2001-05-09
Fun Freshmen, posted at 12:08 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com My 9th graders are still great. I think I've picked up some skills this year that I didn't even know about, because things are going more smoothly than I ever imagined. I'm spending very little time on classroom management. I ask kids to do things, and they do them. It's such a concept. I think my sophomores during the student teaching always saw me as a student teacher and acted thusly. These freshmen see me as a teacher. It's cool. Plus, by all accounts (and not to be immodest...), I'm way better than the woman I'm replacing, so the kids are sort of on my side to begin with.We're finishing up "Great Expectations," and I'm going to show them the updated Gwyneth Paltrow/Ethan Hawke version of it even though it's rated R and has a nude scene. I'll fastforward through the latter and deal with any repercussions by feigning ignorance. It'll work just fine. I think it's a pretty interesting adaptation, and I think it'll draw the kids into the story as they look at the differences and updates.
Otherwise, I've been working out like crazy this week - an hour of weights and an hour of cardio every day. Today, I'm skipping the weights but going on an hour-long run, which should kick my ass pretty severely. I'm excited about the upcoming summer beach season for the first time ever, but I've still got a bit of work to do. Oddly enough, I'm enjoy running now that I'm into it more, and it gives me some of my best thinking of the day.
Afterwards, I'm going to lay out in the beautiful sunshine and read, deciding what book I want to teach next to these freshmen. I'm thinking something they'll actually enjoy, like "Tears of a Tiger" or "Staying Fat For Sara Burns" or something like that. We'll see. These freshmen have been damned patient this year with these classics they've had to read - "Romeo and Juliet", "To Kill a Mockingbird" and now "Great Expectations." I want to give them something they like, before the conservative, racist curriculum we have here totally murders the pleasure they can get from reading.