I'm feeling sort of... proud.
I look around and see other teachers jumping into Genius Hour, 20% Time, Passion Projects. Again I think: I can do that? Should I try that? But here's the thing... if I'm being honest. I don't want to give up 20% of my instructional time on a project that might or might not be meaningful. How do I reconcile that use of time when there is so much to be done? A curriculum to cover. The ever-looming PARCC for which to prep. I just couldn't do it. It's not that I love the standardized tests that are rammed down the throats of our students and teachers. I do not. It's just that we live in a culture that values success. The kids don't want to take the test, but they DO want to perform well on it. Part of my job is to make sure that on that day (or days it seems), when they sit down at those rows and rows of computers, they feel prepared. They feel I did right by them. Preparing for a standardized test is not where writers are born. No child ever exclaimed, "I want to be a writer!" after cranking out a five-paragraph formulaic essay. What are we creating here? A society of test-takers. But where are the writers? Where are the writers born, if not in our classrooms. I recently had the pleasure of attending a workshop with Ralph Fletcher. The day's topic was using mentor texts in the writing classroom. If ever you find yourself with an opportunity to be in the presence of Ralph and soak up some of his wisdom and wit, I suggest you do so! On that day, Ralph kept circling back to the struggle between teaching writings and teaching test-taking. This is a struggle that has really shook me to the core of my writing-teacher soul. I returned to my classroom the next day filled with ideas, knowledge, and excitement. Then I read my lesson plan: Literary Analysis. Does. It. Get. More. Boring? No. So I made a decision. I decided that I have to be the one. The one that opens the door and lets the writers in. Enter Free Form Friday, or Write What You Love Wednesday, or whatever I end up calling it when a stroke a genius finally hits (because if it doesn't have a catchy name, what's the point, right). A few weeks in and we have a 20%-Geniusy-Passion-Project-Honest-to-Goodness-Writers-Workshop! Time each week for the writers to write, for the bloggers to blog, for the students to explore their interestes, follow their passions. And the beauty part, I can rest easy knowing this: It. Is. Meaningful. So what are we creating here? A writing class. A place where writers are born. And I'm proud.
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I'll admit it, I have blog envy. I've followed a lot of blogs. Mommy blogs. Teacher blogs. Exercise blogs. Cooking blogs. You name it. And I've thought, hey-I think I have something to say. I want to do that. Can I do that? So here it is… my shot at That.
I recently attended a workshop about bringing blogs into the classroom. As an English teacher, it’s sort of what we do. Except, I wasn’t. I always wanted to enter the blogosphere, but wasn’t sure I had anything much to add. And anyway, who would read it? But here's the thing: when it comes to setting expectations for and challenging my students, I have one rule. I can't ask them to do ANYTHING that I haven’t tried myself. Sometimes that means jumping in feet first with them on a new adventure. Oftentimes, it means leading them down a road I’ve been down. Enter the student blog. For their blogs to be meaningful, they have to be authentic. An interest blog where they explore what engages them outside of our classroom. So then must mine. Here's my attempt at going first. We talked, the kids and I, about what we want our blogs to be. Who is our audience? What is our focus? I still don't think I have those answers. Will this be about teaching the kids in the middle - the ones who enter as babies and leave as young adults? Will it be about life as a working mommy searching for balance? Or about being the daughter to parents who are getting older? I am at a place that can only be defined as The Middle. Middle child. Middle school teacher. Mid-career. Mid-life. Middle Class. I even live in Middletown, New Jersey. Being in the middle of it all is who I am. It's what defines me. Focus? Separating the layers of me? I can't do that. (In fact, I can barely focus on this post with my almost-four-year-old trying to explain why he filled a hole in the wall with all 20+ pieces from Connect4. Husband is (unsuccessfully) trying to fish them out with a tweezer and a kabob stick. Why is there a hole in the wall? More on that later. Back to what I was saying...) I teach the way I teach because I’m a mommy. I mommy the way I mommy because I’m a teacher… As for the rest: daughter, sister, friend, well, I’m sort of in the middle of it all. It all bleeds over and into. So I write it all. And here’s the thing about being in the middle… the view. You really do see it all. (Well, everything except those last few Connect4 pieces.) |
AuthorSuzanne Crowley: middle school English teacher, middle child, mid-career, mid-life. And in the middle of it all, mommy. Archives
July 2017
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