Back to School

After five days off, it nice to get back to work. I think most teachers really need this break to recharge their batteries. It worked for me. With our new curriculum, it was nice to get a few days to get my wind after staying just a few days ahead of my students.

I was also able to get around 17 solid pages of my essay. I feel good about that. I spent Wednesday and Thursday really polishing the finished pages as much as I could. I think I am going to share that process with my College Composition students to illustrate revision rather than just editing.

Now in my junior English class we will venture into Edgar Allen Poe territory - just in time for Halloween. Then I think I'm going to incorporate Fahrenheit 451 into the curriculum. In terms of chronological order, it doesn't fit, but our text has always made a point to include a section "Literature Through Time" that connects literature thematically. I'd like students see the similarity between Fahrenheit and The Crucible.

Now my senior English class is a different story. I have several seniors who have told me that they will only be in the class for one quarter (since they took both Brit Lit and Comp II last year as juniors, both of those classes have been combined to make our new one semester senior English class). I think we'll read some more selections from the Restoration Period.

In College Comp, we will analyze "The Yellow Wallpaper" today. I'll return their first set of essays for theme #3 and I'll have them write some more. Like always, that class is sheer joy.