Monday

Back to school. I am now considering having Russ continue with the book after I'm gone. The kids have 6 more weeks of class. I imagine that many teachers have felt this way about novels read in class–stuck. The no homework policy is killing me, which is odd because I've always been a really avid supporter of not having homework. I don't really want them to have homework, I just want them to read on their own. Tomorrow.

Last week was a tough one.

The book that I'm using for period 5 seems to be hit or miss with the students. About half of them are interested and involved. The other half is whatever about it. They don't contribute. I'm not sure if they care. I'd really love to have more activities in between readings to explore the themes in the novel, but I really just don't have the time. I feel really bad that I picked such a long novel now. I'm having a hard time figuring out where to paraphrase because everything in the book seems important to hear. I need to cut some of it out. I need to involve the students more and have them take responsibility for the learning. I don't have the time.

I knew, from talking to Russ, that novels are hard to do because of the attendance rate and the number of students who come to class tardy. I don't think that I would choose such a long novel again.

I'm having different problems with my period 1 class. I made an executive decision to include them in the production of the yearbook. Some of them are doing great. Others don't care. I have two new students and that is making it difficult too. The work they're doing is mostly individual. Each student or pair of students has a page to do. Russ has been the class more because Mrs. Austin is back, and that has really helped with this class. I'm not the authority figure that these students seem to need.

I have spent many hours thinking about my classes, the school, and how I would fit in it. I am always torn between supporting the student and supporting the education. This school is lax, but I have become too lax as well. These students need structure and I'm not providing it.

I'm not sure if I would have been able to go through this experience without Russ. I don't think I've ever met a better guy. He's there whenever I need to talk to him. I think about the first time I met him, and I never would have predicted how things turned out. He really does make me feel like I could be a good teacher.

Ugh, these kids do not like writing. We've been working on persuasive essays and it's not going so well. Today was a little better. We decided to give the essays two more days. I gave them a sneak peak of the novel we'll start on Wednesday, and it seemed to help motivate them.

I did have a student tell me that she can't stop thinking about the logos, ethos and pathos though. That it cool. She started noticing the different ways people have been trying to convince to do stuff. Funny.

While I was working this past weekend, I thought about how Franklin should have its own yearbook, considering that the EL yearbook is about $75. I brought it up during Monday morning meeting, and now we're making a yearbook. Should be interesting. I have a feeling that it will only get more complicated in the coming days though. Mr. Barlow says that he thinks it should become an annual thing for Franklin. He says it would be a great idea to incorporate it into future curriculum. As in, make it a mandatory part of English class. Kind of like a yearbook club. I have been thinking about clubs too. It's really too bad that there aren't any clubs. I know this might seem weird, but I'd really like to start a GSA or Alliance. There are enough gay kids there, I think it would help them. I loved my high school GSA.