Tom Kim

What I’m most thankful for this Thanksgiving: Elijah Jae-Duk Kim, my firstborn, and Dana, my wife.

MON: Parent-Teacher Conferences; Pop Quiz;

The week began with parent-teacher conferences which took up the entire morning on Monday. I feel very fortunate that all of my conferences went very smoothly.

Because of the conferences, all the class periods were effectively halved. The 7th graders had just enough time for a pop quiz and for me to hand out and explain a homework assignment in which they interview their parents about their feelings about arranged marriages.

I gave the 8th graders new seating assignments and we had a brief discussion of The Secret Life of Bees revolving around — what else? — the essential questions.

TUE: QALI DRAWINGS

My school is hosting a juried art show all week long and the upper school art teacher who is organizing it has invited all the middle school English classes to come take a look. Therefore, all week long I’ve devoted half of my hour-block classes to visit the art show. I didn’t have anything terribly creative or relevant planned for these classes as they perused for half an hour, but it was a welcome respite for all to just get out of the classroom and see something different.

I only had my 7th graders today. Thinking of the juried art show, I gave them an assignment where they were sketch out their own qalis, rugs that represented who they were and where they came from. A little busy-worky, but the kids seemed to like doing something personal and artistic.

WED: QUOTES ON BLOGS; MEMOIRS PROJECT INTRO

Today I decided to give all my classes a heads-up about my paternity leave absence and what they should expect for the first half of the next trimester. I told them that I expected them to take turns writing once a week on their blogs and to comment on their classmates’ blogs when it wasn’t their turn to write. I also gave them some blog homework to practice that routine.

For my 7th graders, I had one person on their table pick a quote from the night’s reading. The rest of their table had to discuss the importance/significance of that quote. We also reviewed for the vocabulary quiz that they were going to take tomorrow.

For my 8th graders, I formally introduced the memoirs project and discussed the in-class essay that was going to wrap up The Secret Life of Bees.

THUR: VOCAB QUIZ; LETTER TO SELF

The 7th graders took their vocab quiz today. After their quiz, I gave them a quick tutorial on how to sign up for and subscribe to blogs using an RSS reader.

I did another memoir vignette exercise with my 8th graders today: the letter to your future self. I gave each student a piece of paper and an envelope. They were to write a letter to themselves that they would read and respond to at the end of the year. I assured them that I myself would not read their letters and that they could write whatever they wanted to themselves. I gave them these possible suggestions, though:

• A set of goals and resolutions
• A reflection on their time in middle school
• Advice to follow for the year
• A description of their current situation and state of mind at the beginning of the year

The 8th graders responded really positively and enthusiastically to this assignment. I followed it up with a homework assignment designed to begin our review of The Secret Life of Bees: I assigned pairs of students chapters to review. For their chapter they were to, on the wiki, copy the bee quote that prefaced the chapter and summarize the major plot points of that chapter.

FRI: Riddle Contest; Personal Symbols

We ended the week in 7th grade with a riddle-exchange with the other 7th grade classes. The day before I e-mailed my co-worker five of the best riddles from each class and got back, in return, five riddles from each of her classes. I presented her classes’ riddles to my classes, and we spent the class period trying to guess them.

In addition to their reading homework for the weekend, I asked my 7th graders to finish their qali drawings.

I collected signatures from my 8th grade classes regarding the memoirs project. We then reviewed the wiki, and I tried to show how the bee quotes reflected the major plot turns in each chapter. This turned into an involved discussion of the personal symbols used throughout the book: mothers, bees, and the Virgin Mary.

One thing I forgot to mention in Week 8: On Friday, I set up a table on the wiki for the 8th graders to come sign up and meet with me for a personal conference on their Williamsburg paper. Not everyone did, but I guess that’s okay.

MON: Etymology of words & Secret Life of Bees, Ch. 3-4

My 7th grade classes got a titillating lecture on etymology. I started off talking about what etymology means and briefly looking at the etymology of the word “etymology” itself. I then took a look at the etymology of the word “musk”. I explained that musk is a substance that has a distinctive smell that used to be very common in perfumes. In contemporary usage it refers to similar substances or similar smells (I mentioned Tag and Axe body colognes as examples they could relate to). I showed them how they could use a collegiate or unabridged dictionary to get a detailed etymology of the word and then showed them how they could also use online dictionaries such as Answer.com or Merriam-Webster Online.

