December foliage

Another beautiful Sunday, clear blue skies and bright foliage. The colors have been more vivid than usual this year and more long-lasting. It's mild outside, with a slight breeze blowing crackled red leaves to the ground. I've got vacation fever, and have been having a hard time keeping myself focused on grading the last few research papers---the ones which had no documentation and were promptly returned to the students with instructions to DO THE DOCUMENTATION and re-submit. I've also got to plan activities to fill up 8 more days, at a time when the students have already had their state End-of-Course-Test, which took place on two consecutive days last week. They still have a final exam in 8 days. But should I spoon feed them the main points of the literature we've already covered? I know some students haven't read the works well, or at all. I don't want to enable their laziness. Thank goodness, the final exam HAS to be multiple choice, with scantrons, because the final grades are due in the same day. I'd decided that I wanted to do it that way this time anyway. When I gave the 9 weeks' test, I used open-ended and short answer questions, even an essay, in my quest to follow good pedagogy. But it took me forever to grade them. The teacher who shares the classroom with me gave hers a multiple choice scantron and had them done within hours.




Last night we went to the faculty Christmas party at someone's house. I've gotten to know a woman from the school who must be a good thirty years younger than I am. She is currently a Special Ed teacher but hates it and wants to become a regular English teacher. She is taking the appropriate exam in January. Next semester, she's going to be in my classroom for two out of three periods as the SPED support. Apparently, she went out of her way to re-arrange some student schedules to be in the class with me, and I've expressd enthusiasm that she will be, because I love having another adult in the room. With my current SPED teacher, she is the second pair of eyes that spots students throwing spitballs. She hands out papers. She offers additional thoughts about the lesson.

Back to the other woman who'll be with me next semester. Something she said last night didn't register at first, but when I awoke this morning in my twilight state---which often offers clarity that we don't have when fully awake---I couldn't shake a slightly uncomfortable feeling about a conversation we had at the party. She said that she had asked my department chair if she could get a spot as a regular English teacher, preferrably seniors, if she passes the exam, and switch out of SPED. The chair told her that the teacher who currently teaches seniors is retiring at the end of the year, and she, the chair, wasn't sure if I would want to teach seniors next year rather than ninth graders. Then she told the Chair that she would really like to teach seniors.

This morning, with a ripple of paranoia, it occurred to me that perhaps she is befriending me and going out of her way to work in my classes so that somehow she can manipulate me into deferring to her career preferences, should that ever become an issue, such as agreeing "Oh, that's okay, you can have the seniors, I'll stick with ninth grade." "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer," as the old saying goes. However, it's the principal, the AP's and the Chair who decide who'll teach what. It's not my choice, or hers, to make, as far as I know. It's just that I dislike the thought of being played in any way if that's what's going on. Why am I so paranoid? I usually am not.


Frankly, I hadn't given any thought to whether I have a preference for a grade to teach---my feeling has always been that whatever assignment they give me, I'll cheerfully do my best, so happy am I to be at that school. The ninth graders are a handful. I can see the vast gulf between their childish ways and the maturity of the 10th graders who are taught in my classroom by the other teacher during my planning period. I'm not sure there is any advantage to teaching seniors, based on my experience at the previous school. In the last few months before graduation, many had become jaded, insolent and entitled. They had been measured for their caps and gowns, the graduation date was set; why finish the Senior Project? Maybe the seniors at Richmond Hill would be, ahem, different.



A few days ago, I took a cutting from the lemon tree, which was trimmed last week, and planted it the middle of the yard, hoping that maybe it will take root and grow.




It was just too beautiful to trash. Liberto said transplanted branches will never grow, but it's a been almost a week, and this one looks healthy. What remains of the lemon tree is still tall and regal, full of lemons.


I took a picture of myself holding one of the lemons, just to demonstrate how large they are. The ones in the store look puny by comparison.






I was disillusioned to learn on Meet the Press this morning that Obama smokes. I thought this younger generation knew better. Hypocritical as it is, I, the ex-smoker, disapprove of smoking and felt disappointed in him for that. And what's this about Caroline Kennedy's becoming a Senator from New York? She may be a nice enough person and have that magic name, but based on what credentials and experience would she be the best qualified person for Hillary's seat? While the media is in a tizzy about the Camelot-reincarnation possibilities, I'm not impressed by big names as the sole credential for a position of responsibility. But it's a Media Dream, I suppose.


Now, it's time to plan my week. One activity I did last year that the students loved was to create crossword puzzles on crosswordpuzzlemaker with clues that referred to them: "He did his research paper on MapleStory" or "She sketches anime in class when she should be reading" with blank boxes of the appropriate length.


On Thursday, I borrowed a Flip video from the Media Center (note to self: MUST GET MY OWN SOON!)to create a fun documentary "Dr. Agnew's rules of what NOT to do in class." This will be shown to my new 9th grade class in January. I've written 22 little scenarios of naughty student behavior. Now I'm having students act them out on a volunteer basis, exaggeratedly, to make the misbehavior almost funny. The FLIP has built-in software to create a movie with soundtrack instantaneously, so I've been having oodles of fun playing with that and experimenting with different styles and soundtracks(when I should be grading papers). I plan to add many more scenes, of course---these are just the first seven or eight---and I'm going to add whatchucallit, visual title pages before each one, with statements such as "Rule No. 1: Avoid the Grand Entrance" or "Rule No. 2: Do not begin singing at inappropriate times" or "Rule No. 3, No Hair Grooming in Class." Yeah, doing this is a teeny bit more fun than grading. Below is a video.