It has been over a year since I have utilized the medium of my ever-faithful blog. So much has happened that it would be futile and a waste of time to attempt to recount it all here. I will simply say that I am still reading good books, still teaching, and still, surprisingly enough, a work in progress. I am using this current post to delay much-needed grading. I know that it’s inevitable, that stack of papers and projects, but I just have not awakened to the reality of it yet. That said, I am sitting here, looking brain-dead, but there are currently a plethora of ideas bouncing around my tiny brain. Here’s a brief, not-so-complete list:
1. Should I do literature circles next year, or are they the idealist’s waste of time? I’m currently reading Harvey Daniels’ book on the subject, and the idea of student-centered, small-group learning is a fascinating one. The true question: will it work?
2. Is a graduate degree or graduate certificate in non-profit management actually worthwhile? Or is it something that bookstore nerds and baristas do in their spare time? I am interested in the job possibilities that these programs ostensibly open up, but is it just a pipe dream? My “stick-it-to-the-man” sensibilities automatically draw me to non-profit work, but my real-life resume isn’t brimming with rallies and marches and feeding orphans in Somalia. I worked at Bible camp in East Tennessee long enough to realize the gravity of the epidemic of inequality in our system of education. I lived in rural North Carolina long enough to realize my responsibility to care for those less fortunate than myself. I have hung out with and taught enough teenagers to realize that they need love, good advice, and someone to listen. Still, as I have realized these things, I have been met with the ever-haunting question: “So how are YOU going to change it ALL BY YOURSELF?” The truth is, I don’t know, but I am still convicted about my responsibility to consider each of these issues, and the conviction recurs pretty much daily.
3. Should I teach grammar as a mathematical format (which is what I prefer)? Or should my teaching of mechanics focus on the whole “let’s teach grammar in context,” which tends to be way less systematic and way more confusing for me? I have found decent books for both approaches, though no book does both. Ideally, I want a grammar book with sentence-by-sentence exercises, simple concept explanations, and whole short stories that must be corrected/rewritten for the “whole-language-learning” emphasis. Can’t find it. The two best contenders I have are:
Mechanically Inclined by Jeff Anderson (Which focuses on whole-language learning and building the student as a writer.)
AND
Barron’s Grammar in Plain English by Harriet Diamond and Phyllis Dutwin (A more traditional, mathematical approach to teaching grammar.)
…so I suppose I’ll spend the rest of the summer trying to figure out which curriculum to use. Le sigh.
Write your own book that includes both approaches. If it does well, maybe you could afford to do non-profit work.