I showed them how “musk” came into English usage in the late 14th century and how it had a history of derivation starting from Middle English all the way back to Old Persian. I discussed how we could infer the spread of the word through history by looking at these derivations. We took a more detailed look at the etymology using Etymonline, a really great online reference. It seems that the Persian word meant “testicles” (giggles) and that it was related to their word for “mouse” because that’s what they thought testicles resembled (guffaws). Yes, it was low-brow and gross but the students quickly agreed when I said that understanding a word’s etymology not only provided an interesting history lesson but also an aid to remembering the meaning of a word.

I then assigned each student one or few words to look up the definition and etymology to as homework. They were to post their findings on their blog. They, of course, also had two chapters of reading: 12-13.

My 8th graders began class with a pop quiz. I then passed back a number of assignments I had been holding. We then talked about how the novel refers to historical events such as the Birmingham Bombing. We talked about the use of bees, mothers, and the virgin mary as symbols throughout the book. We talked about how Lily both yearned for a place to belong but also seemed to resist it as she lied to August about her situation. I don’t know if it’s me or the class in general, but there’s a general malaise that’s infecting the class. I’m being very testy and the class is being very uppity.

I assigned them chapter 5 to read for homework.

TUE: Vocabulary, Cont. & In-class reading

I gave out a sheet of paper that had all the vocabulary words on it to my 7th graders. It had a column for each word’s part of speech, definition, original language, and original definition. The students had to collaborate with their classmates to fill in the sheet completely.

While they were doing that I started calling over each student one by one and asking them to give me their blog addresses so that I had a list of every student’s blog. I finished class by announcing they had three more chapters to read for homework: 14-16.

My 8th grade class got another pop quiz. I’m starting to dread this class. Dana, my wife, is noting that I seemed happier last year. I don’t think it’s the class itself per se — there’s a lot of personal stuff going on that I’m shoving under the rug — but this class is bringing out the worst in me. I threatened to keep giving them pop quizzes until they shaped up.

They had two chapters to read for homework (6-7). To ease their burden, I gave them the hour block to read in class while I took down their blog addresses as I did with my 7th grade classes. Of course, there was a lot of chit chatting going on, and I got fed up. I threatened those who were talking with a written homework assignment: three paragraphs describing the three Boatwright sisters, respectively.

The problem with threats is that they’re often all bark, no bite. You wave a stick and hope you don’t have to use it. God knows the last thing I need is a bunch more papers to grade. But I knew I had to bite today, let the class know that I’m crabby enough to be mean — that I wanted a different tone in the classroom — if not more respectful then at least more fearful. At the end of class about five students ended up getting the homework assignment. They weren’t happy, and I wasn’t happy, but it came to that.

WED: Vocabulary; Personal Symbol Assignment

I spent the 7th grade periods going over the classwork assignment from the day before. Most of the students did the work, but I thought it was worth everybody having consistent, accurate information that they could study from for their vocabulary quiz.

My Block 1 class, which had a drop block yesterday, complained that they didn’t know that I expected them to stick to the reading schedule even when there wasn’t any class. Given that it was Halloween, I didn’t assign any more reading for homework.

My 8th grade class was a little more sober today. We started with a pop quiz and then discussed a writing assignment that my co-worker came up with. I kind of regret resorting to that assignment in class. The timing is off; I don’t want to bring up any writing while the students’ Williamsburg paper is still hanging over their heads. But I didn’t think and went with it. I had them brainstorm a symbol that represented themselves. I didn’t assign any reading, but had them post a picture of their symbol on their blog. Eventually they’ll start a memoir vignette based on that symbol, but I might hold off on that until later.

THUR: Anahita’s Suitors; SLOB Discussion

The 7th grade classes started with a pop quiz. It seems to make sense with Anahita’s Woven Riddle that they get pop quizzes after every section of the book since there’s several such sections and each one seems to have a theme of some sort. These pop quizzes not only enable me to check that everyone’s reading but also gives me an opportunity to use the quiz to review several chapters worth of reading.

The class discussion revolved around Anahita’s suitors and how they might represent different traits or aspects of her culture. We ended with a quick animated debate over who would end up winning Anahita’s hand in marriage. They were then assigned chapters 17-18 to read for homework.

I didn’t give my 8th graders a pop quiz to reward them for their behavior the day before. Instead we started class with a brainstorming of descriptive properties of their personal symbol. I really wish I hadn’t brought up this assignment when I did. I might just silently kill it and bring it up again later.

