Scary Music Begins...

Today is Photo Day. Annnnd we have a new company. So I don't quite know how it's going to play out. I've got my fingers crossed.

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Snark

Sometimes I think I must be a masochist for keeping Joanne Jacobs on my blogroll. Posts like this one invariably attract teacher-hating trolls.

Since my comment is a fairly inflammatory response to another commenter, there's a possibility it will be removed, and so I'm cross-posting it here:

Allen, you're so welcome. You know, I'm always delighted to have my words distorted by teacher-haters, so really, I should be thanking you!

Thank you for ignoring the fact that at no point in my comment do I say that 'teachers have no responsibility to demonstrate professional skills' (emphasis mine).

I'm sure you will also ignore any attempt I make to clarify that my problem is not with accountability overall, but with teachers being judged (a) on the actions of others, NOT on their own actions, and (b) based on limited data from (c) standardized testing that (d) compares students to each other rather than to their own previous levels of achievement.

Ooo, I just can't WAIT to see how you purposefully misinterpret this one!

Seriously, people - WTF? What IS it with the anti-teacher hysteria these days? Get a life. Go do something productive.

I'm about to! ^.^

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Week 1

Somehow I managed to get through the first week of classes. It felt a lot like this. I did keep all my plates spinning! Overall, it went quite well. I really did end each day feeling like it had been a good day.

My English II classes are a breeze. The hardest part is going to be not letting myself become complacent. I already have my units sequenced for the year (depending on what changes we make for research) and my lessons through to winter break. I've only got two sections, the classes are small (both under 25, at least this week) PLUS each class has a student aide. (Right now my challenge is going to be finding enough for them to do.)

Journalism, however, is a different story.

The most important thing I learned about this week is that I have no clue what I'm doing in my Journalism classes. I need to spend a good bit of time probably tomorrow working on my pacing for those courses. JRL II needs to start pounding away at Issue 1 while somehow still keeping the first yearbook deadline simmering on the back burner. That reminds me - I need to set up their logins on the publishing site so they can get started with page assignments and photo uploads.

I have my unit sequence for JRL I - I just need to develop lessons more thoroughly. Now that I actually HAVE an academic class I need to make sure I use my in-class time effectively. I'm scared because I don't know how to do that. I really would like to have it be a photography workshop, but that means TAKING photos and I can't just send them out. I think once we get ideas about photo composition we're going to need to go on location all together. The catch is that they're all pretty big groups, so I'm going to need to figure out how to manage that. There's no WAY we can all go to someone's classroom and take photos because there are so many of us that it'd be a total disruption. The gym works. We could also go outside with ROTC on PT days. Or possibly cover inspection once they get their uniforms. And of course before we start using people as subjects we can work with still life and landscapes.

I wonder if the art teacher would let us invade her room... her classes are huge but so is the room, and she was also really excited about the photography course. We would both have to stress to our classes that my students are ONLY there to observe - they are NOT to speak to any of the art students (even if someone talks to them).

We'll need to sell at lunch during the week that spans August and September. That means that next week I need to have them contact their third-block teachers to ask what (if any) parts of class they can miss on which days. Scheduling that is going to be a pain.

Our new photography company will be coming by on Monday to meet with seniors. I wonder if I can sit down with them to schedule our sports candids now that we have schedules for fall. I sure hope so.

I'll probably be able to focus better if I actually go to the school after lunch tomorrow. Indian restaurant, yay! Thing is, though, it's a half-hour drive and that's time and gas money I'd rather not spend. But I think the payoff in terms of how much I can get done might be worth it. Might...

Overall, things are looking good. If I can set things up for Journalism over the weekend, it looks like this year is going to be absolutely stellar.

Unimportant note: What I thought was a large orange seems to have been a small grapefruit. Interesting. And also very juicy. Yum!

Still hungry, though. Time to go re-raid the fridge!

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Why I Don't Teach Graphic Novels

Okay, it's almost time to get ready for Day 2, so this is gonna have to be pretty darn fast. I'll probably put my foot in my mouth again but oh well.

