If I were truly a dedicated NaNoian this should have been my first NaNo post. Well, not wanting to be too crazy this year, I’ve decided not to NaNo in 2013. I have previously NaNoed and have the completion certificate hanging on the wall. I even have bounced the manuscript out to a couple of editors and agents.
This year, however, instead of something new I shall continue with my vow of completion commitment. No more new starts until finishing half-started projects–umm, those of merit. Some projects should keep on hibernating for both our sakes.
Yes, I am intent on finishing the middle grade historical novel I’ve been working on for the last ten years. I know, that’s an awfully long time, especially when in just a month’s time I cranked out a YA novel a couple of years. Contemporary fiction , I’ve discovered, is so much easier than writing middle reader historical fiction. researching for a historical novel is one big onion of peel and write. As soon as I peel back one layer of information another layer is revealed. Yes, peeling historical onions do make me cry. Getting facts straight, setting up proper verisimilitude, along with creating catchy characters, scintillating setting, and convincing complications, conflict, and climax is tough stuff. At least for me. I’m determined to finish this odyssey of a pioneer tale I started, especially when I’ve had an agent express interest.
Sooo, Na No not now, but thanks for the invite. This year my RSVP box is checked “next year, perhaps.”
at least according to some of my freshmen. I can understand their point. Who wants to study grammatically incorrect phrasings and try to make sense of what they are talking about when you are doing all you can at trying to get a handle on whether it’s “A” day or “B” day and what lunch you have (“ummm, first lunch on “A” day or was that “B” day?). But we’ve made a commitment to Common Core and it’s full speed ahead.
Cover of Dead Poets Society
Actually, I’ve always been a proponent of poetry. I’ve brought cowboy poets into the classroom, Beatle songs, clips of Robin Williams doing his crazy wonderful teacher in Dead Poets Society, and provided recipes for poems. I had football players writing love poems and entering contests, mud boggers writing sonnets about their trucks. We’ve explored performance poetry through Taylor Mali’s incredible YouTube videos and we’ve participated in a packed-out community program of youth performing their own poetry.
Common Core though, I’ve noticed, has dented my zing. I’ve been having students prepare for their SBAC (I should know what that means) by writing up reaction paragraphs to each poem as a means of them practicing their critical thinking skills. There is nothing wrong with understanding and recognizing how, or what, or why the poem works, yet poetry is so different from prose. It should encourage the soul to sing. I’m afraid in my zeal for my students to do well on their tests by getting their writing skills up to stuff I’ve lost my way towards my original goal of greeting me with “What’s the poem today?” with that anticipation of a new flavor to relish.
Hmm, some Walt Whitman and Song of Myself might do it…
Celebrity spotting can be fun and definitely livens up conversations as people trade their “I saw —- at —–,” quips and crows. Spotting is one thing, encounters are another.
Encounters are where you actually get to have a conversation, or spend some time with the person of celebre status. For instance, I’ve spotted Viggo Mortenson signing autographs at an art gallery showing (promoting his North American photo art), the Portland Blazers at the airport (wow–they are tall), Ralph Nader giving a speech, but never conversed with them, hence no encounter checkmark.
Ralph Nader (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Viggo Mortensen (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This summer while vacationing, The MEPA and I were walking in a park and I tend to get annoyed when the people in front of me are moving too slow. I would not be a good candidate for Disneyland action in summer. I am about to pass this older gentleman in front of me, when I hear The MEPA speak up, “Would that be the famous Ben Stein?” and I do a double-take when I hear, “Yes, it is.” And it IS Ben Stein! I think, “Cool, Ben Stein,” and begin to give him his space, because it must get tedious to have the public pester you just because you are famous. But then he starts talking to us and not wanting to be rude we match stride with him and before you know it I’m walking next to Ben Stein around the park. Here’s what I basically remember:
Ben: And what do you do for a living?
Me: I’m a teacher (this is where he got interested)
Ben: Really? What do you teach?
Me: Freshmen English and Senior AP Literature (then he got really interested)
Ben: I would love to come to an AP English class. Could I come to your class? What would I have to do? (he was serious!)
