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Teacher by day, Mommy by night
Member Since: October 28, 2007 Last Signed In: March 13, 2010 Blog Views: 5524 Send To A Friend Sign Guestbook Add as a Friend
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A Shakespearean Task
When I graduated from college, I intended to teach high school English. Then, my adviser suggested teaching middle school. I was only 22, looked very young, and felt uncomfortable with prospect of teaching students only four years younger than myself.
It turned out that teaching middle school was great. The kids are actually a lot of fun, and it's my personal theory that all secondary teachers should start in middle school: if you can make it there you can make it anywhere. The one drawback was that I did not get to teach the really cool literature that is available to teach at the high school level. There were some fun books: The Giver, The Outsiders (EVERY kid loves that one.) But I didn't love the books. A huge motivation for moving to high school was teaching a more interesting curriculum. I was very bummed to discover this summer that my school was one of those moving away from teaching novels, however. It's a current theory in high school English that the only way to teach our standards is to use a textbook (SO Wrong by the way...I've never know a student to fall in love with a textbook.) Instead of teaching cool novels to my 10th graders, I've been forced to use the textbook, which is so lame. However, today I got to realize a dream of mine. I taught my students Shakespeare. Granted, it's not my favorite play--Julius Caesar, but it's still total fun. I love how Shakespeare can spark instant love within a student, even if he doesn't totally understand what's going on. So many kids were just transfixed by what we were reading today. It has brought so many kids out of their shells, made them really excited to talk about Literature. Also, actually reading Shakespeare has taken apart some of their misconceptions about it. Several students raised their hands after we had read a bit: "Hey, I thought this was supposed to be proper English." We were able to talk about how language changes and how, since this was written about 400 years ago, imagine how much is different now. Not all kids were enthralled today. There were some mighty big sighs at the end of Cassius's longest speeches. But it was a good day. It took me seven years to finally teach Shakespeare and I'm so glad I got this opportunity. 8 comments from 5 users
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posted by
AmandaS
on Apr 21, 2008 at 08:29 PM
I think that is great. I've been in love with the Bard since I was 14. Whenever I am in between novels, I always bust out some Shakespeare because I have tons of that just hanging around the house. I even lived in Stratford-on-Avon for a summer when I was in college. I think it's great to de-mystify it for the kids--especially once they realize how much of the plays are based on sex and booze. :-)
posted by
MiaMama
on Apr 21, 2008 at 10:32 PM
That's wonderful! I think that's really awesome that you are an English teacher, I always loved my English professors. I'm sure your students will always remember you and the impact you had on them.I'm glad you're enjoying what you're teaching right now and sorry to hear that the school is going to text and moving away from novels. That really is "lame" and such a shame. posted by
creatress
on Apr 22, 2008 at 10:10 AM
That's horrible that your school is moving away from that! Chalk one up to Davis. My son will be an 8th grader next year (and it will be his last year in middle school). There are three options for English then. He's taking English Literature which is 100% based on classic books and plays, not just a text book. So move to Davis and teach here! Hahaha. (I'm laughing at our $4M budget defecit) posted by
hmoeckli
on Apr 22, 2008 at 04:50 PM
I really see the book thing as an equity issue. When I worked at a higher performing school, it was not an issue to teach novels. The higher performing schools in my district do teach novels, while my school is really limited to the novels we are allowed to teach. It's just such a bummer because there are so many high interest cool novels that we could teach. So far Davis has not posted any positions. I'd really like to teach in a more urban area, but your school district does seem really cool. :) posted by
kellimwheeler
on Apr 23, 2008 at 10:52 AM
Wow, I can't believe rolling out another dry textbook was somebody's best solution to raising english scores (gotta love standardized testing -- it's helped SO MUCH. Can you detect my sarcasm?) What a shame. Kids can moan all they want about reading another novel, but I haven't met an adult yet that doesn't carry some sort of positive memory/appreciation for great literature thanks to a classic they were "forced" to read in school. You sound like a good teacher. Your kids are lucky to have your enthusiasm shine a light on the joys of great literature. posted by
hmoeckli
on Apr 23, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Thank you! I do really like my job, but there is a lot of garbage associated with it. We just finished day 2 of three days of testing at my school and I feel for the kids. They know a lot of it is BS, and it sucks having to lie to them. Most of these tests are only important to the school, not to the kids. Some tests will affect them individually, the California High School Exit Exam for one, but most will not. Most adults have a hard time caring about something that doesn't affect them personally. I am hoping that teaching changes and the pendulum swings back in the other direction. I got into teaching to open kids' minds and help them understand the power of communication; I'm not a big fan of how education today seems to beat the individuality out of them and turn them only into a number. posted by
kellimwheeler
on Apr 23, 2008 at 04:50 PM
That and not every kid has to go to college. Success is not necessarily defined by a college degree. Just in the paper (yesterday, I believe) it was pointed out we are heading into a crisis due to lack of skilled workers. I know my brother would have had trouble passing the exit exam if it had been instituted two decades ago, but now he is a Chief in the Navy. Teacher to teacher, here's something I wrote and posted above the board in my classroom: Plant the seed of knowledge, quench the thirst to know, feed it with some wisdom, and watch the learning grow. posted by
hmoeckli
on Apr 24, 2008 at 08:30 AM
That's a great quote! And it reinforces what I teach about figurative language. :) You're right; not every kid needs to go to college to be successful. I would just be happy if I could convince my students that there is a world outside of high school, that they don't know what is possible. They really do think they know it all. My favorite field trip is to take kids to a college and just walk around. It is a truly eye-opening experience for most of them.
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