2002-06-25
Summer school, posted at 10:01 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com Summer school is underway, and it's much different than I expected. I was told initially that I would be teaching ENG 1 - freshmen - but they told me on Thursday that it would be ENG 3. I was fine with this, excited even, as I wasn't too pumped about teaching the four kids that failed my course last semester, along with all the other students who failed ENG 1. Plus, I was looking forward to working with a new curriculum that I wasn't familiar with, thinking it would make me a better teacher.Monday comes, and my first period has six students in it. Five of them are seniors, meaning they failed ENG 4 and need this last credit to get their diploma. This changed things up a bit, for sure. I hadn't prepped for the ENG 4 curriculum, and know nothing about it.
I've decided that this is a good thing, though. Unlike the other three English classes, there is no citywide test I have to prepare the kids to pass. It's my own final and, really, my own curriculum. I've been sort of developing it in my own head in the last two days. So far, so good. I'm with them 2 hours a day for five weeks, so I have a lot of leeway. I've decided to incorporate a film element into the course. Every week we'll read a short story or two developed around a theme, and then watch a film that I doubt they've seen. They're all 18, so no worries about R ratings. For example, this week we're going to look at the idea of the Southern Gothic story - read "A Rose for Emily" (Faulkner) and watch Sling Blade. I also want to show Malcolm X (with biographical excerpts), Slam (while studying poetry), Roger & Me (satire), American Beauty (paired with Death of a Salesman, and probably Philadelphia (the kids at this school are very homophobic, so I'll try to make inroads with this very mainstream movie). I'm still formulating ideas, but that's what I'm thinking of.
I only have one ENG III student. I'm supposed to have three, but only one has shown up so far. I get to spend 2 hours a day working with her. She's bright, and is the first student I've ever talked to here who wants to go to Michigan State. Really, she's the first who wants to leave the east coast. I'm having a good time with her so far, reading some short pieces and practicing writing skills. I'm a little daunted as to how I'm going to fill up every day with her, but at $36/hr, I'm not going to complain too much.
Otherwise, things have been slow. It's about a hundred degrees and humid, and I'm finding myself soaked in sweat no matter what I do. Jason and I decided to ride our bikes to work today, and that was a mistake - not a good thing to do on the hottest day of the year so far. Getting off at 1pm hasn't really helped me get as much work done as I had wanted to this summer so far, as I'm finding myself zonked when I come home and in the mood for a nap. The heat is zapping my energy a little bit. I also haven't been working out in the mornings, figuring I'll have the time in the afternoon, and this drops my energy level. I did have a good three-mile run and a decent chest workout at the gym this afternoon. I went shopping afterwards, complete with an absolutely sweat-soaked shirt and shorts. People loved me.
At Target, I bought a vacuum. I'm going to do something fradulent with it, but hear me out. I bought a new vacuum for $60 in October. It's been working well. However, I plugged it in on Sunday, and it made this huge spark and burned my carpet. It scared the shit out of me, actually - I had never seen anything like it. Now, the cord is frayed badly - almost all the way through - and I'm not about to plug it in again. Of course, I don't have the box or receipt any more. So I went to Target today and bought the exact same model, and think I'm going to do a switch with it - return the old one and get the cash. This might make me a bad person, but I remember my mom had the same vacuum for like 20 years. It should last longer than six months. It was a dirtdevil, for gosh sakes. That should be namebrand quality.
Since I returned, I've been cleaning my house nonstop. I've got so many little projects to do this summer, but feel like I need to have a clean house to start them. Also, I have a prospective roommate coming over on Friday to look at the place - Michelle's boyfriend, moving from Ohio, I think I'll name him Roy - and want the place to look nice.
In other news, I'm actually missing my roommates. Hanging out with Holden and Tobey is all well and good, but they don't really sustain conversations to well. Tobey has been tolerating Holden a lot better lately. His hisses at him have become half-hearted, and he actually jumps on the bed with us after Holden falls asleep. Holden sleeps like a rock, at my feet, and Tobey jumps up by my head. I'm becoming pretty attached to him, actually. I've never met a more affectionate cat - he licks all the time, jumps on my lap for no reasons, mews at my arrival, purrs incessantly. He's a good cat.