I then explained about security measures, about how he would have to let the high school knowing he is coming and how he would have to sign in, and at this point I’m thinking “Do I really want Ben Stein watch me teach?” It’s a bit intimidating, if you think about it. Here is one of the most famed teachers (at least of popular culture) asking to drop in on my class:
As we continued to walk Ben expressed his concerns about students and literature:
Ben: I don’t think kids today read enough. Do you teach The Great Gatsby?
Me: Actually, that’s taught at the junior level.
Ben: Do the kids like it?
Me: I think they like it better since Leonardo di Caprio is in the new movie.
Ben: Have you seen the movie?
I replied I hadn’t, explaining it looked a bit too hipped up for my taste, and considering I didn’t like Baz Luhrman’s version of Romeo and Juliet I didn’t think I would be seeing his version of Gatsby anytime soon. Ben agreed he didn’t care for Luhrman’s R&J either, but floored me by saying he’s seen The Great Gatsby thirteen times! Thirteen times! I didn’t even watch Star Wars more than five times when it came out in the theaters (yes, my age is showing again, darn it).
Our walk ended because we were continuing on and he wanted to return and walk back to the park entrance. Since that encounter I wonder if I will ever get a phone call from our principal saying Ben Stein is in the office and says he is ready to be my guest for the day. I’ve decided to create a Ben Stein lesson plan should the event arise.
First of all, I can’t resist attendance. I go by class seating not alphabet.
“Bronson, Taylor, Reynolds–oh, Stein. Yes, you must be new. Welcome to class.”
Of course, there would be introductions: “Class, this is Ben Stein. He is interested in AP Literature. Mr. Stein, I believe you were a teacher once?”
Maybe I would turn the class over to him. As long as he didn’t talk about economics, I think my students would be interested in what he had to say. Maybe he would talk about The Great Gatsby. This could actually have possibilities.
So, if you are walking in the park and have an encounter with Ben Stein, could you please tell him I’ve got the lesson plan ready?
Trying to create and stick to the writing goals I created earlier this year is like trying to free throw a basketball into a Dixie cup 300 feet away. Or if you substitute “goals” for “deadlines” in this choice quote, it’s the same idea.
I lovedeadlines. I like the whooshing sound they make as they fly by. Douglas Adams English humorist & science fiction novelist (1952 – 2001)
Actually there is no subsequent number of reasons of why I Laugh Out Loud when it comes to setting writing goals. It’s ridiculous that I even try. Every June once school is out I say, “Wow! I’ve got all this time to get some serious writing done now. Hah! and double Hah!! It’s summer, baby–time to play in the sun, get those house projects done, squeeze out some fun. Oh yeah, writing goals…
I started out well. My basic goal was to get at least two projects sent out to an editor/agent/publisher every week. It lasted about two weeks. I tried this goal because I did manage to do so at one point in life. I had about 20 projects floating out there in publishingland limbo at one point. I was playing the odds that at least one project would make it. Kind of like Charlie and the Golden Ticket syndrome (all I need is one to get me in!) Unlike Charlie who had to eat chocolate to obtain his ticket, I had to either paste on stamps or hit sent. Neither option proved tasty, but as I recall I did have a couple of projects get greenlit for publication which resulted in some greenbacks. I probably bought a chocolate bar to celebrate.
After Labor Day weekend I return to teaching, which means not so much time for writing. The two-project-a-week writing goal went to the wayside. I did get two projects published (with payment), so it looks like the results were the same. Even though I’m resuming my day job maybe I can squeeze in the goal of one project submitted somewhere to somebody once every other week.
Hmm, that whoosing sound seems to becoming louder.
I’m going for the chocolate. Golden ticket or not.
With school about to start I’m ignoring some areas of my life (housework: wow, is that dust thick or what) and going into overdrive in others (library browsing:l’ll take that one and that one, and this one too). I can easily ignore cleaning, cooking, gardening, even writing knowing I have only a week or so left to read at leisure
Reading at leisure. That grand and glorious luxury of picking up a book anytime during the day or night and divulging in a session of indulgence. I’m on a zero pressure schedule currently. At least for now. After September 3rd I begin the nine month marathon once again and my leisure time gets yanked, oh so cruelly, away and becomes dry docked until further notice.
So, is it greed or need that I’m currently reading five, or is that six, books at present?