So I'm STILL not done going through the NCTE program - I managed to narrow it down to TWO PANELS during session H, which was nice after the TWELVE that I liked in session F - and I keep seeing panels about graphic novels. Which ones to use, why to teach them, activities to do, that kind of thing. And ... no.

So's you know, I looove me a good GN. I had the wildest crush on Dick Grayson all the way through high school and college. (Perhaps part of the reason I gave up on dating was that REAL guys just couldn't compare. One of them changed my mind...) I've got a big ol' stack of my own comics and GNs back in our library. And they're not collectibles. Or, rather, they may be, but I wouldn't know. I just love the stories and the way the layout and the text styles and the images all work together. It's fantastic.

And that kind of gets into why I don't teach them. There is just SO MUCH THERE. And so much of it is sooo subtle. It's like intensely studying diction only with, like, half a dozen techniques AT LEAST.

Think about this. How many Hs should be in a 'KERASSHHHH!!!' and why? Should the artist make one syllable larger than the other (haha, I typed 'louder' at first, but that's WHY it would be done that way, of course) or keep them even? What color should fill in the letters? Should it be shaded?

Realize that the decisions above for ONE WORD involve a team of about four people (writer, artist, colorist, inker). That's not including the editor, but when you've got a good team with a good editor, the editor can mostly trust the team. :)

And so many students come in with ZERO background in GNs. Teaching drama raises similar issues, but in that case at least students have the experience of watching TV and movies. Graphic novels are something completely - well, novel!

I just don't see how you can teach graphic novels with ANY level of depth in a core class. But I'd loooove to have an elective fully devoted to them.

Because short pants and elf boots are cute! ;)

Of course, even before we get to the curricular difficulties, there's also the EXPENSE. I'd have to go with shared copies, and even then... I just can't imagine getting started for under two grand. *sigh*

Image thanks to http://superheroes-wallpapers.blogspot.com/

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NCTE frustration

So I'm going through the online searchable program. It's impossible. I'm maybe halfway through the list. It's taking FOR EVER.

Also? Worse? Session F. There are TWELVE that I want to go to, all at the same time!

SO unfair.

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Placing My Foot Further Into My Mouth?

Hey Bill, this is just for you! :)

Before I go too much farther, I want to say that this is kind of off-the-cuff, so ... I hope it doesn't suck too much. Anyway.

First of all, I really am kinda annoyed by the implication that I don't think for myself - that I am just blithely happy to follow the indoctrination of professors who had a bone to pick with Shakespeare and other literary Gods. Seriously? That's insulting.

But it's also not my point. I want to kind of ... temper my previous post, I guess. Clarify, maybe.

I think Shakespeare was a brilliant writer. I think the literature he left us is a treasure (even as sexist and classist as it is, and from me, that's saying SOMETHING). With that said, however, I still think it's possible to go off the deep end in venerating him.

Hemingway, OTOH? I think he was a brilliant writer as well, and I think he was immensely influential. Decisive, even, in turning the tide away from the purple prose of the Victorian/Edwardian era. It probably would've happened without him, but fortunately, he helped things along quite a bit.

But I don't like his work itself. I find it tiresome in its puffery - which may be the vestiges of Victorian preachiness. Dunno. We are all, to some extent, shaped by our environment and the experiences that come from it (which is part of why I say we shouldn't ditch Shakespeare even if he IS sexist and classist). Then again, theoretically, we can choose how we respond to those experiences, like Hemingway did.

Anyway, point on H. is that I think later writers take what he started (crisp, evocative prose - yum!) and produce a better overall result. Hemingway was experimenting. Later writers were able to go through and build greater works using some of the techniques he popularized. Standing on the shoulders of giants, as it were.

So, to sum up: I don't think Shakespeare sucks. My point was more that you CAN have too much of a good thing.

Image thanks to http://www.astro.caltech.edu/~lah

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Ooga-Chaka

In Nomine Shakespiri, Amen...

