Our school established a new charter of Junior Statesmen of America (link was giving me trouble, but appears to be active — just down) this year under the tutelage of my colleague (and classroommate), Sarah Parker. They went to their first conference over the last weekend. Of the ten students who attended, three won best speaker awards. I think this is an incredible achievement for students in the first year of an organization like this, and two of the award-winners were freshmen to boot. Congratuations on your achievement, JSA members. I’m really proud of you.

Today I attended the Georgia Independent Schools Association’s annual conference. Last year was the first time I had attended this conference, as last year was my first year in private education. Compared to state conferences I’ve attended (Georgia Council of Teachers of English), I was not blown away, but the sessions I attended last year were very good.

The first session last year detailed a method of teaching the eight elements of literature (conflict, theme, mood/tone, symbolism, irony, character, setting, and point of view) using the photographs of Eudora Welty (Eudora Welty Photographs) during her years working for the WPA. The photographs are very good, of course, as you can see from the cover photo if you clicked the link, and they lend themselves very well to application of literary analysis. I remember asking the students to look at a photograph and tell me which element of literature they thought it best represented and why. The presenter at that session provided us with a few of the photographs and a list of the literary elements and their definitions.

The second session involved a new way of looking at the Declaration of Independence. After studying the Declaration and other Revolutionary documents, students create their own “Declarations,” declaring their right to ________. One of the presenter’s students chose to declare her right to be a drama queen. Another, a Muslim girl, chose to declare her right to dance. After writing the Declarations, students transferred the text to an item that represented this right they wanted to declare. The drama queen created a sash similar to that worn by beauty contestants and wrote her Declaration down the sash. The dancer wrote hers over the top of a CD. My favorite was a pair of jeans, but I can’t remember anymore what right that student was declaring upon her jeans. I thought the project was great. I adapted it for a group of real free spirits I taught last year, paired it with a webquest designed to teach students more about Romanticism, and called it a Declaration of Romanticism. My students declared the right to be Romantic. I was not overly impressed with their own efforts in this project, but I stole the jeans idea and wrote my Declaration down the pants leg of a pair of jeans I bought at the Salvation Army. I wear them all the time, and when I wear them to school trips, students call them my Romantic pants. I actually wore them when we visited Walden Pond, which the students really seemed to get a kick out of.

This year, I was not overly impressed with the sessions I attended. The first session was on teaching literary devices through the Harlem Renaissance. Our presenter seemed ill-prepared. She brought music for us to listen to on an iPod, but it didn’t work. I understand equipment failure, but I think a backup on CD might have been a good idea. Second, she showed us a Power Point demonstration, but did not give us handouts. It would have been helpful to have Power Point slides on handouts in order to take notes on those rather than furiously scribbling the notes down before she changed slides. I have a major quibble with her definition of “Harlem Renaissance,” too. She included works by Nikki Giovanni, Gwendolyn Brooks, and Maya Angelou. I love all three, but they are not part of the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920’s and 1930’s. If she wanted to explain how to teach literary devices through teaching African-American poetry, then fine, but she specifically grouped them in the Harlem Renaissance. That’s just not knowing your material. She also alluded often to sources that we as teachers would not be able to get — a Scholastic magazine, for instance. Oh, I’m sure I could call and ask for a back issue, but by the time I’ve gone through that hassle for a two-page article on the Harlem Renaissance, is it worth it? She also brought student samples of projects created using this method. The student samples of artwork were good, but the writing samples were not polished and were rife with mistakes. She emphasized that she teaches LD students, but so do I, and my students will draft a project like that until it is polished, and if it isn’t, I’m certainly not bringing it to a conference to show off. Finally, the presenter just didn’t seem poised. There were lots of gaps in her presentation — dead air, so to speak. She inserted several uncertain “um’s.” I tried to picture her teaching. I hope she was just nervous speaking to adults, as many teachers are. One of the most important things to get out of a conference session is handouts. Didn’t really get any, except for a couple of poems I already had. I wanted to leave when she pulled out the crayons and wanted us to make an artistic expression of one of the poems we got. I don’t do that kind of stuff with my own students anymore. Sure, they do art, but it’s more than “draw me a picture of this poem.”