The Notebooks of Da Vinci–inquiring minds must know
Miners and Travelers Guide by John Mullan–research
The History of Idaho Territory–research, but Idaho is an underrated state
Edna and John–a love story of sorts from the 1860 Idaho Gold Rush days
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde–been on my NTR list for some time now
The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister–fave librarian ET handed me this and said “read this” and so I am–I forcibly have to stop myself from reading it so I can get at least a little something done it’s so good!
Oh, then there is the assorted magazines like my newest Writer and stack of freebies one of my writer group cohorts passed my way.
So the prognosis is? Well, self diagnosis is that I’m leaning towards reading for my current writing project (fictional novel set in the Idaho Gold Rush days), but I’m slipping in some goodtime reads (although Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde is not exactly Mr. Goodtime). Reading my Need-tos and slipping in my Greed-toos–isn’t that similar to a bite of beans along with my chocolate pudding (who says dessert must wait?)
Anyone else out there try to find a balance between Need to Read and Greedy Reading? As long as we are reading it’s all good, right?
I’m not quite in countdown mode, nonetheless, I am very much anticipating the new version of Romeo and Juliet which is FINALLY being released in the US. I have been following its progress for the past two years, waiting, watching for news, photo releases, projected film dates. And finally, yes finally, the new Romeo and Juliet will be out in theaters in the fall. First they said February, then it was July, and then I heard September, and unless they’ve changed it again, it should be coming out about the time school is back in full swing. Field trip, anyone?
image: thewallmachine.com
image:gnomeoandjuliet.wiki.org
Another reason I’m so excited about a new version of Romeo and Juliet is because it’s overdue for a freshening up. The 1968 version with Olivia Hussey had its moments, and although it didn’t follow the play exactly, it does give students a fairly good idea of the tragedy of the star-crossed lovers. West Side Story is the classic sixties adaptation, and once again, it is not the true play. The 1990s version with Leonardo D. and Claire strays too far from the actual play to count as a true teachable film version. Interestingly enough, my ninth graders either love it or despise it, due to its style. Of course, they all adore Gnomeo and Juliet, which is cute, yet again, strays so far from the play I only serve it up as an inducement,provided they get all their R&J assignments in by the end of the quarter.
Other reasons I’m looking forward to the new version:
1. Hailee Steinfeld as Juliet. She owned the part of Mattie in True Grit, and held her own against Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon, who were also impressed with her. I can’t wait to see what she does with Juliet.
2. Updated cinematography. 1968 to 2013 means improvements in the quality of production.
3. I’m really tired of the 1968 Zeferelli movie. I have taught ninth grade for 10 plus years with three to four sections each year, which means I’ve watched the film, oh about 40 times. Yeah, I’m ready for a new version.
4. Paul Giametti as Friar Lawrence. I’m a Paul G fan, for sure.
5. Julian Fellowes adapted the play, (Downton Abbey), and that in itself is a huge reason my anticipation factor is revving up.
Anyone else anticipating a new Juliet with her Romeo?
One of those Tome Treasures I own is an old grammar handbook: Understanding and Using English. It’s publish date is 1949 and it is by the Birks, Newman B and Genevieve B, respectively. I am always curious and interested in browsing old grammar books because grammar used to have more active precedence in prior years, especially in English courses. Now, it’s more about writing, but how can one write well without knowing how to put words together? It’s like requiring a person to cook without showing them where the spices are in the rack.
Usually old grammar books are a snore and a half. I was proved wrong. The first chapter “Language and Meaning” introduction floored me with its eloquence:
Modern man lives in a world of words, and the kind of world he lives in depends to a surprisingly large extent on the words that he uses and hears. Words can make or prevent wars, solemnize marriages or invalidate them, form constitutions or destroy them, sell shoddy or superior products or ideas, justify man’s worst actions or express his highest ideals. Because of the immense power of language, or even a few words, advertisers pay large sums for the best phrase or slogan or jingle, and no responsible statesman feels free to depart from the letter of his carefully prepared speech. Lawyers may spend hours in court trying to fix the meaning of a single word, and one of the chief functions of our Supreme Court is interpreting the words of the law of the land.