I am going to risk being burned at the stake (or, if folks are feeling generous, simply poisoned) and say it:

Shakespeare is usually overrated.

People? We are talking about a HUMAN BEING here. Not a late arrival to the Greek pantheon. Not the savior of the human race. Not even the savior of the English language!

(What's really creepy is that there are probably people who would honest-to-Will try to debate that last one with me.)

I'm not saying that Shakespeare's work is either insignificant or shoddy. Quite the contrary. In fact, given the two genres in which he worked, it would be theoretically possible to structure my entire course around his works and still meet all the state standards.

Hm. That would be a really interesting challenge. However, it's not one I'm prepared to tackle right now ... maybe over spring break or at the start of next summer...

But it's like ... I mean, it's worse than dealing with the Bible. Most people are willing to agree that English translations are a good thing (don't get me started on the KJV-only crowd; that's a whole 'nother... ugh). And there's definitely a lot of debate about how closely you have to follow the words of the Hebrew or Greek, and how much you can kind of work with it to achieve what you believe was the intended meaning.

For example, IIRC the Gospel of John begins en arche kai ton logos which translates directly as in longago was the word, and I doubt you'll find that in any English Bible. But "In the beginning was the Word" is absolutely fine by the very strictest standards.

But when you're working with Shakespeare, YOU MUST NOT CHANGE ONE JOT OMG YOU PHILISTINE!!!

There are several excellent discussions over at the EC Ning that do a really good job of showing diverse viewpoints, mostly without getting hairy. That was kind of what brought all of this from the back of my mind up to the front.

See, there are lots of great reasons for teaching Shakespeare's work. But any time you choose to focus on one particular work, you are by definition also choosing to exclude every other work out there for as long as you focus on that one. Mostly? That's okay. It's a good trade-off; you sacrifice some breadth for some depth. I've deliberately gone that way with my English II course schedule, and I'm ... content with it. Maybe even happy with it. (We'll see.)

But I think that at our school - and probably at many others - Shakespeare takes up more instructional time than is reasonable. We study sonnets and a play in both ninth and tenth grade. Junior year gets a pass because it's American lit, but the senior curriculum more than makes up for it because they study more sonnets and Hamlet AND Macbeth and sometimes also Othello!

There is a whole WORLD of literature out there beyond Shakespeare. And it's a little disappointing to realize that there's no way I can do an intensive unit on Antigone, because I have to teach Julius Caesar. And even if other students are exposed to it with another teacher, there's no way there will be time to do it justice.

What other works are we willing to sacrifice on Shakespeare's altar?

Image thanks to http://learn.swancoll.ac.uk/

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Whee!

Tomorrow's a big day - first chemo session, a wig consultation, and hopefully I get to have the drain taken out. YAY!

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Book Talks

So, every day I am going to transition from our writing time into our lesson time with a read-aloud. And I'm going to switch back and forth between books and poetry. After the reading, I'll give some details about the book and briefly (that's the tough part!) explain why I like it so much. I'm going to try to keep these under five minutes.

Behind the cut I've got books listed. This is based on books I've read and given 5-star ratings on goodreads... I think the latter part of the list might get into the 4-star ones, too. I think I'd also like to try to get students to do some of the book talks after the first month or so.

Bloody Jack
Hunger Games
Princess Bride
Graveyard Book
Unwind
Graceling
Thirteenth Child
Saving Francesca
Master of Murder
Magic Under Glass
Mousetraps
Candor
Serendipity Market
Anne of Green Gables
Jeremy Thatcher
Schooled
Epic
Beauty
Coraline
Squire/Knight/Lady
Dragon's Bait
Skullduggery Pleasant
Charles and Emma
Return to Sender
Tangerine
Peeps
Uglies
Rash
Feed
Homeless Bird
Chosen One
Devouring
Other Side of the Island
Gregor the Overlander
Rising Star of Rusty Nail
First Daughter
Ruins of Gorlan
Little Brother
Come Like Shadows
Stolen Voices
I Am Not Esther
Treasure Island

Are there others I should consider? I'll want to make sure that I read them first.

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