Can't. Lesson. Plan. Any. More.
So, I'm thinking about poetry--specifically the Third Thursday coming up at the YMCA (sponsored by Youth City Network). Just today I had two different (former) students come by to read me poetry that they had composed. I'm encouraging them to read it at the Third Thursday event. I attended last time and it was wonderful to see local teenagers so excited about sharing their talents with each other.
Poetry is an intensely personal art form, which is why it's so perfect for teenagers who feel that everything is happening to them for the first time ever and in the most extreme way ever. Poetry allows them to share those strong emotions and to connect with others who are feeling the same. I'm really looking forward to seeing our school represented and to hearing what others have to say.
In related news, I just received "Louder Than a Bomb" from Netflix. Recommended by fellow English teachers and poetry buffs, it's an account of a poetry slam/competition and follows a Chicago team as they prepare. I'm hoping to screen it for the club during the February Third Thursday. The truly exciting thing is that it's coming to Kansas City in 2014. How great is that?
Friday, January 11, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
Novels and other distractions
Love Christmas break for the chance to really dig into some good books! I just recently finished "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn and couldn't put it down. It was very twisty--in a good way--and even though there was a dearth of sympathetic characters, I still cared enough to find out what happened to all of them. I'd highly recommend it if you enjoy murder mysteries with a serious twist!
We purchased a refurbished (new to us!) computer just around Thanksgiving time, so the kids have really enjoyed the faster, easier interface and the ability to use their game Skyrim. It has great graphics, but is not something I could get into--the storyline requires you to kill people and other beings and steal their things. Not my kind of thing. I have enjoyed using it for my games and for sending e-mail, which I can't seem to do on the Apple when using Yahoo. A bit frustrating. My work e-mail functions, of course. Yay.
I also got around to cleaning out the basement (donating a bunch of toys that hadn't been played with in some years, but that the kids weren't ready to let go of), getting family pictures taken and getting several doctor's visits out of the way. Also been thinking about lesson planning and have devoted several hours to that as well. I think for teachers that every holiday is a busman's holiday--everything we run across is fodder for teaching at some point. That's probably a good thing but sometimes it feels a little too busy.
We purchased a refurbished (new to us!) computer just around Thanksgiving time, so the kids have really enjoyed the faster, easier interface and the ability to use their game Skyrim. It has great graphics, but is not something I could get into--the storyline requires you to kill people and other beings and steal their things. Not my kind of thing. I have enjoyed using it for my games and for sending e-mail, which I can't seem to do on the Apple when using Yahoo. A bit frustrating. My work e-mail functions, of course. Yay.
I also got around to cleaning out the basement (donating a bunch of toys that hadn't been played with in some years, but that the kids weren't ready to let go of), getting family pictures taken and getting several doctor's visits out of the way. Also been thinking about lesson planning and have devoted several hours to that as well. I think for teachers that every holiday is a busman's holiday--everything we run across is fodder for teaching at some point. That's probably a good thing but sometimes it feels a little too busy.
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