My other favorite column in the Sunday Times is Modern Love. There is some intense writing in this one- she captures her teenaged self and experience- something we have each tried at one time or another in the writing we have brought to our group.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/fashion/11love.html
The section that starts "Imagine yourself at 16" and ends with "while you blunder about with your blasted heart and torn tissue" took my breath away.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Sunday, November 4, 2007
More devoted to the spirit than the law
I read this piece in the NY Times magazine today:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/magazine/04lives-t.html
It was the Lives of the Times column, called "Son of the South" by Robert LeLeux, and part of it reminded me of some of the things we talked about at our last meeting, specifically about the Catholic Church.
Another thing I saw today was a bumper sticker that said, "God Bless the Whole World- No Exceptions!"
Looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/magazine/04lives-t.html
It was the Lives of the Times column, called "Son of the South" by Robert LeLeux, and part of it reminded me of some of the things we talked about at our last meeting, specifically about the Catholic Church.
Another thing I saw today was a bumper sticker that said, "God Bless the Whole World- No Exceptions!"
Looking forward to seeing you all on Thursday.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
The Slippery Slope
Ellen and I had a conversation about writers workshop today. Usually we see eye to eye, but today, I sensed a little tension. It could have just been me, though; I'm feeling disappointed in myself and my execution of the workshop this year.
I have an article hanging on the wall by my desk about teaching after the summer institute, and what a let-down it can be after the intensity of that program. Honestly, I didn't experience that at all last year after my summer with the NVWP. The SI re-energized and re-focused my teaching, and last year was a really positive teaching experience- maybe the best year I've ever had.
In my position paper, I wrote about the slippery slope that moves us from student-centered to teacher-centered activities. I freely confessed to my own slide, and I resolved to stay up at the top now that I had climbed my way back. This year, though, I feel as if I'm careening downward yet again.
I had a student tell me today that what I was asking her to do was really hard- not because she didn't understand it, but because she wasn't interested in it. Nice kid, good writer, divergent thinker, and not one to always toe the line, (but it's my impression that she will when the stakes are high) and I lost her today. My assignment was not unreasonable, and it was designed with my students in mind, but, truth be told, I noticed yesterday that many of the weren't into it.
I was teaching what I considered to be a very engaging and useful mini-lesson on leads and introductions. I was all Kelly Gallagher with my blank rubric and my models. We successfully agreed on 2 qualities that a passable introduction to this writing piece should have, and then the students had time to revise their pieces to include those things, but they didn't do it.
Why? Long story short? They really didn't see the value of it. They thought that what they already had was fine. They weren't invested in this writing, (they were doing it for me and their grade), and so they weren't really willing to push themselves on it, much less internalize what I was trying to teach them. No- to them, their pieces were FINE, really, thanks for asking. Oh? I got a C? What do YOU want me to do to fix it, then? No one wanted to revise it because it sucked, or because it could be better writing and that was what they wanted- they only wanted a better grade, if that. They weren't writers; they were just going through the motions putting in their time.
If on one side is that slippery slope, on the other side of the path we walk each school year is a cliff. It's a leap of faith to jump into a true writers workshop, and it's a leap I've only taken twice in my career- the first year I taught, and last year. This year, I'm still hesitating, afraid I'm not organized enough, or it's not structured enough, or whatever. All I know is this, though, the longer I wait, the slipperier the other side.
I have an article hanging on the wall by my desk about teaching after the summer institute, and what a let-down it can be after the intensity of that program. Honestly, I didn't experience that at all last year after my summer with the NVWP. The SI re-energized and re-focused my teaching, and last year was a really positive teaching experience- maybe the best year I've ever had.
In my position paper, I wrote about the slippery slope that moves us from student-centered to teacher-centered activities. I freely confessed to my own slide, and I resolved to stay up at the top now that I had climbed my way back. This year, though, I feel as if I'm careening downward yet again.
I had a student tell me today that what I was asking her to do was really hard- not because she didn't understand it, but because she wasn't interested in it. Nice kid, good writer, divergent thinker, and not one to always toe the line, (but it's my impression that she will when the stakes are high) and I lost her today. My assignment was not unreasonable, and it was designed with my students in mind, but, truth be told, I noticed yesterday that many of the weren't into it.
I was teaching what I considered to be a very engaging and useful mini-lesson on leads and introductions. I was all Kelly Gallagher with my blank rubric and my models. We successfully agreed on 2 qualities that a passable introduction to this writing piece should have, and then the students had time to revise their pieces to include those things, but they didn't do it.
Why? Long story short? They really didn't see the value of it. They thought that what they already had was fine. They weren't invested in this writing, (they were doing it for me and their grade), and so they weren't really willing to push themselves on it, much less internalize what I was trying to teach them. No- to them, their pieces were FINE, really, thanks for asking. Oh? I got a C? What do YOU want me to do to fix it, then? No one wanted to revise it because it sucked, or because it could be better writing and that was what they wanted- they only wanted a better grade, if that. They weren't writers; they were just going through the motions putting in their time.
If on one side is that slippery slope, on the other side of the path we walk each school year is a cliff. It's a leap of faith to jump into a true writers workshop, and it's a leap I've only taken twice in my career- the first year I taught, and last year. This year, I'm still hesitating, afraid I'm not organized enough, or it's not structured enough, or whatever. All I know is this, though, the longer I wait, the slipperier the other side.
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