I've finally gotten to the point where I'm actually proud of my classroom library. I was going to take pictures today, but there were parents to call and photos to print and posters to hang and bulletin boards to decorate and journals to review and receipts to write and file and... and... and...

UGH. Hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures on Monday. It was so hectic at the end of the day that when we left I forgot both my laptop charge cord and a stack of journals that I planned to finish grading over the weekend.

Anyway.

For the longest time, I had some serious book-envy. It seemed like everyone else online had read the latest YA stuff. And in #titletalk discussions, people would make lists of books they were going to buy! I don't know how they manage it, because let me tell you, looking at the price on a new book about gives me palpitations from the sticker shock. $30 for a new book?! That's, like, three days of food!

But then I learned that being poor sometimes comes in handy. Like when you're writing grant requests. And over the last few years, I've built up my classroom library slowly and steadily, thanks mostly to the local used bookstores and DonorsChoose. And then this past summer, I got to go to the ALA conference, which was within driving distance.

I took the truck.

Anyway, long story short, I have lots and lots of books now. And I'm ready to do more with them. At the end of the summer, for example, I nabbed a couple of beat-up armchairs at a yard sale, and now they grace that corner of my classroom. I'd love to add a standing lamp but I was told NO. Same thing for rugs. NO. I might be able to get away with a stack of floor cushions, but I don't really have anywhere to put them.

Everything is so damn expensive. $20 a cushion? And don't get me started on how much shelving costs... yikes!

There seems to be a lot more out there for elementary-school classroom libraries. Is it sooo unusual to have one in high school? I want to decorate my walls, but I don't just want a silly "Read! :D" poster. With a worm wearing glasses. You know, a bookworm? HA! *sigh*

What does an ideal high school classroom library look like, anyway?

Image thanks to http://blog.syracuse.com/

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An Open Letter to Penny Kittle

Dear Penny,

I still hate writing.

But I am also still committed to being the best teacher I possibly can, so once again (even though we're almost a month into the school year, and that's WITH an extra-late start) I am resolving to post daily. It might not be here - probably over at Go Little Novelist - because I still want to make Epic Adventures about teaching.

I tell my students that once they've answered the question for the writing prompt, they can fill the rest of the page with whatever is on their mind. You know, as much as I have heard that getting students into the habit of writing will turn them into writers, I don't think it's really true. Because every time I sit down to write, I hate it. And I'm sure I've been writing for a good while longer than this crop has even been alive.

Blogging is its own beast. I mean, I bet I could write post after post about how much I hate writing. But then, who'd want to read that? And therefore, why post it? I guess it doesn't matter… it's not like I'm killing trees or anything. Except I *am* wearing the battery of my laptop down, and I'll have to charge it sooner. (I think. Who knows, maybe typing doesn't use up battery more than just sitting there does.)

About the only type of writing I don't mind is conversation. Like commenting back and forth on discussion boards … or sometimes in response to a blog post.

I'm starting to wonder if I've written enough. Is it okay to quit yet? We're actually on our way to school (don't worry, it's safe; the Hunk is driving) so I can't pull up an online word-counter. I mean, I've filled up the original screen in TextEdit and now I have a scrollbar on the side.

And I really don't have a lot more to say at the moment. Oooo, McDonald's. I don't know what it is about their food… it's not THAT good, but I like it a lot. At least the breakfast. A well-made Sausage-Egg-and-Cheese McGriddle is just delightful. I love the way the different tastes and textures all meld together. The sausage is just a little bit spicy, and countered by the sweetness of the syrup-nuggets in the little bun they use. The cheese adds a touch of saltiness, and the egg is bouncy and fluffy. It is just SO GOOD. And the Bacon-Egg-and-Cheese Biscuit is good in its own way. It's all savory, but it's different TYPES of savory, don'cha know.

But I have already had breakfast and of course now we're several miles on down the road. Hunk complains about idiot drivers. "Doofus-head!" he calls one. I am so glad i don't have to be the one driving. I like driving when I'm not feeling in a hurry to get somewhere. So, really, driving anywhere kind of sucks (because with gas as expensive as it is, who can afford to just drive around?) because even if I'm going to the store and I don't have to worry about them closing or anything, after I've gotten through checkout, I'm always looking forward to getting home.

By the way, I'm not (entirely) neglecting the Hunk. I am taking breaks for conversation. We're going to Disney World over fall break. WOOOO! Today is Disney Day for Spirit Week (homecoming - each day is themed, and we're encouraged to dress out) so we're bringing the bride-and-groom mouse-ear hats that we got on our honeymoon.

Disney World! Hurray! I can't wait. Even though I'm going to have to wait. (boo!) Also I've asked for professional leave to go to the 2011 NCTE convention as well, so definitely looking forward to that. It hasn't been approved yet, but I'm hopeful. I doubt I'll actually get any financial support, but then, I didn't last year, either. (Looks like I'll be packing sandwiches again!)

The Hunk asked about my writing. "Stream of consciousness?" "Yeah, kinda." I explained that because I want to be a better teacher, I need to become better at the elements of language. And the best way to get better at stuff is to DO it.

Hey, we're here at the school, so it's time to close up and head in. Bye!

Always,

Clicketykeys

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Is There Anything Wuss?

Okay, so I just posted a not-really review of Beauty Queens. It arrived at the school today (thanks AKJ Books! thanks DonorsChoose!) and I hopped gleefully around the room when I pulled it out of the box. But...

I'm almost AFRAID to read it.

My online buddies (hello forever ya!) have been gushing about this for MONTHS and I have waited and waited and WANTED to read this for, like, EVER. And now it's here. I have it. I have a copy. And... but... see, what if it doesn't live up to these impossible hopes I've set up?

I think I'll start off with Italo Calvino's Why Read the Classics, which I picked up at the library tonight. It sounds like it will be clever but possibly dull. Maybe that'll lower the bar a bit.

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