I’m curating a unit on poetry, protest, and persuasion, and here are some of the resources I’m stitching together:
This is a Google Site I’ve been quilting together and updating off and on:
https://sites.google.com/view/mrslovespoetrypage/homeStill have more to do, and will take suggestions.
Once upon a time I believed I possessed agency as an educator/teacher. Maybe I did, or perhaps it was just an illusion. And now I am wondering, with all my personality flaws and creative, meandering ways of planning instruction: should we still be teaching whole-class novels? And is there something “wrong” with me if I don’t think it’s a good idea? I want to foster lifelong learners, and it would be amazing if students read more, packed an ebook wherever they went as easily as their scrolling of Youtube videos. But folks, I think I’m tired of trying to convince cohorts of adolescents that reading is life: it’s like I have some secret key to joy and happiness that many of them just don’t want.
During the freshmen school year, our curriculum includes novels (well, technically one is a novella/allegory, and one is a play) and a dozen or so short stories. We also need to teach argumentative, poetry, and some person decided to put The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe in…March? No, ma’am. That is for October or December.
If you know me, which one do you think should be replaced? Well, of course, it’s TKAM. But that’s not completely why I am giving this some thought this morning.
Also, another aspect is I am passionate about what the creators of #DisruptTexts and Facing History have to share about novels; when I shared some of this with my honors students last year, a few complained bitterly that I didn’t allow them to come to the same conclusions or form their own. My attempt was to share literary critique, and I just opened myself up for harsh criticism. How DARE I share others’ opinions and analysis of To Kill a Mockingbird? Well, okay, this student was the only one, but she may have stirred up a rebellion. (When neurodivergent minds collide, it can be messy and painful.) But I stand by my sharing of others’ literary criticisms: my Black students did amazing work diving deeper into Calpurnia’s role, or lack of agency and voice, for example, and white and students of color found new dimensions to the work. But, in terms of TKAM: I know I can just provide excerpts and the gist, and paired better texts.
There are always, it seems, a handful of students, mostly girls, who read, read for enjoyment frequently, and seek book recommendations from me or the/a librarian. And I know why it’s girls: we’ve socialized them this way. But that may be a post for another time.
I lament the novel units, book pairings, choice novel sets, and a robust classroom library I used to create and share with students. (I still have this, but it’s collecting dust.) And, I’ve been doing some deep reflection on my ‘why’ these days, but moreover, the ‘what.’ Because the what is the why. What I want to teach are a combination of paired texts, multimodal and multi genre approaches, and to use only two longer texts per year, unless we get to replace TKAM with The Sum of Us by Heather McGhee. The rest should be choice, personally curated content and Burning Questions(TM). (Yeah, I am trademarking the snot out of that!)
So, what’s an ELA teacher to do? Well, this is going to take some focus and intention, two qualities that have been depleted due to grief. And it’s not like grief disappears; it shapeshifts, expressing itself in a manner that only it understands and controls. I am not unique or special in this, and this may seem contradictory but that is a relief. I can adhere and comply with the current curriculum, and release some of the rigidity and upholding of colonialism and white supremacy by continuing to offer a variety of texts that are windows, mirrors, and sliding doors (Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop) and also curtains (Dr. Deb Reese).
This is good. I feel better. I’ll move some of the pieces around, and work within the boundaries provided to create meaningful instruction. And if there are some readers who come from this, all the better.
I typed these up and then hit alpha: alpha status does not imply heart status. The truth is what makes me me, and my life precious to me, is the substance and amalgamation of my memories and experiences.
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2. Idea connection: Have students write a list of discussion topics. To help them get started, they need to have creative constraints:
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3. Idea connection: Understand social norms — how they harm or help
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4. Idea connection: things that keep being thought of as ‘true’ but are not.
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5. Idea connection: Denotation and Connotation — *pins to the bulletin board
An ELA teacher asked about our thoughts (other ELA teachers) and their thoughts about students using sites like SparkNotes, etc. One teacher said students who use these sites are, in her words, “lame” and “lazy.”
I’m immediately transported back to 1979, 1980, when I was assigned Romeo and Juliet, and immediately drove to the local bookstore to pick up a copy of Cliffs Notes. I think I also ended up buying some for Oliver Twist, too. And what those study guides provided me was invaluable: I could understand amazing stories with just a little support or scaffolding, an access point. Now, remember, this was ‘back in the day’ when a high school student was assigned a text from the dusty canon, and we were expected to 1. read it, 2. understand it with possibly a teacher lecture, and 3. write essays, by hand, about it. Or take worksheet quizzes. I wasn’t taught anything about annotating or Socratic Seminars, didn’t have the internet or search engines, and wasn’t told to go to the library to read other analyses of these vintage works of literature. One reason East of Eden by John Steinbeck is one of my favorite books is that I read it on my own, “for fun,” and understood the thematic messages in high school. That was a success for me. And it came about with help.
And again: we weren’t allowed to talk in class.