We had another class discussion about the novel. The essential questions are a good framework for structuring these discussions, but I’m starting to feel like I’m using them too much as a crutch. The discussions seem lifeless; I feel like I’m going through the motions. I really need to be reading the book along with my students. I need more time!

I assigned them chapter 8 to read for homework

FRI: RSS Feeds; Group Notes

I spent my 7th grade classes showing them how to subscribe to RSS feeds on Bloglines and Google Reader. I re-emphasized the distinction between doing things the “official” way and the “un-official” way — something my 8th graders don’t seem to get.

The 7th graders seem to follow along okay, but I think I really should keep putting tech tutorials on video — students really seem to utilize them to go through the process step-by-step.

I told my 8th grade classes that I worried that no one was taking notes. As a result, I gave each table group a poster-sized piece of paper and some colored markers. I then assigned each table group one of the essential questions. They were to write as many notes on that question as they could. Later on, as the activity started to wane, I directed each person in each table group to find a unique quote relevant to their question and add it onto their paper.

It was a good exercise. Students were involved (my classes are getting too passive and I’m talking too much) and some valuable review got accomplished.

We started the week with an extended weekend to write mid-tri comments.

MON: Day off (Mid-tri comments)

TUE: Riddles

I started Anahita’s Woven Riddle with a pop quiz. I used to give a lot more of these pop quizzes earlier on in the school year last year, but I guess I was too wrapped up in the tech stuff this year to do so. What’s great about giving a number of these pop quizzes, though, is that it definitely motivates kids to keep up with the reading schedule, and it immediately singles out the kids early on that are not reading.

After the quiz we parsed the riddle Anahita poses to her father in the first chapter and came up with a simple formula to make a similar riddle: give an obvious clue (about a property of the answer), a not-so-obvious clue, and a metaphorical clue (based on a metaphorical view of the answer).

I gave them chapters 3-4 for reading homework.

The 8th graders had a drop block today.

WED: Essential Questions

I started the 7th grade classes by having each table group come up with a riddle based on yesterday’s formulation. As they came to an agreement about their riddle, I had them write the riddles on the board and then had the entire class try to guess at the riddles. The formula we came up with actually held up pretty well, and I was surprised at how good some of these riddles were.

We then took a moment to review the characters we’ve encountered so far in the book. We also took a look at the essential questions for the book. Using the general essential questions for the year, I try to tailor more specific ones for each book we read. The idea is to give these questions ahead of time so that students know what in particular to pay attention to as they read. It gives some guidance for active reading and some clues as to how I’ll frame essay questions later on. A good idea might be to give students bookmarks with the questions printed on them.

I’m a bit of a dilemma about how helpful I should be in helping my students organize their knowledge about the books we read. On the one hand, I could follow my instincts from the beginning of the year and have my students form an extensive reference on the wiki, outlining each character and plot point. I suppose that could be a good model of the kind of notes they should be taking as they read, but it also could be a good excuse not to read at all. I kind of dropped the wiki idea for now.

For homework, I had the students read chapters 5-6 and post a riddle of their creation on their blogs.

As for my eighth grade classes, we also went over the essential questions for their new book, The Secret Life of Bees. The first chapter of the book, which they should have read, is a long one and stages the rest of the book, so it was good to cover the essential questions when we did. We also did a vocabulary refresher to help them prepare for their vocabulary quiz tomorrow.

THUR: Suitor Portraits; Vocab Quiz #2

We did a fun art activity in the 7th grade classes today. The past several chapters in Anahita’s Woven Riddle has been devoted to profiling each of Anahita’s potential suitors, so I assigned each table group one of the suitors (one of the tables did Anahita herself) and had them:

1. find descriptions and characteristics of that suitor in their respective chapter and
2. draw the suitor on a large poster-sized paper.

For homework they have to read three more chapters: 7-9.

My 8th graders had a vocabulary quiz today. After the quiz we went over the five major sentence patterns, and I hinted that we would learn how to diagram sentences later on in the school year. The sentence patterns we went over are found at http://www.io.com/~hcexres/textbook/twsent.html:

1. S + V
2. S + LV + Subject-Complement
3. S + V + DO
4. S + V + IO + DO
5. S + V + DO + Object-Complement

For homework, I had them read the next chapter (2) in The Secret Life of Bees. Last year I had a less intense reading schedule for my 8th graders, but I’m looking over the amount of time we have before the end of the trimester, and it looks like it’s going to have to be pretty much a chapter a night if we’re going to finish the book in time.

