Son of Mars
07-31-2007, 01:53 PM
It was late last night when I stumbled into this site. I’d been looking for a searchable Shakespeare site, then a Bible site, skeptical there could be such a place where one could search both at once. Then this appeared. And Marlowe. And Keats. What the…Dickens?
And he saw that it was good. Moreso when there emerged a forum in which teachers could pass notes.
In 30 days the new school year begins and at that time I launch into my teaching career. The practicum went well: senior creative writing (can we go outside?) and freshman Romeo and Juliet (choler?). But, as I should have anticipated, I’m slated now to teach sophomores and juniors.
Without delving into all that has been prepared this summer so far, I see no harm in posting my tentative reading lists so colleagues might reply with themes and lessons that worked well in their own classrooms.
Sophomore [Belief/Persuasion]:
Nickel & Dimed (summer reading)
Antigone
Bible (OT, NT, allusion, archetype, influence…)
Merchant of Venice
Persuasive Speech
Things Fall Apart
1984
Junior [American Dream/Self/Society]:
Passing (summer reading)
Huck Finn
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Great Gatsby
Macbeth
Death of a Salesman
Things They Carried
Slaughterhouse 5
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Over the course of my practicum, I was forced to come to terms with the ambiguity of the phrase “teaching (title).” To teach a book. “I’m teaching Scarlet Letter,” “I would love to teach Moby Dick,” “You can’t teach Ulysses to freshman,” and so on. What does it mean, I wondered. The students read it. Then what? Well, depending upon the standards of your district, that’s largely up to the teacher. As a student, it had never occurred to me. These lessons, these essays, these activities and projects, these prompts…the teacher makes up that stuff. Oh, we share our lesson plans, we plunder the websites, tweak and personalize, but mostly we’re expected to write our own, to resolve for ourselves what works best. And with great power comes great responsibility. Daunting, to be sure, riveting.
Though the file cabinet is already becoming crowded, I remain open to suggestion.
And he saw that it was good. Moreso when there emerged a forum in which teachers could pass notes.
In 30 days the new school year begins and at that time I launch into my teaching career. The practicum went well: senior creative writing (can we go outside?) and freshman Romeo and Juliet (choler?). But, as I should have anticipated, I’m slated now to teach sophomores and juniors.
Without delving into all that has been prepared this summer so far, I see no harm in posting my tentative reading lists so colleagues might reply with themes and lessons that worked well in their own classrooms.
Sophomore [Belief/Persuasion]:
Nickel & Dimed (summer reading)
Antigone
Bible (OT, NT, allusion, archetype, influence…)
Merchant of Venice
Persuasive Speech
Things Fall Apart
1984
Junior [American Dream/Self/Society]:
Passing (summer reading)
Huck Finn
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Great Gatsby
Macbeth
Death of a Salesman
Things They Carried
Slaughterhouse 5
One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest
Over the course of my practicum, I was forced to come to terms with the ambiguity of the phrase “teaching (title).” To teach a book. “I’m teaching Scarlet Letter,” “I would love to teach Moby Dick,” “You can’t teach Ulysses to freshman,” and so on. What does it mean, I wondered. The students read it. Then what? Well, depending upon the standards of your district, that’s largely up to the teacher. As a student, it had never occurred to me. These lessons, these essays, these activities and projects, these prompts…the teacher makes up that stuff. Oh, we share our lesson plans, we plunder the websites, tweak and personalize, but mostly we’re expected to write our own, to resolve for ourselves what works best. And with great power comes great responsibility. Daunting, to be sure, riveting.
Though the file cabinet is already becoming crowded, I remain open to suggestion.