I will never truly understand the archetypal English teacher, one with a degree in English Literature and who knows all the ‘isms’ and movements along the linear path of Western works. Maybe it’s their own curse of knowledge, that their education centered and explored the themes, symbols, and motifs of predominately men’s perspectives on the big questions of life.
But I refuse to feel stupid or less than because not only did I use those resources to help me in high school, and I help students use them now, in tactical and specific ways. And yes, I do sometimes feel underwater when it comes to the deluge of misinformation, disinformation, and algorithmic atrocities that come up in shallow searches. Students can copy/paste with lightning speed but never be struck by knowledge, or any measure of “eureka!” The art in the language arts means looking at the tools, shiny or rusted, and allowing students to stumble. I try to include the ‘why’ with every lesson and help them make connections; at this point in the year, the scaffolds are being dismantled, and they need to do more of this independently.
And SparkNotes is awesome.
My tactics include a multimodal approach:
At this point in the year, it’s the time to regroup and reassess. We’ll go to the end of the semester (January 25) with a novel unit and then start fresh again for the second semester. My students will be allowed to self-assess their strengths and growth areas. And maybe, like me, they’ll read something that stretches their abilities all on ‘their own’ and know that the resources are there to bolster, not replace their brilliance.
In real-time, I watched the news on January 6, 2021, and admittedly witnessed the horror unfolding as the outgoing president worked with his followers to overthrow our government.
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We have had one really cool thing in our nation: the peaceful transfer of power until he was in office. My spouse and I were talking about the materials I was putting together, and he said some powerful words, so of course, like any good teacher, I made him say it again on camera:
Before this thread by @lutzfernadez, I was working on crafting teaching materials, and she provided some further ideas:
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Here is my curated list of questions and materials. I’m not sure how I’ll use it, but it will pair with our reading of Animal Farm by George Orwell.
I’m going to go organize my kitchen right now. I’ll put on some funny show or tavern music. I’ve said for years what we’re going through is The Bird Box by Josh Malerman (along with all the other dystopian works). It’s a monster on social media, and the news continues to ‘both sides’ our descent into fascism. All I can control is where my cans of refried beans and sugar go, and that…is heartbreaking.
The photo in the featured image is by Win McNamee: https://www.pulitzer.org/winners/win-mcnamee-drew-angerer-spencer-platt-samuel-corum-and-jon-cherry-getty-images
Update: this is an amazing timeline thread: https://www.threads.net/@bidenharrishq/post/C1v0S7FuLRe
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Lucky — because I am blessed with ideas
Yesterday, I met two amazing ladies for wine and talking — one I have known for a while, and the other is a new friend. We have a lot of mutuals in common, with some varying degrees of experiences from positive to…not. And as I was catching them up with some anecdotes, and grinding over some of the mishaps and harm that’s been done, it occurred to me that I wasn’t framing it squarely — this was harm, but I escaped it! I am…lucky!
If my readers perused through this silly post, one might wonder if I am lucky…I mean, things happen, and death isn’t about luck — we all die. I’m thinking about luck being the ‘space between the notes’* as the musical score of my life.
Some remarkable examples:
I was lucky when I so happened to overhear a colleague in the hallway talking about the ELL classes starting that night — the ones I had asked my principal about and wanted in, but she cut me out of the communication and only invited her favorites — but I was there, at that moment, in the hallway, and got my ELL (MLL) endorsement!
That endorsement led me to another amazing district, where I am valued and respected. And, since that particular admin group had done everything in their power to get me out of “their” building (the one I’d been serving for 12 years), this was truly lucky!
I was lucky that they also treated someone else shabbily, and that person helped me get into the new district
Going back further, I was lucky when I got the phone call from the cohort program asking me if I was still interested in becoming a teacher.
I was lucky that I saw a mailbox with another J.Love on it and he became my sweet and funny husband. (That’s a story for another time.)
I was lucky to have a dad as awesome as the one I did. I am lucky to have my mom.
I am lucky to have amazing friends. The shape of the friendship may change, and sometimes that causes me sadness, but I just need to remind myself, again and again, until it sticks, my own path is pretty cool. Their presence or absence, or mine in theirs, should be healthy and consensual.
I am lucky with ideas and have the mind to work through them.
I am lucky.
*I always thought it was Peter Gabriel who said this, but the interweb says it was Claude Debussy.
Shared materials on helping build schema
For some reason, the Statue of Liberty question on my art endorsement test stands out. The endorsement test required a broad overview of fine arts, and apparently my BFA from the 1980s was still fresh, I didn’t have to study for this test, and passed with flying colors. That’s one of the cool things, at least in Washington State, is adding teaching credentials and endorsements requires a certain amount of study and basically a “driver’s test” of content knowledge and acuity.
And what I’ve noticed for the past, approximately, ten years or so of my eighteen year teaching career is that kids still want to know stuff, and the stuff has been largely fed to them on the internet via Youtube and social media, and it’s mostly — wrong. Or at least doesn’t provide context, relevance, is void of critical thinking practice.