FRI: The Dating Game; 8th Grade Blog Feeds

Picking up from yesterday’s activity, our class role-played the Dating Game using Anahita and her suitors. It was a fun activity, but it reminded me again how great it would be if I did some effective improv drama activities with my classes.

We had a relatively forgettable discussion, and then I assigned chapters 10-11 to read for homework.

My 8th graders went back to the computer lab to learn how to subscribe to RSS feeds using Bloglines. More chaos and frustration. I’m starting to hear a lot of bitching and moaning about the blogs. Hmmmm.

Doesn’t help that we’re plowing through the reading while they’re deep in the throes of their Williamsburg project. Must remember to do a less involving book during this time period next year. They had to read chapters 3-4 over the weekend (chapter 3 is short).

I announced on the blog over the weekend that I was going to accept the final drafts of the 8th grade Alchemist paper on Wednesday, not Monday. A couple of students still turned their papers in on Monday, but most seemed to appreciate the extra time.

MON: Of Mice and Men Skits; Paolo Coelho article

Monday and Tuesday were devoted to videotaping the 7th grade skits for Of Mice and Men. I was a little disappointed in the results; most of the kids read their scripts in a monotone, only perfunctory attempts at costumes and props were made, many of the scenes went on much too long. Part of the problem seemed to be that the kids sensed that this was a half-baked idea which only warranted a quick and dirty effort. Part of the problem seemed to be that kids were simply not used to performing. I really need to get my act together and put together some improv exercises for students to do.

Over the weekend I finally borrowed A Universal History of Infamy by Jorge Luis Borges and xeroxed the “Tale of Two Dreamers” — the short story that inspired Coelho to write The Alchemist. I also xeroxed a New Yorker profile on Paolo Coelho to read in class.

I guess I was thinking that I was going to make one more effort to communicate my problems with The Alchemist by showing how Coelho differed from Borges’ original story and by showing how Coelho himself is troublingly egocentric. Instead, I ended up boring, if not confusing, my students to tears.

TUE: Class Essay Discussion; Blogs

My co-worker came up with this idea of a class essay. She wanted to do some expository writing for Of Mice and Men and decided one way to ease into it was by writing the essay together as a class. Inspired by a recent faculty meeting, she seemed to have some success with having the class make major decisions about the essay using a discussion in the style of a Quaker Meeting for Business. So I spent Tuesday and Wednesday trying to do the same. I talked about the difference between consensus and clerking the spirit of the meeting. I discussed the prompt for the essay (comparing a contemporary marginalized group with a marginalized character within the novel) and then opened the floor to ideas about what direction to take the essay.

It was not pretty. I noted later that several patterns of behavior were evident. A few people got up to speak multiple times and dominated the conversation. Others never bothered to speak at all. Several times when the conversation seemed to be narrowing in one particular direction, someone would speak up and suggest a completely new avenue of inquiry. Sometimes two camps of thought would emerge and the conversation would turn into a debate about the merits and demerits of either side.

It’s becoming clear to me that one of the most important things I can teach — but don’t know how to teach — is how to go with the flow. How to tune into the groove of a larger community. How to go with the sense of the larger conversation.

As for the 8th grade, the tech support teacher for the Middle School came in with the mobile laptop cart and taught them the school-endorsed way to set up blogs. The blog server, I expected it to, acted very idiosyncratically, causing mass confusion and frustration among the students. We decided to schedule another session for the next day.

WED: Class Essay Paragraphs; Blogs Redux

I divided up the 7th grade classes into small groups to work on individual paragraphs for the class essay. I set up a separate wiki page for these essays and asked the 7th grade to post up their individual paragraphs within the proper order for homework.

Given the chaos of the instruction of the day before, I agreed to bring my 8th grade class into the computer lab to re-do the blog tutorials. Still some frustration and confusion but the overall affect was better.

THUR: Class Essay Revision; Vocabulary

All the 7th graders came into class today griping about lost work on the wiki. Apparently there were some problems as the time on the wiki got handed from user to user. Definitely some of the luster and novelty of technology is dulling in all of my classes.

Nevertheless it was good to have the entire essay there on the wiki to read together. We discussed the need for more coherence, flow, and transitions between each of these paragraphs. Students could definitely see for themselves how the essay as a whole wasn’t working and could immediately tell the revisions they needed to work on their individual paragraphs.

