First days being back in the saddle - #28 days

I am suffering from a slight case of writers block, not because I don't have anything to say, but rather because I am bombarded with so many thoughts and am at a loss as to where I should begin.

It's Monday, a work day(since I work as a teacher part-time; my work as a mom, wife and student is fulltime;)) and was a bit of a rush getting to school after kindy drop off. Kindy opened its doors late which kind of set the tone for my whole day, feeling rushed and a little frazzled. On the bright side though, I felt that I made some progress with my grade 11's. They just stare at me (though this was only our second lesson together). I am determined to have them laughing at my jokes (which I find hilarious) and sharing my enthusiasm for English, in particular 'The Crucible'. Right at this moment they don't seem to care that this atrocity occurred, no one even offered up an argument when one young man said that he agreed that witches should be put to death. At least he is willing to have an opinion and voice it. My mission: to have them all feel comfortable to share and all desperate to learn. Yes!
This same young man was the first one to offer to read as one of the characters for the play today - he chose to be a woman - I think he will be the first to appreciate my sense of humour. I can see he is going to be a real asset in helping me get the class enthusiastic about learning. Getting 2 people to offer to read was easy, the rest of the class were not so keen but eventually I had some volunteers and to their surprise the readers and rest of the class members enjoyed listening to their peers and seemed more invested in the play and what was going on.

I discovered two interesting facts today - one boy offered to read, he was in the first group of 4 to offer to read. When I met him for the first time last week, he gave me the impression that he was quiet and not into reading aloud (we did an activity last week and although he had a lot written down was not confident to share). This reminded me to not judge books by their covers. I just pegged as being a certain type and I don't pick on people who give me this impression until I know they trust me and feel more confident so I did feel kind of proud. Another young man in the class seemed a bit cautious to volunteer and his role was a few pages in, he even put on an accent which helped me feel that I am succeeding in creating a safe place.

My main goal though, is getting them excited and enthusiastic and hungry to learn.

My grade 10 English class are reading 'Tomorrow when the War began'. It is a fairly big class and I am not learning their names as fast as I would like to. They also seem on the cautious side with a few 'chatters'. Overall though they are a good bunch and work well. I am hoping to do an outside activity with them tomorrow. It works well in Peer Skills and so I have decided to adapt it to an actual lesson. I have acquired a piece of rope that I will shape in a 'U'. At one end of the U I will have the word 'agree', at the other 'disagree' and in the middle 'unsure'. I will then pose a series of questions relevant to the book and see where they choose to stand and why. I think a bit of activity and getting out of seats makes learning more fun and interesting, plus this will help make the events in the novel seem more relatable (well that is what I am hoping). If time permits I would like to see if by reading the text that if in a few weeks they will still have the same opinions.

This particular section is titled 'Heroes and Villains' so we have discussed several issues relating to superheroes, every day heroes and the same qualities can make you either a hero or a villain. As Peter Parker's uncle says 'with great power comes great responsibility!. Indeed and so we learn that power can be used for good or evil. Let us not forget every day heroes though and we have talked about this too with students mentioning parents, grandparents, soldiers and many more who are everyday heroes (And often not recognised for their deeds).

One thought  have had (apart from now dissecting and discussing the Spiderman quote above LOL) is to have the class decide on a cause to support. Not because I think it is an heroic act, but to also give them real life ideas and examples. It may not relate directly to the text but it certainly does help create lifelong learners and encourage a culture of paying it forward, of being kind and of looking outwards more than inwards. Giving is a gift to be cherished and encouraged.

On that note, my 28 minutes is up so hopefully I have more to share tomorrow about the Values continuum and a little about my history class as I see them tomorrow.

Be sure also to read @jdtrivers blog :) He is a bit more structured than me :)