Monday, Feb. 03, 2003
The work week begins, posted at 6:48 a.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com It has been a while since there has been a full week of school. Last week, we had three days without students because of poor scheduling by the district. Monday and Tuesday were grading days, and the students' second semester ran on Wednesday and Thursday, then we had a Professional Day on Friday.The week before, we had finals. The week before that, we had high school assessments. So, it's been a while since we've had a "regular" week.
But this week, we're back on schedule. I think we have three weeks of uninterrupted 5-day weeks, which will be draining. It's 6:52am and I'm at the computer, which means I'm already doing a bad job getting into a new productive schedule - no gym trip this morning. I'll go in the afternoon, as I want to build off of the good weekend I had.
My first job when I get in today is to talk to the scheduling lady, who I'm scared of, about this boy who I had for English last semester. I've checked with the guidance counselor, and he's got flexibility in his schedule, so that he could switch over to my freshmen seminar class with only a minor change in his schedule. He's one of the more special kids I've had, an at-risk student who has a lot of skills and a good heart. I know he's got one of the lowest GPAs in the freshmen class, and I worry about losing him. I got along with him very well, and I have a genuine affinity for the kid, so I think it would be good if he had me again this semester. He's the type of kid who I assume isn't a favorite student of many teachers, but he's one of mine. I think it will be good that he continues to have someone in his corner. His current freshmen seminar teacher is a nice woman, but she's having a baby and will be gone in about a month for the rest of the year. He needs stability, focus, and someone on his ass as much as possible. I can be all those things. Plus, I know his mom. So I'm going to talk to the scheduling lady and see if she'll move him over. I think my reasoning is sound.
By the way, Friday was a very productive day for meetings. I'm on the reading team, and we've devised a proposal for 9th and 10th grade:
9th: Of Mice and Men, The Odyssey, A Lesson Before Dying, Romeo & Juliet, Oedipus Rex, Inherit the Wind
These works all center around Fate or Justice. Previously, we had not started Shakespeare until the 11th grade, so I'm excited about R&J, which I've never taught. I'm not so excited about The Odyssey, but many teachers were convinced that some mythology needed to be studied in the 9th grade, so... we're doing it. I'm thrilled that everyone took my suggestion that A Lesson Before Dying be added.
10th: Gabriel's Story, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The Scarlet Letter, Their Eyes Were Watching God, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Fences, Death of a Salesman
We dropped The Great Gatsby, which most of us felt was overrated. Moved Eyes (paired with Scarlet Letter) and Fences (paired with Death of a Salesman in a neat American Dream drama unit) up for grade 9. This is the American Lit course, so we added an autobiography unit - the autobiography is, while not uniquely American, is very American - more autobiographies come out of America than anywhere else.
We'll see if this proposal gets shot down or not. Grade 11 and 12 will be next meeting.