My teaching plan: (and I will share my materials; if you would like to give me a Kofi tip, I would appreciate it): I cite other sources, too, meant for educational purposes.
I’ve been embedding this practice in my instruction for a while, but realize I need to be much more intentional about it:
Shared materials:
These materials are intended to help instructors build the “why” and the how to help build background knowledge. The first presentation is a Google Slide Show with steps.
Thesis Writing Google Slides with materials from Purdue OWL
This is from Developed by Secondary English Department – Greece Central School District, NY
It’s those small moments, that almost go unnoticed, completely off-script, that I need to capture and hold. Not the grudges, not the petty insults and bad-faith colleagues. In passing, somehow the topic of what I’m currently teaching right now came up: and be clear, if I never had to touch To Kill a Mockingbird again I’d be a happy ELA teacher. But, it’s on the Honors 9 curriculum, so I created a unit of study for all my 9th grade ELA classes. Something like, “the other 9th grade teachers are doing short stories or Animal Farm now, but I’m doing this for all students, not just honors…” and one of my GenEd students, “And you’re the real one for that, Mrs. Love.”
It’s Winter Break now. This is my 18th winter break. That’s how I keep track of time now. Not January – December, but August though June. Educators have their own hemispheres and Stonehenges. (Wait, I can’t pluralize Stonehenge…) I will be thinking, creating, and planning a lot of things over my unpaid break. But what I am desperately trying to do is not overthink, over-create, and over-plan.
A charismatic student asked me the penultimate day before break, pondering what he has actually learned in my class. I wish my teaching style didn’t cause students to feel so…befuddled? We talked it through, and I said I hope there is one thing you take away, and that is the ability to understand and participate in thematic discussions. I asked him what he thought theme meant, and he, and another student participating in this spontaneous conversation, grasped at “plot…characters…setting…” and all the other academic language of literary devices, and we walked through it again, and said it’s the big message, the big idea, the possible answers to burning questions.
There is a small homunculus gremlin nagging at me, too. She says things to me like, “my “Your former PLN off of the bird app has moved on, they don’t need you, and don’t want you at their parties anymore”, and I’m looking and thinking about all the times we split off and veer down different paths, and decide who’s in our timeline moving forward.
The beautiful light homunculus says, “You can create your own timeline, silly. Remember, you’re the real one.”
So now that I’ll quit having imaginary conversations in my mind, I’ll go do my best to be true to myself, because I’ve been certainly befuddled this past year. Calendar year, that is.
Note: Hey, whatever…just needed a place to track and store some of my intrusive and silly thoughts. I know others have it harder, I know the world is on fire and being emulsified with a mixture of gasoline and blood…I know. The specters of mortal sins rattle their chains on national media sources, and the clowns hit the applause sign for our cues.
And as I gazed into the abyss, I had a passing thought: why was it so horrible that Mdme. Loisel wanted one night of fun? To feel pretty, admired, and feel like she was part of another economic class? Because whew-howdy, did she ever get punished. I imagine her scrolling through her social media feeds, seeing the friends and families she loves going on amazing trips, curating lives and experiences that are out of reach for me, and coming to the depressing realization I can only blame myself. I lost the necklace.
“The girl was one of those pretty and charming young creatures who sometimes are born, as if by a slip of fate, into a family of clerks. She had no dowry, no expectations, no way of being known, understood, loved, married by any rich and distinguished man; so she let herself be married to a little clerk of the Ministry of Public Instruction.”
The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant
In retrospect, (because is there any other kind of spect that stings as much?) my husband and I have maintained a particular philosphy/belief that serves us well: we make the best decisions with the information we have. I think most people do, even if they’re not aware of it. But there are shadowy forces that push on our decsisions, like the dopamine hits of crafting supplies and fast fashion. And damn, self, please: cut yourself some slack. Look at this year. My regrets are for the past four years when my spouse did have a job, and four years in his industry at his level is unheard of. For a time, I felt hopeful, like maybe we would actually start being able to save, fix the roof, go on a trip, or help with our sons’ finances and their dreams. I am not invited to out-of-state events because my friends know I’m perpetually broke. But then again I don’t get invited much anyway, and this isn’t me feeling pitiful for myself; I recognize that when I am the one “who leaves/moves” I lose that thread, the ties of tendons and bones. (Which is one reason why losing my local BFF fills me with grief…we were just getting started! We were just beginning our adventures! The ring was about to be thrown in Mordor!)
Financial Blunders
Blessings and Bounty
While I may have lost the metaphorical necklace, and spent years replacing it only to find out my credit score hasn’t budged, I’m still existing not quite paycheck to paycheck, I still have some pretty cool gifts. If any of you reading this is taking this as a cautionary tale, “The Necklace” misses the point — it’s not about not deserving a night out on the town– we all do. But our celebrations and sharing are our best parts of being human and life on this planet. We let money block those moments too much. Have the potluck, split the check (with what each owes, and everyone leaves 20%), and get the career/profession that is sustainable: teaching, feeding, building, and solving: those are sustainable professions.
Now if we can only get the billionaires taxed properly.
