Shannanigan
Seeker of Knowledge

So, as much as I was sure that I wouldn't be teaching again any time soon, I am a pushover. When the school called me begging me back, I gave in and returned, with a few conditions:

-I refuse to work full time.
-I will not turn in lesson plans for teaching yearbook.
-I only teach 12th grade English (which I already have lesson plans for).

I like the set up. I'm technically a "substitute" teacher who isn't on a salary...so if the administration

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Where to start?

I've missed LitNet badly...but I've been going through a lot.

I'm in Puerto Rico, and had started a Master's program in English Literature, but am no longer planning on sticking with the program. I've discovered just how much growing I have yet to do, and have realized that a lot of that growing needs to be done by spending time with my family, of which I have none here in PR.

So, it's back home for me.

I also realize that

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If there is one thing that teaching English literature did for me which studying it in high school and college did not, it was to give me a greater appreciation for learning about the author, time period, location, and other background material regarding a text before reading it.

I always hated the "Build Background" activities we had to do in high school before actually getting to the fun part of reading a work. In college, I forcefully avoided writing literature analyses

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/barbar...m_b_47287.html

College can be the most amazingly enlightening experience of a lifetime. I loved almost every minute of it, from St. Augustine to organic chemistry, from Chaucer to electricity and magnetism. But we need a distinguished blue ribbon commission to investigate its role as a toll booth on the road to employment, and the obvious person to head up this commission is Marilee Jones.

I know;

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As a first-year teacher, I've had my days of uncertainty. This picked me up:

Why Do We Need Literature?

By the way, I've applied to a Master's program in English Literature at the University of Puerto Rico (simultaneous opportunity to improve my Spanish - yay!). Keep your fingers crossed for me!