The second session was on teaching reading comprehension to high school students, but it was mostly stuff I already knew. We got handouts, and we discussed methods a bit. The strategies were not new to me, but it was good to bounce some ideas around my head. I hadn’t really thought about asking students to buy composition books for reading journals, but I think I will from now on. Reading journals can be very valuable for teaching reading comprehension, but I’ve often made students type them or write them on their loose-leaf notebook paper. Composition books might be a better idea. I just never liked them myself because they’re almost always wide-rule, and I like college-rule.

I like to walk out of a conference feeling invigorated and eager to try what I’ve learned. I didn’t walk away feeling that way this time. I am pondering the idea of presenting classroom blogging next year. I think blogging is such a powerful tool in the classroom, and I know it hasn’t been presented at GISA before. However, at this moment, my classroom blog mainly consists of fun literary stories, announcements, daily recaps, and homework. The students aren’t very active. I have had to beg them to even comment. I floated the idea of the blog being more interactive. We’ll see how they respond.

Nearly a year ago, the parent of one of my students sent this to me in an e-mail, and it still makes me laugh. I posted it in my personal blog, but it occurred to me I’ve never posted it here, where fellow educators can enjoy it.

Why English teachers die young: Actual Analogies and Metaphors in High School Essays

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides, you know like gently compressed by a Thigh Master.
2. His thoughts tumbled around in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free softener.
3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at solar eclipses without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.
4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. coli and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.
5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.
6. Her vocabulary was as bad as — like — whatever.
7. He was as tall as a six-foot-three-inch tree.
8. The revelation that his marriage of 30 years had disintegrated because of his wife’s infidelity came as a rude shock — like a surcharge at a formerly surcharge-free ATM.
9. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball would not.
10. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.
11. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.
12. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.
13. The hailstones leaped from the pavement, just like maggots when you fry them in hot grease.
14. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.
15. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan’s teeth.
16. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.
17. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant and she was the East River.
18. Even in his last years, my Grandpappy had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long that it had rusted shut.
19. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.
20. The plan was simple, just like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just actually might work.
21. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.
22. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame. Maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.
23. The ballerina rose gracefully en pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, just like a dog at a fire hydrant.
24. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing their kids around waving power tools at them.
25. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.
26. Her eyes were like limpid pools, only they had forgotten to put in any pH cleanser.
27. She walked into my office like a centipede with 98 missing legs.
28. It really hurt! like the way your tongue hurts after you accidentally staple it to the wall.

The only thing that makes me doubt these are real is that some of them are really good!

The Carnival of Education appeared five days ago, but I have been slow to realize I was mentioned. It’s odd to me that a post about cursive writing stirred up so much interest, but I thank EdWonk for steering folks this way, and welcome to you!

Learn more.

NEW YORK — Kimani Ng’ang’a waited more than eight decades for his first day of school. The Kenyan villager wants to make sure nobody else must wait that long.The 85-year-old Kimani, billed as the world’s oldest elementary-school pupil, toured Manhattan to promote a global campaign urging assistance for an estimated 100 million children denied an education because of poverty. The Kenyan only started his formal education in January 2004.

Read the rest of the story here. Kimani said that he would like to be a veterinarian when he finishes his schooling. In Kimani’s words, “You are never too old to learn. At no time ever say, ‘It’s too late to learn,’ not until the day you die.”

I think that story is probably one of the neatest stories I’ve read in a long time. Good luck, Kimani!

The AJC higlighted our school today in an article about our upcoming groundbreaking (free registration or BugMeNot).

After visiting our sister school, Gann Academy in Boston, I am really excited about moving to our permanent campus. We are, as the article indicated, currently in temporary buildings. Our school has a nice camp feel to it, but the kids are packed in tightly. The article says we have 127 students, but it’s actually over 150 as of this year. Our enrollment was 127 last year.

Perhaps you already know about Georgia’s state-funded pre-K program. I actually taught pre-K for most of a full school year (November 2001-May 2002). What you may not know is how ridiculously hard it is to get into programs. I don’t want you to think I’m lazy, but we only have one car, and I have limited time in the mornings to drop my daughter Maggie off, so I had to confine my searches for pre-K openings to the public school and daycare centers in our area or on the way to work. No luck. Everyone has a (long) waiting list.

