What is: more dizzying than a Tilt-a-Whirl, more surprising and unexpected than snow in June, but more rewarding than most anything else I have done in my life so far? My first two days as a teacher. [Cue deep sigh of satisfaction.]
While a big chunk of what we did in class the first two days was the tedious stuff (guidelines for my classroom, forms to fill out, general descriptions of the year ahead), quite a bit more of our time was spent talking about the students’ expectations for the class, in-class writing assignments, and – in some cases – actual course material was covered. Hey! I even had two PowerPoint presentations – the first two I have done in my life – and a video! The students were attentive and participatory, considerate and polite. [When one student made a valiant effort to stifle her yawn so that I would not notice, instead of being insulted, I was thrilled that she seemed to care enough to try to keep it from me.]
Let’s go through a quick recap, shall we?
Sophomore English: I was thrilled to start my first day with some familiar faces, and some even more familiar classroom dynamics! When I opened up the forum for some group discussion about very important matters – how do you all feel about homework, why didn’t your class get through the class-assigned novel last year – they were more than generous with their input. I told them that they each have a voice in my classroom and will be heard, and by golly did they jump at the chance to speak up. We had just enough time to discuss the theme for our first unit, “Against the Grain.” My goal for them this year is to bring more of themselves into their own work, into what we are reading, and into the classroom in order to become more active and engaged readers and thinkers.
Drama and Cinema: How can I not be excited for a class in which we watch, discuss, and write about movies about which I am passionate? While most of the students seem reluctant to watch anything made before the new millennium (do they know movies were even silent once?), I think they are willing to give me a chance to show them that some of the greatest accomplishments in American Cinema occurred before even I was born. I introduced them to the notions of High and Low Art, we discussed the term ‘genre,’ and I let them know that this class will be about turning the act of watching a movie from a passive into a highly active experience.
Freshman English: I was probably the most nervous one in the room with this group. My hat goes off to them and my heart goes out to them, because they did a wonderful job the first two days. They were willing to participate, they gave me their attention (as much as they had left for me – that first day can be brutal!), and a few even smiled at my corny jokes. When I challenged them to dissect some statements I had on the board outlining our theme for this semester – “Defining Ourselves/Our Selves” and “Defining Our World(s)” – they took risks and dove right in with some very interesting answers. I cannot wait to read over their surveys and in-class writing assignments.
Advanced Lit: The odds of getting a class of three students in which each student is more than I could have asked for is impossible, right? Wrong. I could not be more pleased with this group. I have some exciting ideas for the year ahead, and – thanks to their contributions to the discussion – now have an even better idea of what material to introduce. I am thrilled that they are eager to delve into some creative writing work, and are pretty much up for anything. I hit them with some statements about art – college-level stuff, to be honest – and they came right back at me with brilliant observations and reflections.
Holocaust Literature: For some students, taking this class was more a matter of ‘it fit into my schedule’ and/or ‘I needed the English credit’ than anything else. That is okay with me. But, for the surprising majority, it was a matter of ‘this class sounded interesting.’ I am hoping that after our first session, everyone is on that same page. We began class with the basics – guidelines, parental release forms to watch ‘Schindler’s List,’ and so on – and ended with a 10-minute animated video called “Silence” about one woman’s struggle to tell her own story after 50 years of not speaking about it. In between, I asked them to write for a few minutes in response to my very long title for the class: “Holocaust Narratives: Representing the Un-Representable, Imagining the Unimaginable, Giving Voice to the Voiceless.” This was a challenging assignment, and I was thrilled to see their pencils busy on their papers.
So: what are my thoughts and feelings about next week? Bring. It. On.
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