The First Month

The first month of school, with all its frantic confusion, is over. Everything and everyone is shaking down into a manageable routine. I've had nine parents visit my classroom--in part, I suspect, to see if I really do have the devil horns and tail their children led them to expect. "Mrs. Donelly is a monster! We read a half-page story and the quiz on it was a whole page--front and back!"

Can we blame the kids? Fill in the blank and multiple choice questions can't prepare students for a curriculum based on analysis, evaluation, and creation--whether the core subject is social studies, math, science, or English.

Some of the kids are mad that they can't make A's without working or thinking.

But some of my students have begun to dig in their heels.
And some of them are rising to the challenge.
They like it better this way,
because some are discovering that they have fine and clever minds.

Fighting for Breath

***ALL NAMES HAVE BEEN CHANGED TO PROTECT PRIVACY***

http://www.noattacks.org/

We're beginning modern Brit Lit, and I'm leading a discussion on the changing conception of war that began with the Civil War and crystallized with WWI. Why this seachange? Well, journalism, communications, and more efficient weapons. Film and machine guns. They got it, and ...

Lindsey spoke up and said, "Mrs. D?"
"Yes?"
"Aleeyah can't breathe."

I experience that nanosecond of "Huh?" the universe allows you when the unexpected happens and then--we've all been there--I shift into overdrive and suddenly I'm by Aleeyah's side and she's crying and wheezing and her limbs are heavy and--

"Lindsey? Where's her inhaler?"
"She says she doesn't have it." damndamndamndamndamn and then--we've all been there--I realize multiple things simultaneously.

(1) The nurse is out today, all my seniors have cell phones, and Jeremy is closest to the window. "Jeremy, call 911."
(2) Lindsey is Aleeyah's best friend, a principal needs to know, Lindsey won't stop and chat. "Lindsey, go get Ms. Rembert."
(3) Chuck is Aleeyah's ex-boyfriend, they're still good friends, he probably knows how to contact her folks. "Chuck, call her daddy."

... and I cradle Aleeyah and keep her head up and hear snatches of Jeremy in the background getting impatient but trying to keep his temper with the 911 operator, "... seventeen ... don't know ... No, I can't ask her! She can't even breathe, how can she talk!?"

... and I tell Aleeyah how much I love her and get her to focus on me and I see the fear in Lindsey's eyes, "Ms. Rembert's not here, Mrs. D! I don't want to leave Aleeyah again." "It's okay, baby, it can wait."

And then Aleeyah's sister came. Chuck got her from her classroom while on the phone with her daddy, and she and Lindsey helped Jeremy answer questions--and I realize that Chuck had known the best thing to do without my telling him.

... and I notice all my darling, my dearest, my infinitely precious seniors standing around, wanting to help, knowing there's nothing they can do because we can't breathe for someone we care about ...



And then Lindsey is by Aleeyah's side saying, "Stop panicking. You'll make it worse. It's gonna be okay."--and I realize that Lindsey knows the best thing to say without my telling her.

... and Aleeyah begins to shake and tremor and we wait for the paramedics to arrive ...

And then the paramedics came to the door at the end of our wing, fifteen steps away, NOT the front door of the school which is about a quarter mile away--and I realize that Jeremy had known the best directions to give without my telling him.

And as far as I'm concerned, Jeremy, Lindsey, and Chuck graduate RIGHT NOW because they have passed a test I cannot conceive of putting them through. With their friend's life on the line, they knew else what to do, and did it.

And because they did it, Aleeyah breathes.



http://www.noattacks.org/

Wordsworth's Daffodils

How do we teach Wordsworth's daffodils?

I live in the South Carolina low country so I've got azaleas to fall back on--even our teenagers understand the unexpected beauty of these nondescript shrubs that burst into riotous drapes of pink flames for one month ... and then fade into the green background.

But it's not--forgive me, ye members of the Canon!--the daffodils that matter. You have to update the concept. Wordsworth had found his happy place. And he returned to it again and again and again.

I tell mystudents about my happy place. It involves Antonio Banderas, a long low chaise-longue, drinks served in coconuts with paper umbrellas, and the complete works of Tolkien. (He's reading them out loud to me in that voice of his--why, what did you think I meant?)

