performed by: bright eyes.
this song/video=happiness.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
new unit.
on the school front, we're tying up our unit on Animal Farm. i think the kids are pretty happy about that; only about 2 of them seemed to enjoy the book at all.
it really bites that they have to do all of their reading in the classroom, because it takes up a lot of time we don't have. and i feel terribly bad for the kids who read slower than the rest, because they're always behind. thankfully, the library had quite a few copies of the book, so i just sent them out as needed to get a copy, and we managed that way.
as a final project, i had the students create their own country. this turned out to be an incredible amount of fun. i'll try to take some pictures of their creations, because they were truly unique ideas. they all went above and beyond what i'd expected. we're finishing these up tomorrow, when we get back from spring break, and then we'll be doing presentations on tuesday.
after that, we start Elie Wiesel's NIGHT:
NOTE: it's also an Oprah's Book Club pick! who knew?
i'd never read this book before, and knew only that it was a memoir based around a Jewish man's experiences during the Holocaust.
i decided, since i would be teaching it fairly soon, that i should probably read the book.
and
it. was. beautiful.
absolutely beautiful. i don't say this about books very often, but it was like poetry in prose form. where Animal Farm is brusque and to the point, with very little description or figurative language, Night is rich in detail and emotion. it is simply gorgeous.
i want the kids to be able to really appreciate the novel, not just for what an accomplishment it is (Elie Wiesel went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his extensive autobiographical work), but for what an absolute work of ART it is.
i have so many ideas floating around my head right now.
what i'd really like to do, before we jump into a completely new unit, is to make a transition of sorts, because Animal Farm does have a great deal in common with the events that transpired during the Holocaust. both instances are about power, and the people at the bottom not being aware of what those people in power's true motives are. the beginning of Night focuses on Wiesel's family, and the other Jewish families, and their communal disbelief that the Nazi party could be doing anything all THAT BAD. their disbelief continues until they are actually taken to Auschwitz, adn then they understand. that's a very big theme that plays throughout Animal Farm as well. disbelief that the pigs are only out for themselves, and that conditions are becoming worse on the farm than they were under the leadership of Mr. Jones.
so that's what i'm working on right now.
i'd also like to bring in some other examples of memoir writing, and have the students work on a memoir of their own, because i really believe that personal writing is incredibly important.
we'll see.
it really bites that they have to do all of their reading in the classroom, because it takes up a lot of time we don't have. and i feel terribly bad for the kids who read slower than the rest, because they're always behind. thankfully, the library had quite a few copies of the book, so i just sent them out as needed to get a copy, and we managed that way.
as a final project, i had the students create their own country. this turned out to be an incredible amount of fun. i'll try to take some pictures of their creations, because they were truly unique ideas. they all went above and beyond what i'd expected. we're finishing these up tomorrow, when we get back from spring break, and then we'll be doing presentations on tuesday.
after that, we start Elie Wiesel's NIGHT:
NOTE: it's also an Oprah's Book Club pick! who knew?
i'd never read this book before, and knew only that it was a memoir based around a Jewish man's experiences during the Holocaust.
i decided, since i would be teaching it fairly soon, that i should probably read the book.
and
it. was. beautiful.
absolutely beautiful. i don't say this about books very often, but it was like poetry in prose form. where Animal Farm is brusque and to the point, with very little description or figurative language, Night is rich in detail and emotion. it is simply gorgeous.
i want the kids to be able to really appreciate the novel, not just for what an accomplishment it is (Elie Wiesel went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize for his extensive autobiographical work), but for what an absolute work of ART it is.
i have so many ideas floating around my head right now.
what i'd really like to do, before we jump into a completely new unit, is to make a transition of sorts, because Animal Farm does have a great deal in common with the events that transpired during the Holocaust. both instances are about power, and the people at the bottom not being aware of what those people in power's true motives are. the beginning of Night focuses on Wiesel's family, and the other Jewish families, and their communal disbelief that the Nazi party could be doing anything all THAT BAD. their disbelief continues until they are actually taken to Auschwitz, adn then they understand. that's a very big theme that plays throughout Animal Farm as well. disbelief that the pigs are only out for themselves, and that conditions are becoming worse on the farm than they were under the leadership of Mr. Jones.
so that's what i'm working on right now.
i'd also like to bring in some other examples of memoir writing, and have the students work on a memoir of their own, because i really believe that personal writing is incredibly important.
we'll see.
spring break recap.
it's sunday, and the last day of my very short spring break.
really, it was just as long as anyone else's spring break, it just felt particularly short-lived.
i've done almost completely nothing this week, except refine and tune my resume, and work. the resume looks excelente, thanks to the feedback of my lovely sister, who happened to take an entire class over resume writing/job interviewing and the like.
now i just have to get my letter of recommendation, write up my list of references, and i'm good to go.
i started browsing for english positions in the surrounding school districts, and right now there's a whole lot of nothing. however, i have high hopes! i WILL find a job!
in the meantime, i really need to find me a job (probably in the service industry) for the summertime. i need some hours, VERY badly.
the past couple of days have been fun, though. Will came to visit, and to check out SXSW, so he's been staying with us since Thursday. we checked out a couple of shows, learned how to play Settlers of Catan (which is SUPER FUN), and just had some generally good times. he's leaving today, and i'm currently at work, which kind of sucks...but that's just the way things are.
it was really nice having him here, though. we haven't had many opportunities to hang out in the past couple of years, just a day here and there, on christmas break or maybe during the summer months. it was nice to just kind of catch up.
also, it's good to have some motivation to get out of the apartment. if we don't have other people to think about, me and LB will just stay in and watch HGTV all day. maybe leave to go to the grocery store so we can make some dinner, but that's about it. we're kind of lame that way.
all in all, i wish i had some more time off. but i'll work with what i've got.
really, it was just as long as anyone else's spring break, it just felt particularly short-lived.
i've done almost completely nothing this week, except refine and tune my resume, and work. the resume looks excelente, thanks to the feedback of my lovely sister, who happened to take an entire class over resume writing/job interviewing and the like.
now i just have to get my letter of recommendation, write up my list of references, and i'm good to go.
i started browsing for english positions in the surrounding school districts, and right now there's a whole lot of nothing. however, i have high hopes! i WILL find a job!
in the meantime, i really need to find me a job (probably in the service industry) for the summertime. i need some hours, VERY badly.
the past couple of days have been fun, though. Will came to visit, and to check out SXSW, so he's been staying with us since Thursday. we checked out a couple of shows, learned how to play Settlers of Catan (which is SUPER FUN), and just had some generally good times. he's leaving today, and i'm currently at work, which kind of sucks...but that's just the way things are.
it was really nice having him here, though. we haven't had many opportunities to hang out in the past couple of years, just a day here and there, on christmas break or maybe during the summer months. it was nice to just kind of catch up.
also, it's good to have some motivation to get out of the apartment. if we don't have other people to think about, me and LB will just stay in and watch HGTV all day. maybe leave to go to the grocery store so we can make some dinner, but that's about it. we're kind of lame that way.
all in all, i wish i had some more time off. but i'll work with what i've got.
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