Sunday, and I'm still printing out papers for class. I can hear the printer clunking away in the next room. I haven't mastered the technique I've observed in some teachers, of never carrying work home, which I presume also means never DOING any work at home. I'm behind despite working at home. How do they do it?
I give vocabulary quizzes every Monday, which means I have to make a quiz and print it, not to mention grade it. I also have to decide on the new set of words for next week. I make them write a lot in class, just a lot of short quick-writes, which means (I feel!) that I should respond to them with brief comments, or scan them to share with the rest of the class. They're working on a research paper, and I have to keep track of how many secondary sources they've turned in so far. I also decided to get them involved in the Great American Mail Race, a mega chain letter for students, coordinated by English teachers across the country. I made them write a letter on Friday, in response to the one that arrived from "Derick, from Idaho", also to be sent to several unknown 9th graders from the high schools of their choice anywhere in the country. They're reading To Kill a Mockingbird, so I offer guiding questions, discussion questions, and other little videos and slide shows to help make it interesting. For instance, I made a little slide show on rabies, to go with the scene where Atticus shoots a rabid dog. I showed them some United Streaming videos documenting the Jim Crow era in the South, as well as the Depression, both of which emphasize the setting of the story. I found a recent photo of Harper Lee, as well as an internet article about Oprah's overtures to Ms. Lee to write a piece for O magazine.
On Friday, for the first time this entire school year, an AP came to class, presumably to do the required observation. Mr. W., a very nice man, was an English teacher last year, and was "promoted" to AP---if you can call being an AP an upward step; in my opinion, it must be a descent into the 7th circle of Hell. I see him walking the halls all day long, looking wearier by the day. Last semester, I had a class containing three or four of the well-known hooligans. Mr. W. knows them all quite well! In the hallway one day, when I told him I'd written up "B" again, he sighed and said "Five percent of the students here cause 95% of the problems." Imagine my surprise in January(and I tried to hide the shock on my face)when "T", one of those troublemakers whom I'd written up at least 4 times last semester, walked brazenly into my second block class a week after it had started, transfer slip in hand, and said, almost contritely (but loudly, for the audience effect) "I'm going to pass your class this time!" This time around he only sleeps about once per week. I was telling Mr. W. about having "T" again, and how he continues to sleep; was there any point in writing him up for that? No, said Mr. T., he's just counting the days until he turns 16 and can drop out of school. I said, "But what if an evaluator comes in, and T is asleep?" He said, "But I'll be your evaluator, so it won't be a problem. I know T!"
Anyhow, Friday morning, Mr. W. appeared in the first block class at about 8:45, rather than the second block. He looked tired, and barely looked up from his clipboard, as he began to write on it. I was about halfway into an "Anticipation questionnaire" for the short story "The Most Dangerous Game," which is on the curriculum for this Unit, in addition to TKAM. As everyone knows, an Anticipation activity is one which is supposed to get the kids thinking about the themes in a work of literature that's about to be read. "The Most Dangerous Game" is a story about a rich man who hunts humans for sports because he had decided that only animals that can reason would offer enough challenge for a hunter. I had written down a list of "Agree or "Disagree" statements about humans and animals, such as "Animals have feelings" or "Humans are just as territorial as animals." We were halfway down the list of statements and having what I thought was a reasonably good discussion. No students were sleeping anyway. I suppose if fault could have been found, it would be in the fact that with each question, two or three students were trying to talk at once to answer them even though I'd say "Let's hear from Bubba, shhhh!" If I were an evaluator, I would see a lively discussion with 9th graders as a sign that they were interested and engaged although I know some probably feel that a perfect class consists of a teacher asking a question, one student raising his hand and speaking while the others listen quietly. . . then the next student raises her hand...
I've been wracking my brain trying to think of what flaws might have occurred during that 15-minute window. After the discussion, I distributed the list of guiding questions for the story and then said, "Okay, let's open our books to page 5. "D", would you like to begin reading?" We do read-alouds in my class, with the students taking turns. About that time, I saw Mr. W. slipping out the door. I hope it went okay. To tell you the truth, I don't know what I could have done any differently.
We've started watching American Idol again. I was so happy that Danny made the top three last week. Tatiana is extremely annoying. But she has a good voice. I wouldn't have been surprised if she stayed, but America must find her annoying too, because she didn't make the top 3. Paul is very excited about the new season. American Idol, apparently, is the most thrilling obsession he's ever had.
Liberto had his second epidural on Wednesday and came home with a smile on his face. I hear the doctor who administers these shoots is beautiful, young, and rich, so I'm not sure how much that had to do with it. He claims it's because the pain has subsided. Shawn continues to work at A.C. Moore, and has taken up the hobby of movie making. He made a cool film this afternoon of himself using his sword to slice lemons mid-air.
Pete continues to do surprisingly well. I'm convinced now that the vet was wrong and he doesn't have bladder cancer. This morning, Paul and I walked him to the docks, and he was happy and energetic.
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