My 8th grade classes worked through the next chapter in the vocabulary books. We talked about how knowing the part of speech of a word can be a valuable consideration in trying to answer the fill-in-the-blank sentences they encounter in quizzes.

FRI: Of Mice and Men movie; Essay Introductions and Conclusions

I ended the week in my 7th grade classes by showing them scenes from the Of Mice and Men movie directed by Gary Sinise. I assigned them the first two chapters of Anahita’s Woven Riddle for weekend homework.

I gave a lecture on writing introductions and conclusions for expository essays in my 8th grade class. We talked about how the introduction starts with a hook and narrows into a thesis statement and how the conclusion repeats the paper’s argument and expands into a consideration of larger implications. The students seemed to appreciate being shown specific rhetorical moves and techniques they could make in their writing.

The eighth grade was gone all week long. Monday was Columbus Day, Tuesday was a drop block, and Wednesday on the 8th graders were on their Williamsburg trip.

MON: Columbus Day

TUE: Of Mice and Men: Characters

Another reason why these skits were a bad idea: there was a test to study for! We spent most of the class reviewing the book by going over the characters. We also briefly touched on animals and nature as a motif in Of Mice and Men.

The rest of the class was devoted to practicing the skits. I set the following guidelines for the skits:

• A script was allowed, but I wanted acting, not mere reading aloud.
• No video cuts. The skit was to be performed in one take.
• The skit needed to be rehearsed. That meant working out blocking ahead of time.
• There needed to be some effort to establish setting. (Props, backgrounds, costumes)

Small groups vied for which chapter they got to do. Within that chapter, they needed to pick a critical scene to work on. Next year (if I do this next year), I need to set a time limit on the scene.

WED: Of Mice and Men: Poem and Essential Questions

Continuing our review for Of Mice and Men, we read and discussed “To a Mouse” by Robert Burns. I played a professional reading of the poem by a true Scotsman and then explained the poem stanza by stanza.

We talked about why Steinbeck would choose to name his novel from a line out of this poem and debated who might be the mouse in the book.

I also quickly reviewed the essential questions for the book and discussed how I expected the students to explain the quotes in the test (by addressing the essential questions)

I suggested that the best way to study for the test was by looking over the wiki, the blog, highlighted passages from the book, the essential questions, and class notes.

THUR: Of Mice and Men Test

Today I gave the unit test for Of Mice and Men. I made one minor change: next to each quotation I put in a hint as to how I wanted the student to tie in their explanation of the quote to one of the essential questions. Students still had a hard time explaining the quotations, though. I think more scaffolded instruction is needed in answering such open-ended questions. Maybe something that can be done on the blogs.

FRI: Of Mice and Men Skits

I gave the period over in order for the small groups to rehearse their skits. Some of the wind seemed to have left their sails now that they just took their unit test.

After the camping trip I received an e-mail from the technology coordinator of the middle school. Apparently my substitute showed her the DVD of the video tutorials I made, and she had a lot of questions regarding my use of technology. Namely, why wasn’t I keeping her in the loop and why was I using outside web services (e.g., gmail vs the school mail server)? It was apparent the email had also been forwarded to a number of other parties, including my department head, the director of the middle school, and other administrators. The tone of the email scared me.

Needless to say, I couldn’t concentrate all weekend. On Saturday, Dana and I went to a 7 hour childbirth preparation class. On Sunday, I attended a 5 hour workshop/forum on exploring class. I feel burnt to a crisp right now. Thank God the Phillies had that amazing game on Sunday.

MON: Of Mice and Men, Ch 4 and The Alchemist Paper

Because of the hiatus away from regular instruction, I began each class with a review of the reading we had done so far. I asked my 7th graders who George and Lennie were and what events have happened on the ranch so far.

We then began reading ahead into the next chapter. I felt that students had been out of practice reading this kind of literature for a little while now, and so it would help to acclimate them back into the groove of the class if we read the book aloud together. As we read, I stopped to have brief discussions about what the setting tells us about the character of Crooks and ask about Crooks’ reaction to Lennie’s visit.