But still, but still, isn't there something else we can do to make Wordsworth more accessible? Why yes, there is! Just go to this website http://www.golakes.co.uk/wordsworthrap/ to see and hear Wordsworth backed by mad beats.

Thanks to Jim for letting us know about this!

Pride (In the Name of Love)

Bono or no Bono, my freshmen make me enormously proud. Why?

Because they voted to work on their MEAN HORRIBLE NASTY POETRY RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS PAPER over Spring Break.

Because they are sending me highlighted drafts and asking me specific, intelligent questions.

Because now they can competently read, analyze, evaluate, and write about the work of a foreign poet--independently!

Because they are beginning to realize just how much their skills have matured since that first quiz--remember "Goha"?

You've come a long way, darlings. :)

Plus One Makes Twe--no, Thirteen

You should probably add Elie Wiesel's Night to the list ... and The Scarlet Letter ...

Six Plays to Read in High School (if you don't want to sound like an idiot in college)

These are in no particular order ...

Romeo and Juliet, William Shakespeare
The Miracle Worker, William Gibson
A Midsummer Night's Dream, William Shakespeare
Oedipus Rex or Antigone, Sophocles
Macbeth, William Shakespeare
The Crucible or Death of a Salesmen, Arthur Miller

I suppose many will think I should add Shakespeare's Julius Caesar--tough--not happening.

11 Books to Read before Leaving High School (If you don't want to sound like an idiot in college)

These are in no particular order ...

Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Anthem, Ayn Rand
Of Mice and Men, John Steinback
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston
The House on Mango Street, Sandra Cisneros
The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Color Purple, Alice Walker
Crime and Punishment, Fyodor Dostoevsky
A Room with a View, E. M. Forster
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain

Why should we read these?

Because they're stunning books!

Ha! we've heard that before. What makes them so great?

What makes them so great? The usual suspects ... readability, imagination, suspense, tension, drama, romance, reality, fantasy, a certain stylistic beauty of language that makes me bite my lip in envy, a gift for characterization that Shakespeare would admire, a creativity of detail and plot that, oh hell--that if I could match, I'd be on the list instead of writing the list. Try them. If you don't like them, find me something better. That's my challenge to you.

Rhyme for My Son

Teach me patience
Teach me kindness
Teach me to see

through my blindness

Teach me my strength
Teach me my joy
You are my teacher, darling boy

Teaching Shakespeare

Get out of his way. Really. Shakespeare wouldn't be SHAKESPEARE if he needed us to sell him.

I used to think it was my job to convince my students that they should love Shakespeare before they read one line of his work. I was wrong.

By all means, prep your students with background information (young men played the female roles). Give them a basic working vocabulary ('thee' = objective 'you', not 'the'). Have them discover their own understanding of the difference between a tragedy (lovers kept apart by death) and a comedy (lovers end up married).

Then, just let them read, listen to, and see the sonnets and plays.

Three pieces of advice ...

Lead your students to the realization that Shakespeare's characters deal with universal human conflicts--even those teenagers experience! Are you mad that your Dad or Mom remarried too quickly? Ever had a friend 'stab you in the back'? Do you suspect your boyfriend or girlfriend of cheating? Ever felt like you were going crazy? Shakespeare's characters cope with these situations and more.

Don't hide Shakespeare's low sense of humor. Come on--a guy named 'Bottom' gets turned into an 'ass'? Very funny, William. A young man brags--lies!--about his 'pump' being 'well-flowered'? Yes, dears. That means what you think it means. But you know what? Your students will get past these silly--and it's okay to be silly!--visual and verbal puns more quickly than you anticipate.

Help them appreciate the sheer beauty of some of his language. Who else but Shakespeare combines the silly with the sublime so seamlessly? All teachers have favorite passages from the plays they teach--celebrate them, even if they've never been applauded by Harold Bloom--and let your students find their own.

My students began to enjoy Shakespeare much more when I finally shut up and let him do the talking. I'm embarrassed to admit how long it took me to figure that out. :)