I am considering opening my initial grammar session with this. Words and their meaning are so important. How they are portrayed is essential, and so it is essential we know the rules of the road. More good stuff:
Since language is so important, it is strange that in our society more people have a reasonably accurate idea of how an automobile works and how to handle it than of how their native language works and how to handle it. Even poor drivers know what the accelerator and the steering wheel and even the brake are for, and have some knowledge of the relationship between the cylinders and the gasoline and the spark. They can use road maps to drive a car from New York to San Francisco and can arrive at Sand Francisco without difficulty.
Okay, when this book was written cars and traveling was probably simpler. However, the analogy remains that people can learn to navigate a car down the road better than they can constructing a sentence. Why?
For one thing, [students] have often been led to accept and to follow uncritically a large number of rules for the writing of “correct” English. Suppose we look, for example, at some of these “rules.”
1. “Never end a sentence with a preposition.” Must we always say, “On which chair do you wish me sit?” and never “Which chair do you want me to sit on?” Of course not.
2. “Don’t use contractions.” Many English teachers have written this as a comment on themes. Are the teachers using incorrect English?
3. “Avoid slang.” Does this mean that a sports writer or a person writing on jazz must avoid all use of slang?
4. “Never begin a sentence with but or and.” Never? But we are doing it at this very moment.
5. “Always use a comma between two independent clauses joined by and, but, for, or, nor.” In “I was there and he wasn’t,” what good would a comma after “there” do? Probably none at all.
6.”Every sentence must have a subject and a predicate.” If this is always true, why do so many able writers–Steinbeck, Dos Passos, Thomas Wolfe, to name just a few–frequently write sentences that are incomplete, and why do such sentences into English texts as models of style?
That came out of 1949! I so applaud how the Birks poke at the conventions of stuffiness. My students come up with the above observations all the time! Here is one of the stellar gems of reflection:
Language has been called “the dress of thought”; like dress it needs to be appropriate. Formality and a certain type of correctness are sometimes necessary and desirable, but for everyday expression (written and spoken) a less formal language is usually appropriate, and a different and less formal standard of correctness apples.
All I can say is: Exactly!
The rest of the book is divided up sections of use: Conventions and Meaning; Exercising Intelligent Choice; Developing an Effective Style; Good Paragraphs; Language in Action plus Some Everyday Uses of English.
I think I will settle in with this as my primer for returning to school. This fall begins the focus on Common Core Standards and last year as I piloted the ninth grade curriculum it became more than apparent that students didn’t give much credence to grammar and were often perplexed by it. Maybe I can stretch out that car analogy since many of my freshmen will be driving by the end of the year *I always tell them to warn me when they get their permits-jk, jk*: “Hey kiddos, if you can read and memorize the driver’s ed manual in order to pass your test, I know you can do the same with grammar!”
Wait–I know. I will morph the sagacity of this little grammar tome with the unequivocal wisdom of The Beatles:
Pressure comes from teachers assigning novels that no one wants to read, but students must read in order to complete the course. Mark Twain hit that one spot on:
Classic–a book which people praise and don’t read- Pudd’nhead Wilson’s New Calendar
I am THAT teacher who literally pressures students into reading. Granted, I get my own pressure from the curriculum powers that be. Certain novels must be taught, which means I must find ways to entice students to read them. Over the years I have gathered up sources I point out to students so that they may better understand the stories, poems, and novels I toss out to them. Some teachers promote the erroneous idea that to utilize a resource like Sparknotes is cheating. Huh? That’s like me handing out To Kill a Mockingbird to my ninth graders, instructing them to sit down in a closet, and I shut the door. They might as well read in the dark if they don’t understand what they are reading. I know some students who never read assigned books and only Sparknote them (an AP student admitted this to his teacher, tsk 2 honesty 1). My thoughts on this are: a)it’s not like Sparknotes are contraband or are damaging to young minds b)at least he is familiar with the novel now. Some reading, even if it’s through summary, is better than no reading.
The other kind of pressure comes after we have left school and feel the need to fill in the holes of our education by reading all those classics we weren’t assigned or assigned and didn’t read. The Picture of Dorian Gray, Crime and Punishment, Robinson Crusoe, the list goes on. Just because we are in college or are college graduated, older, smarter, more aware, yada yada, that doesn’t mean we understand Virginia Woolf, James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner, any better. We can also get by with a little help from our friends, those marvelous lit aide sites:
Sparknotes.com–the go-to site for understanding a novel. It covers content, facts, chapter summary, characters, theme, major quotes, all the biggies. There are even quizzes to test comprehension plus videos (major spoilers though).