When we got to the question of why there wasn’t anyone around at camp, I saw an opportunity to raise some of the issues encountered at the Exploring Class workshop I took on Sunday. I talked about my experience having to scrimp and save as a family, how my parents squirreled away all their money for the future. I then talked about my experience later on in life when I lived in a neighborhood that celebrated the first of the month with raucous parties and profligate spending. We brainstormed on why this neighborhood might feel compelled to spend and not save. Most classes touched on a lack of education, the need for escapism, and the level of daily stress. I proffered, in addition, the possibility of the dearth of credible institutions, the high level of crime, the low expectation (even of survival) of the future. I could’ve gone on, but the kids got the point.

I then did an exercise that I learned from another seminar (led by the same organization, Class Action) where each student sat on their desk. Each student represented an even proportion of the population and each desk represented an even proportion of the wealth. I then designated one cluster of students, about one third of the population, as the affluent class and started taking desks away from other students to give to them. They ended up with about two-thirds of the wealth and everybody else had to squeeze into the remaining third of the desks.

We then discussed how people behaved and felt being in their respective situations. We noted how those who were affluent seemed at ease, nice, generous, smug. Everybody else seemed stressed, competitive, mean, unwilling to yield. Some gave up looking for a space. Others celebrated what little space they had and refused to give it up. All in all, it was a great exercise that really seemed to hit home how those who are marginalized have to develop a different mentality that one should not be so quick to judge.

I spent my eighth grade class introducing the expository essay they needed to write for me for The Alchemist. We went over the different options of topics, and I urged them to start culling textual support for the option they wanted to go with.

We ended the eighth grade class going over the grammar assessment they took while I was gone. It was apparent the usual suspects were giving students trouble: adjectives vs adverbs, linking and helping verbs, prepositions. Unfortunately, Dana who helped me grade these grammar assessments over the weekend, must have felt particularly pregnant for there were a number of irregularities that I needed to apologize for. Thank God it was not graded.

Of course I also had to deal with the fall out of my technology outing all day. I met one-on-one with the technology coordinator and had conferences with the director of the middle school twice. I also had to schedule a meeting with the head of my department. To my relief, the general tone of these meetings was of reassurance, support, and curiosity along with scrutiny and concern. I had to demonstrate the technology I was using and justify my decisions. There were some arched eyebrows and uncomfortable pauses, but the overall sense was not punitive. I ended up stammering a lot about why I didn’t involve more people into my process, and then repeating over and over that I would change my ways.

Now, would I prefer to circumvent all this nervousness and red tape? You betcha. But I’m resolved to think now that the more important lesson for me as an educator may not be to break barriers in my classroom, but to gently provoke the rest of my community. At the end of the day it may have felt like I was taking five steps back, but I’m going ahead to try to see it, instead, as a step forward.

TUE: Of Mice and Men, Ch 4 Revisited and Substitute: Vocab Review

One of my seventh grade blocks was dropped today, so we went back to further discussing chapter 4. We read the passage where Curley’s wife intrudes upon Candy, Lennie, and Crooks’ pow-wow. We talked about how Candy suddenly gets more gumption to stand up to her, but is then later put in his place. The students were intrigued/confused about Crooks, who is one of the most complex characters in the book. His tough exterior hides a sensitivity and desperate need for belonging. I made sure we also touched on The American Dream and how that bucks up these characters just as it might be out of their reach.

We discussed John Steinbeck’s mascot (the Pigasus) and his motto — Ad Astra Per Alia Porci (To the stars on the wings of pigs). I mentioned how nearly all of Steinbeck’s novels deal with the subject of the marginalized working class in America. We discussed possible interpretations of that motto, that fulfillment is nigh impossible for the poor, that society can only reach its ideals by giving its marginalized the chance to soar, that we must consider the gap between the transcendental and mundane reality.

Finally, I ended the 7th grade classes sharing the vocabulary story I picked for the Answers.com contest. I had to make sure the day before that I posted the stories on the class blog and then formally submitted them to the contest.

I had to make sure I begged students not to finish the book prematurely.

I took a half-day today, and so I didn’t get a chance to teach my eighth grade class. Instead I instructed my substitute to review the assigned reading by giving each table cluster a large sheet of easel paper and then have them each go over a different aspect of the book (Plot, Character, etc.) They were then to share their discussions as a class.

Unfortunately, my 8th grade class had an hour block, so I also instructed the substitute to go over the vocabulary quiz that the class took the week before and then, with the remaining time, show the class the video I made of their creative project presentations.

