Snow day!Today I am working on a project that's been looming over my head for some time -- and I'm not making much progress. Isn't it amazing how we can pour so much effort in to something and feel so little accomplishment? Anyway, it's a big project, but it's not ready for sharing just yet, so just send good vibes that I finish it soon. When I wasn't doing that, I was looking at fabric online and dreaming of having guilt-free time to quilt. I enjoy quilting as a social activity to do with my sister. I like to pick out fabric and patterns, but very little of what I've purchased has become anything productive yet. Hopefully this summer I will have time since I won't be working on graduate school, planning a wedding, or moving as the last few summers have been busy with those activities. It's terrible how much guilt I can feel for thinking about "fun" things during the school year. I know doing "fun" things makes me a more relaxed and better teacher, but sometimes the fun has to take a backseat to the "what must get done" and the "too exhausted to do anything but read and sleep" vibes. Winter, please end soon. Longer days should help, right? I'm also hoping to make enough progress on my other tasks today to spend a little time reading. I'm currently enjoying The End of Your Life Book Club and I just started Rebecca Traister's All the Single Ladies, which is fascinating. I'm also close to finishing Fahrenheit 451, which is good because I need to reread Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet with my British Literature and English I students after Spring Break. Okay, back to work before the guilt-monsters get me again. Keep plugging away!
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The calm before the snow day...I struggle to be productive on Sunday nights. I struggle even more when it's snowing, we're predicted to get at least 6 inches, and it's highly likely tomorrow will be a snow day. THAT makes it more difficult to want to focus. Oh, and it's a week before Spring Break, so there are only 5 days until I will be in California! Eek!
The snow is coming down, but my to-do list is growing. Here's to hoping I get a little motivation to get moving on it. In good news, though, I did enjoy a very relaxing day yesterday and a pretty relaxing day today. And I finished my grading before I left school Friday, so at least I'm not going to walk back in to huge piles IF we have school tomorrow. Maybe they'll call the 2-hour-delay yet tonight so I don't have to set an alarm? Wishful thinking? Lazy SaturdayToday I read books. It was perfect. I needed the lazy day & I got it.
My husband is teaching my favorite book...So, I love teaching The Great Gatsby. I love the glamour of the 1920s, the sad ending, the idea that people are so careless they stomp all over others (how much more real-life can you get?!), and how clueless Nick is. The whole idea that life can seem so perfectly aligned and then fall completely apart appeals to me. Don't get me wrong: I love happy endings, but there is something about sad endings (and sad songs!) that are just better (except LaLaLand, I still hate that ending, but mostly because it's fresh and...that's another post). Anyway, I like the sad endings in Gatsby. When I used to teach American Literature & Composition (the full title is so much better than English III) I taught Gatsby. I didn't try to prejudice the kiddos, but I did tell them I loved the book. I told them that just because I loved it didn't mean they had to love it, but they had to approach it with an open mind. This lead to many great discussions and a surprising number of students (girls especially) hate Daisy, which was fine because she's awful. I miss teaching Gatsby... My husband is lucky enough to teach American Literature II, which means he gets to teach the best parts of American Literature (not biased, I swear!) and he's teaching Gatsby right now. He keeps coming home with stories about kids' connections to the text & their interpretations of the characters (none of them hate Jordan enough, IMHO), and all the cool connections they are making. I'm very jealous. I miss teaching Gatsby! Maybe someday I will love TKAM the way I love Gatsby. Until then, I'll just remind myself that I can always return to the Valley of Ashes and enjoy the text myself. Find more information about the slice of life blogging challenge by Two Writing Teachers at this link.
Kari Straube is working on her second slice of life challenge in 2017. She spends her days with freshmen in rural Iowa & loves helping them grow. Her English teacher husband encourages her book hoarding habits & people do not like helping them move. She can be contacted at [email protected] Literary Petsi like to name my pets literary names I love, but wouldn't name children. For example, this is Bennet. Before Bennet, I had fish named Spaghetti, Anonymous, Hamlet, Othello, Fitz, Kavanaugh, Beau. My mom's last 2 pets were Daisy & Oscar Wilde. I just really enjoy naming my pets crazy things.
I really want a black cat to name her Lady Macbeth. Maybe my husband will let me -- but I hope she doesn't try to eat Bennet! Today I feel teacher-tiredI'm not much of a front-of-the-room teacher. Mostly, I present a few ideas, lead some guided practice, and then students work and I hop around the room putting out fires. That's my preferred method. If students are writing, I'm conferencing. If students are taking a quiz, I'm very quietly walking around with a book in hand in case they need me. If students are reading independently, I'm reading independently. I like to be busy. The only time I'm really in the front of the room is when I am reading out loud. I like to read out loud and share the joy of a text with students. We're currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird, and today I was reading the ending, when Scout and Jem are walking home from the Halloween assembly. I read it four times to four different classes. I dramatized. It's a very long scene, much longer than I like to read out loud, but I know some students have fallen behind and they need this scene to be successful on tomorrow's assessment and when writing the final paper. I wanted them to hear it & spent time discussing when we shared thoughts in class to help clear up confusion. But, after 4 periods of reading out loud & discussing for 30+ minutes, I can say I'm wiped out tonight. I'm teacher-tired, my head hurts, and my throat is sore. Since students are writing tomorrow, I will go to bed early so I can bring my A-game to help prewrite, find text evidence, and form thesis statements. Tomorrow, I will be energized by eager writers and spending time in quiet guidance. Tonight, I will sleep well and hopefully not dream of Bob Ewell. Find more information about the slice of life blogging challenge by Two Writing Teachers at this link.