My daughter Maggie is bright. She’s very precocious. He has a highly-developed vocabulary, she recognizes all of the standard shapes and most of the odd ones (like diamonds, trapezoids, etc.), she can count fairly well, and she retains things she learns like a sponge. I know what you’re thinking. Every parent thinks their child is gifted. I can very clearly recall having a conversation with my supervising teacher in which she described her younger daughter as gifted, while her older daughter worked hard and was bright, but clearly could not be labeled gifted. At the time, it sort of shocked me. After having earned my gifted certification and having had three children, I understand a little better that Cheryl was not showing favoritism, but merely being objective about her children. So I have three children. I think the eldest is bright, but distractable. Her vocabulary was not as developed as Maggie’s is when she was four. Likewise, my younger son Dylan seems decidedly uninterested in talking at two years old. He says “car” and “mama,” but aside from that, not much moves him to speak. I find it hard to assess his abilities, because he either cannot verbalize them or is uninterested in doing so.

So back to Maggie. She really needs school. She wants to go so badly. But I haven’t been able to find a pre-K program with space. So I have decided that rather than let her “languish” before Kindergarten (yes, I realize how absurd that sounds, but I’m not a pushy parent — I just see an eagerness to learn, and I want to develop it) that I will homeschool her in pre-K. I bought some books at the local teacher store, but I am most eager to receive guidance from any early educators who stumble upon this.

Sadly, I think the thing Maggie really needs out of school is socialization with other children, but since I can’t provide that right now, I’m going to try my best to at least provide some learning experiences. I bought the following books:

• Quick and Easy Science Fun from the Mailbox
• Alphabet Animals Workbook from Carson-Dellosa
• Beginning Reading Workbook from Carson-Dellosa
• Numbers 0-20 Workbook from Carson-Dellosa
• Shapes Workbook by Carson-Dellosa

They look pretty good, but I’m a high school teacher, essentially, and teaching someone to read — even someone as eager as Maggie — is a task I find daunting. I am looking forward to working with Maggie, too, but I will be happy to receive any advice my fellow educators have to offer.

The first week back to school is half over. I have been testing summer reading assignments and establishing routines. I am enjoying getting to know the new students and seeing the old ones again. I feel very lucky to be working at my school. I have taught in some difficult places and worked with some difficult faculty, but the teachers and administration at my school are collegial, friendly, helpful, intelligent, and fun to work with. The atmosphere in our teachers’ lounge is unlike any other I’ve seen — everyone seems happy and no one complains about constant discipline issues. It’s really a pleasant place to be.

Today, a student I taught last year said that he heard I was leaving at the end of this year. I’m not. I’ll stay as long as they’ll let me! I wonder where those rumors get started. That’s an odd one.

I am really excited about some things I’m doing this year. I’m going to try a Socratic seminar with my 10th graders on The Color Purple next week. I think it will be interesting to hear what they say. The challenge will be for me to stay quiet!

Friday we’re having our Field Day, which I think is a great idea, because the students get to know each other and have a day of fun at the beginning of the year rather than at the end. I just wish it wasn’t so hot here. It’s fun for the faculty to participate, too — at least I enjoyed it last year.

It looks like I’m going to be grade level advisor for the 10th grade this year, which may mean that I can go to Boston again on the 10th grade trip. I would really enjoy that, but I would understand if they want to give someone else the opportunity to go.

I’m ready for school to start on Monday. I have my syllabi printed and photocopied. I have actually color-coded my classes this year in an attempt at organization. I have lessons planned. I know what I’m going to do in all the classes I teach for the next few weeks, even if I don’t have step-by-step lesson plans written out except for the first week.

I really love the start of a school year. It’s something that hasn’t changed since I was a kid. I used to love to go shopping for new school supplies. However, doing likewise with my middle-school daughter was a nightmare last night. Too many people trying to get at the same stuff at the same time.

We had orientation for new students today. I had a very productive meeting with my boss. It was a busy day. I really like getting back into the rhythm of school.

I feel like I learn so much more as a teacher than I learned as a student. I like getting back into that learning mode.

Bleh. This post feels all disjointed. Sort of all over the place.

I’m looking forward to a good year. Here’s hoping I can stick with this organization thing I’ve been trying to make happen for my entire teaching career this year.