WED: Grammar and Nearing the End of OMM & Stages, Omens, and Obstacles

I started my seventh grade classes with a grammar assessment. While most students seemed enthusiastic about keeping track of which answers they got right, it was fairly clear that nearly everyone had a lot of confusion about the different parts of speech. Adverbs, possessive adjectives, and prepositions in general seemed to generate a lot of wrong answers.

We moved on to a discussion of the penultimate chapter of Of Mice and Men, discussing how Curley’s wife ended up on the ranch and what her dream was. And, of course, we speculated on what would happen in the last chapter, which we agreed to read together the next day.

My eighth grade class began class grouping into which option they wanted to pursue for their Alchemist paper. We discussed the previous night’s reading from the framework of the different papers: What stage is Santiago in now? What omens has he seen? What obstacles has he encountered?

I gave them the reading assignment for the night and then discussed due dates for the paper, which were pushed back in agreement with my colleagues.

I then discussed a theoretical paper and showed how I wanted each supporting paragraph to have textual support based on character, plot, and quotation. I wasn’t entirely sure whether I wanted students to turn in the kind of outline I did in class and so some confusion ensued about my expectations. Any amount of confusion escalates very quickly within my 8th grade class, so I think I’ll have to put out some fires and hold some hands the next day.

In other news, I had a meeting with the head of my department today. He was frank about his trepidation about the use of technology and how it exposes the publication of student work to the wide world. He’s a reasonable guy, though, and understands that some of his fears may be unfounded. The other issue he brought up is the priority of instruction in an English class — that we not sacrifice our core competency in critical reading and writing for other things, be it technology or research. He wanted to make sure, in other words, that my English class didn’t turn into a computer or history class in following interdisciplinary paths.

This meeting clarified for me the three major obstacles I’m encountering:

1. That my class is transforming into something radically different from the other classes and is losing its place within the general program of the school.
2. That the technology is steering us into gray zones of safety, security, and legality that tests issues of accountability and liability.
3. That relinquishing complete control over technology services and infrastructure means losing the ability to track and enforce student accountability.

THUR: Of Mice and Men, Ch. 6 & Alchemist Paper Outlines

All week long I’ve been begging my seventh graders not to read ahead, not to peek at how Of Mice and Men ends. Today I give my best dramatic reading of the entire last chapter. It’s all worth it when I hear some faint gasps as I get to the end.

Afterwards, we talked about:

• Why did Slim tell George, “You hadda do it?”
• Why are the images coming out of Lennie’s head that of Aunt Clara and a giant rabbit?
• Is George a good friend of Lennie?
• Why does the chapter begin with the description of the heron and the snakes?

In order to help my eighth graders out with their Alchemist papers, I gave out a graphic organizer that made clear that for each supporting paragraph, they needed a direct quote and textual evidence regarding plot and character. It’s mechanical, but I suppose it forces students who tend to skimp out on textual evidence to find some.

I spent a good chunk of time lecturing on the importance of having a good thesis statement — one that wasn’t superficial. I emphasized that the thesis needed to tie in all the supporting paragraphs and had to give some real insight about the book. Students seemed to understand better when I restated this last point to say that the thesis had to say something new about what the book had to say about life.

Later I saw on an upper-school poster that a good thesis needed to be debatable — that it shouldn’t be obvious. I need to remember that one.

The thesis really gave some students trouble. Next year, it might be better to give the students the thesis outright and let them worry just about the supporting paragraphs.

FRI: Of Mice and Men Skit & Alchemist Climax

I treated the seventh grade to a video done as a class project by two students at another school and posted on Google Video. The kids loved it, and so I thought it would be a great idea to have them, in small groups, act out critical scenes from the book and film it on video.

In hindsight, it was a bad idea:

1. Although my co-worker didn’t mind my project, it still sent my classes off in a different direction than hers.
2. I had already planned (but forgotten) to spend the next week showing the movie version of the book. Now I no longer have the time to do that.
3. I now have one more thing to grade — that I don’t even know how to grade, really.
4. It was a half-baked idea.

Ah well.

As for my 8th graders, flush from the success of my Of Mice and Men readings from yesterday, I read aloud the climactic moment of The Alchemist. Okay, but not earth-shattering.

The passage mystified the students. Big surprise — it mystified me when I first read it. Now I realize it’s really at the heart of why I don’t like this book, but I had a hard time conveying that without resorting to a personal rant. In the end, I’m unsatisfied that I’ve taught this book so vaguely.