PinkMonkey.com–never mind the name, it delivers the same sort of information in a somewhat different style.
Cliffnotes.com–if you are as old as me then you remember those wonderful little yellow and black booklets (anyone else think they resembled bees?–and if a teacher caught you with them you got stung?) that helped shed light on Hamlet, Huckleberry Finn, etc. They are now adding videos to their venue. Mmm, I’d say the videos are at about middle school level in approach, although most of my ninth graders liked the silly humor.
Novelguide.com–I used to rely on this site for my insights when preparing a unit, but then I discovered…
Shmoop.com–a most excellent and diverse site for pulling in understanding for both contemporary (mainly prevalent bestsellers) and classics. Prepared by smartypants PhD students (so they say) there is a break down of overview, analysis, theme, essay questions, characters, and a roundup of the best of the net. Videos are often a part of the lineup which are designed to evoke discussion (great for Socratic seminars) and are crafted with cunning.
Cummingsstudyguide.net–another site when needing deeper analysis needs. While basic, it nevertheless provides great insights.
Thugnotes.com–new to the scene, it’s difficult to know what to do with this venue. Sparky Sweets, PhD, is an erudite street talking armchair lit critic. The paradox of foul-mouthed summary offset with finely constructed analysis makes this video series a conundrum. I know the students would appreciate how he brings literature to an understandable level, yet there is need for more beeps or I would be answering to the admin. For a bit of entertainment and enlightenment I present as a choice with caution to those who prefer to not have their classics fouled.
There are more sites out there, and I would appreciate hearing your faves.
Reason Two
If you read the classics for pleasure then you will still appreciate the above-mentioned sites as they add to the reading experience.
Read the classics, no matter if you have to or want to, for they are the foundation of all we read today!
“To be successful at reading comprehension, students need to …” (Photo credit: Ken Whytock)
Where’s Fonzie when I need him for fashion advice?
It’s Spirit Week next week, which gives a bit of a break to the countdown tedium of stuffy classrooms. Rumor has it we have AC. Thanks, I’ll get back to you on that.
I’m one of those wacky teachers that likes to dress up, yet not so much I don’t regret it by third period. Wearing silly gets thin after about two hours for me.
Here is the venue: I am so open to suggestions
Monday: 90’s–denim?
Tuesday: 80’s–legwarmers workout spandex?
Wednesday: 70’s –Flashdance?
Thursday: 60’s–I got the overalls and love beads (peace out)
Friday: lost in the fifties (I own saddle shoes)
This will be a nice respite from the dress code violations of tube tops and short shorts. “But everyone else wears them!”
I don’t get into countdown mode until after Memorial Day weekend. But I’m reconsidering it after this week.
Having loaned out a book so long ago I thought I had inadvertently donated to Somewhere (Friends of the Library book sale, Goodwill, who knows), I did a happy dance to have it once again returned to me. I gleaned it long ago when deleting old and dilapidated items from the school library. Only a Word Geek would appreciate this title:
It’s full of idioms and the background of why we say what we say. Published in 1953, it’s actually older than I am; however, when I do utter some of these expressions now and then my students do that sideways eye glance at each other, and I will know they haven’t a clue what I am talking about. This book, now back in my possession, helps me explain why we say what we say.
For instance:
“His excuse about not reading the assignment was above board.”
>What’s she talking about?<
>I dunno. It’s one of her odd things she says<
Well, it’s not that odd when you think about it. Sailors deal with the water in two ways: what goes on below, and thus unseen, and what goes on above, which is most easily seen. When things could be seen easily, clearly, straightforward, and even honestly it was considered above board, or above the water line.
Hence, the student’s excuse about not reading the assigned homework was honest. I believed the reason.
>Why didn’t she say that in the first place?<
>I dunno. She says stuff like that all the time.<
Has anyone got an idiom you say but haven’t the foggiest what it means? Betcha my lil book explains it. Send ’em my way.
Pam Webb 