Kari Straube is working on her second slice of life challenge in 2017. She spends her days with freshmen in rural Iowa & loves helping them grow. Her English teacher husband encourages her book hoarding habits & people do not like helping them move. She can be contacted at [email protected] The ACT and you...I teach what is essentially a confidence class on Monday nights; it's called "ACT Prep." Now, you may be wondering why I call it confidence class. Well, when it comes to taking the ACT, part of the battle is being confident you will be successful. Not that you'll throw it out-of-the-park and rock the test kind of confidence, but the confidence to go in there, give it your best, and know you'll do your best work. So we spend quite a bit of time the first two classes learning about the test. The format, the directions, the expectations, how the questions are broken down, what percentage of each type of question to expect, how to read the questions well, how long each passage should take, how the score is calculated, etc. Then, we dive in and practice with a timer set. An important component of doing well on the ACT is knowing how to utilize the time limits wisely. Students try to simulate the timing of one passage, then we talk about the answers. We review allegory, allusion, alliteration, hyperbole, metaphor, and simile. We talk about the ACT's expectation of a "best" versus "correct" answer. We talk about semi-colons and why they're so much cooler than colons. We talk and talk about the test. And, in the end, the most important thing students can take away is that the test is not defining their intellect -- it's just a number to help make decisions. We look up the average ACT of college freshmen at schools (Luther is a 24!) and look at minimum scores to avoid remedial classes at the local community college. We talk about why taking the ACT twice is okay, but only if you do something different to prepare (I took it twice and go the same score because I didn't change anything!). Overall, though, the mission is to help students realize the ACT isn't something to be afraid of. If they use their resources and prepare, the ACT can be a great tool to help start their college career on the right foot by avoiding remedial classes and sometimes earning a bit more merit aid. Find more information about the slice of life blogging challenge by Two Writing Teachers at this link.
Kari Straube is working on her second slice of life challenge in 2017. She spends her days with freshmen in rural Iowa & loves helping them grow. Her English teacher husband encourages her book hoarding habits & people do not like helping them move. She can be contacted at [email protected] Gardening fever...It was nice out today. Not outrageously nice like a couple of weeks ago, but early-Spring nice. It was in the 50s & the Earth was clearly starting to wake up. I longed for my garden & spent my time repotting succulents and refilling bird feeders in an attempt to hurry Spring to cold, rainy, Iowa. While I love teaching, I also love gardening. My life in the garden, outside, planning, plotting, tending, and enjoying the fruits of my labor is my favorite part of Spring/Summer/Fall. We bought our first house this year & I look forward to seeing what the lovely flowerbeds hold in store for me. While I already have plans to make changes (the tangled, messy rose bushes are already gone thanks to a superhuman effort from my Mom & I last fall), I also know that what comes up will surprise and delight me. I'm looking forward to peonies, hydrangeas, several varieties of hostas, and I'm hoping there are secret tulips hiding somewhere for me to find. I know I will venture back to my mom's rental (my grandmother's last house; for a short time, my house) and dig some of her hostas, try to save a few lilies we planted, and hopefully bring my rhubarb over. I'm also looking forward to my vegetable garden and experimenting with a new layout and some new veggies this year. Its so much fun to watch them grow and to share the fruits of my labor with my family and friends. Nurturing and encouraging things to grow is just a part of who I am; it's easy to see why teaching is my calling. Find more information about the slice of life blogging challenge by Two Writing Teachers at this link.
Kari Straube is working on her second slice of life challenge in 2017. She spends her days with freshmen in rural Iowa & loves helping them grow. Her English teacher husband encourages her book hoarding habits & people do not like helping them move. She can be contacted at [email protected] The importance of high school sportsLast night, Turkey Valley (a local high school) played in the high school 1A state girls basketball championship game. They were the runners up last year, too. The loss was heartbreaking -- a close game the entire time to the same team they lost to last year.
What struck me most, however, wasn't on the court. During a time out with 9.3 seconds left, Turkey Valley was down by 8 points. The Springville (defending champs) coach gave his girls some advice for playing the end of the game. Then he said, "During the celebration, respect them. Turkey Valley is a good team and they make us play better. Celebrate, but be kind." I felt tears moisten my eyes when he said that. Turkey's girls, knowing their loss was eminent, were already in tears. They showed the defeat on their faces. Springville was about to have a big moment -- back-to-back state championships with 4/5 starters returning. Yet, their coach was making it very clear that those kids needed to be kind and think of the other team. That kind of compassion, sportsmanship, and respect are the most important things students can learn from team sports. |
The views on this blog are mine alone and do not reflect those of my employer or anyone else. AuthorKari teaches English I to 9th graders (!) and other electives in rural Iowa. Her husband is also an English teacher, and their friends have sworn to never help them move again because "even libraries don't have that many books." Archives
March 2017
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