Living, Loving, Teaching

This link is for student postings relating to any of the student-choice novels or dramas. Questions and comments are highly encouraged; however, please note that text lingo is inappropriate for this site. Be careful to use standard conventions when posting here.

Because you may be reading different works, please indicate the title of the work in your post.

I look forward tot he discussion that will take place on this site this summer!

This link is for student postings relating to Bernard Evslin’s Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths. Questions and comments are highly encouraged; however, please note that text lingo is inappropriate for this site. Please be careful to use standard conventions when posting here.

I look forward to the discussion that will take place on this site this summer!

This link is for student postings relating to Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Questions and comments are highly encouraged; however, please note that text lingo is inappropriate for this site. Please be careful to use standard conventions when posting here.

I look forward to the discussions that will take place on this page this summer!

* In case, you are wondering about the directions: the “activities” are on page 265. There are only two questions and some “ground rules.” Pay attention to ground rule number four. I want to see what you can do!

The man sighed hugely.
- E. Annie Proulx, The Shipping News

•Discuss: –What does it mean to sigh hugely? –How would the meaning of the sentence change if we re-wrote it as: •The man sighed loudly.

•Apply: –Fill in the blanks with an adverb: •The man coughed ___.

–Your adverb should make the cough express an attitude. For example, the cough could express contempt, desperation, or propriety. Do not state the attitude. Instead, let the adverb imply it.

An aged man is but a paltry thing
A tattered coat upon a stick…
- W.B. Yeats, “Sailing to Byzantium”

•Discuss: –What picture is created by the use of the word tattered? –By understanding the connotation of the word tattered, what do we understand about the persona’s attitude toward an aged man?

•Apply: –List three adjectives that can be used to describe a pair of shoes. Each adjective should connote a different feeling about the shoes. Discuss your list with a partner.

This link is for student postings relating to Thomas C. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor. Questions and comments are highly encouraged; however, please note that I am not fond of “text lingo” (outside of actual text messages, that is). Students, please be careful to use standard conventions when posting here.

I look forward to the discussions that will take place on this site this summer!

**The “activities” are on page 265. There are only two questions and some “ground rules.” Pay attention to ground rule number 4. I want to see what you can do!**

This link is for student postings relating to Bernard Evslin’s Heroes, Gods, and Monsters of the Greek Myths. Questions and comments are highly encouraged; however, please note that I am not fond of “text lingo” (outside of actual text messages, that is). Students, please be careful to use standard conventions when posting here.

I look forward to the discussions that will take place on this site this summer!

This link is for student postings relating to any of the student choice of novels OR dramas. Questions and comments are highly encouraged; however, please note that I am not fond of “text lingo” (outside of actual text messages, that is). Students, please be careful to use standard conventions when posting here.

Because you may be reading different works, please indicate the title of the work in your post.

I look forward to the discussions that will take place on this site this summer!

I”m not even sure that I can express how excited I am for this particular summer vacation. It’s not that I have amazing things planned to fill my time. I think I’m just very excited to have finished another year of teaching. This past year has been frenetic (one of my new favorite words) with its roller-coaster like highs and lows. I have learned (or been reminded of) a couple of important lessons from my work and the relationships that accompany it:

1) My success is determined upon how Biblically I respond to circumstances around me, not how well my students do in English class. Conversely, a student’s success is not necessarily determined by a grade that he earns.

2) Another’s opinion of me is just that: his opinion. He is entitled to it, but I will should not allow myself to be who another thinks I am (both positive and negative ideas).

3) A soft answer really does turn away wrath.

So I officially (and finally) just posted my last grades for the first semester of the 2009-2010 school year (*big sigh*). Of course, I didn’t think ahead and had my AP literature students write four essays in one week. It seemed like such a good idea at the time: give the students two last practice essays before their final exam, which included two more essays. But I forget so easily how long it takes me to grade one set. I usually take AT LEAST one hour. And today I was not in a grading mood. Am I ever in a grading mood? What does a “grading mood” look like anyways? “Oh yay for me! I get to grade seventy seventh grade test essays!” (head slams forward on my desk) OR “Oh yay! I didn’t think ahead and now I have fifty AP essays to grade in two days! (eyes roll back into my head as I begin to slip into an oblivion of bad dreams where the titles of poems are underlined and the titles of novels are in quotation marks, absolutely no textual evidence is mentioned to support an idea, and first and second person pronouns are slapped carelessly on the paper). Boo.

I was getting really discouraged because the year is half way over, and some of my students are making the same mistakes they made at the beginning of the year…so I start doubting my abilities as a teacher. I understand that this is my first year and that this is the first year the course is offered at the school, but I just don’t like that excuse to NOT get top scores out of my students. I expect top scores, I push for top scores, I feel like I give tips and techniques to earn top scores. But there are so many other factors to a student’s score. They are nervous because this test is called a “final.” They had a bad morning. They are tired because they stayed up late studying for a different class. Their mom finally checked Edline and didn’t like what she saw and went crazy on the way to school. They didn’t eat breakfast. blah, blah, blah…excuses.

So I have come to the realization that I need to be more proactive in teaching the traits of in-depth analysis, logical argumentation, and the effective use of strong textual evidence. I need to get past my feelings of inadequacies and inferiority so that I can TEACH, not just correct and grade. This is my goal for the second semester, especially the thirteen weeks before the exam. I’m scared because this class is asking a lot of me. Not more than I am willing to give for the success of my students, but maybe just a little bit more than I have time for. I would love to dedicate hours to study and prepare and plan and organize, but the sad fact is that I feel I am already stretched to the maximum with the other classes. I’m hoping that the extra grader and the student teacher will help lighten my load; although I am a bit skeptical: managing others can be more difficult than doing everything myself. I am relying on God’s Word which promises “rest to my soul” if I will “learn of [Jesus].” Such a great promise is mine for the taking!