Spring Break

Well, it's over. A much-needed and too-short break, and I'm back to it for my final two weeks. (Also, I got a whole lot of nothing done during the break so I'm STILL over two weeks behind on paperwork and didn't even open up my marking folders.) Had a really great break, though; reconnected with an old friend for some stimulating conversation, coffee, and cinema (oh, alliteration, why must you fail me now?). Good times were had by all.

And now, as promised, a real blurb about teaching:

I've been teaching grade 9, 10, and 11 English at High Level Public School. I just finished with the grade nines, much to my dismay; I never thought I'd like teaching in a junior high setting, but those kids have been amazing. While I was working with them, we had an ongoing "game" in which they attempted to stump me on vocabulary words. It was a really fun time, and although they thought that they had found an ingenious new way to waste class time, they were actually learning new and valuable things. HA! I win again!

I got to do a poetry unit with my Grade 10's, and am now working on wrapping up a novel study of John Wyndham's The Chrysalids. I've loved that book ever since the 4th grade, and I was thrilled to get to teach it. We're almost done the novel, and I'm planning something really fun as the final project; here's hoping that the kids agree with me on the inherent fun-ness of doing something that ISN'T an essay. I'll let you know how that goes.

Finally, I just finished Macbeth with my Grade 11 class, and am now working on the multimedia unit. This is probably the most exciting unit that I get to teach. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love Shakespeare, but teaching it to a high-school class is a bit akin to pulling teeth. Unanesthetized. The enthusiasm is there, but the language, not so much. The multimedia unit, however, is when I have the opportunity to teach my students the intricacies of the advertising world; I get to open their eyes to the constructivist aspects of media, and how everything they see or hear in books, on television, on the radio, in magazines, EVERYWHERE, is designed with the ultimate goal of getting their attention. Nothing in media happens by accident; the entire world as these kids know it has been carefully sculpted in order to make them spend money. Sure, it's a huge disillusionment, and not all of them will really get it, but it's also a significant step towards those critical thinking skills that the people who came up with the English Language Arts Program of Study tout so highly.

Anyways, that's the update. I'll be home again towards the end of the month, and after some rest and recuperation should be back to a reasonable posting date. Wish me luck - one more course to go, and I will have (finally) completed my second degree.