My Lit Block Roxs!

Well, not really, but it is a provocative title, isn't it?

I'm inspired daily by the conversations I overhear from my students. I have a group of boys this year - 21 to be precise - that daily challenge me. They crave structure and freedom - and thrive or rebel within this balance.

The other day, I had to intervene in one particularly intense conversation - before it escalated into a full-blown argument. These two boys were arguing about a writing piece they were collaborating on. They couldn't agree on the voice. One insisted that since it was a formal, professional report, the word "I" didn't belong in it. The other argued that since they were writing as a professional engineer, giving an environmental assessment, they could use the word "I" since this person was giving the report.

There are instances daily where I'm re-affirmed that boys can learn in a literacy environment. This environment needs to make sense to them. It is a tough balance to maintain. I am known for giving my students a lot of freedoms and independence. We create daily, because I give them the space to do so. There are high expectations within our space, and all can achieve these.

As the year winds down - and as EQAO looms in my very near future - I'm amazed by how far we've come. On paper, my class is "That Class". We shouldn't be successful, yet we are. I believe it is because we have the space to create.

M.

Like a ship into the night...

So I'm trying to get an article published in a professional teaching journal. I could go on minimizing this (it's just a small yearly journal, teacher reviewed, small publication, etc.) but I won't. My principal, who read the draft before I sent it, told me this: "You don't give yourself enough credit." So here goes: it is a big deal!

I find it a big deal, because I chose to write about something very personal - my teaching. I've always maintained that teaching is incredibly personal. I'm reminded of the scene in Julia Roberts' movie Eric Brokovich, where she is freaking out at her boss. She comes back after being sick and finds new lawyers taking over the case. Her boss (played by Albert Finney) tells her "Its not personal", prompting Erin to yell:

NOT PERSONAL! That is my WORK, my SWEAT, and MY TIME AWAY FROM MY KIDS! IF THAT IS NOT PERSONAL, I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS!

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0195685/quotes?qt=qt0266026

I feel that way about teaching all the time. Here, I have taken this personal - made it more personal by writing about it - then sent it off into the unknown. I'm now in the limbo period of waiting to hear back - will they like it? Will they like me? Did I do good?

Waiting can be brutal...

Now I'm searching for a personal connection to my teaching... as is often the case - perhaps I need to mark things more quickly? Is the waiting as excrutiating for the kids as it is for me?

Like a ship into the night, my work has been sent off. And now I wait.

M.

I've been writing...

I have stepped away from the blog-o-sphere for a few days as I was in a cocoon of report cards, and a pleasant distraction of writing. Yes, I've said it. I'm writing an article. I hope to get it published, as I have an insider at the journal... and I have something to say! Perhaps I should change the order of that last statement.

This isn't an apology. It is merely an observation. I am working later than usual, for me, on a Sunday night. Mondays are quite busy - never mind the typical rush of starting off the work-week, but a new unit begins in earnest tomorrow - and I have snowboarding club after school. This makes for a very long day. Plus I have some IEPs to finish, as well as mark one more assignment for the Reader's Workshop to successfully begin this week. But I found myself called back to the blogging world. One quick click and I'm inspired again!

I have enough self control to not run with my next idea tomorrow - but not enough self control to close the computer and not write. I needed to write tonight - even though I've been writing all day.

It is a funny thing, this creating and sharing. Once you start, you just have to keep going.

M.