Small Adjustments-Finding the Balance

It is wild how fast this year already feels like it is moving along. I feel like much of it is blink and you have missed it. As I type this, I have a brief moment all to myself. I finished my workout this morning, and marking is sort of caught up (thanks to those who have yet to turn their work in). The Haunting of Hill House is on for my annual rewatch tradition. I tell the kids that I am a creature of habit. To get through my marking weekends I watch some collection of horror films, usually it is the Scream movies, sometimes I will venture into Nightmare on Elm Street or Halloween. I love The Haunting of Hill House and Bly Manor, though (it will be next on the watch list). Anyway this year I am trying to be more active blogging, I used to do it all the time and then just let being busy get in the way. So here goes.

I started this year, as I have done all the years, looking at personal narratives. It was wonderful to get to know the students with some relatively low-risk writing. We started by looking at different personal narratives I have stumbled upon over the years and talking about their structure. We explore lines that the kids have noticed and the stories being told. Then they write. I often think we overwork things. So worried about doing it right and making it perfect we forget that writing should be enjoyable. Eventually, we move into the more technical writing tasks the students must do for government assessments. Even with those, I am trying to balance preparation and celebration.

This year I have tried building towards the critical analytical type of writing through more targetted discussions around text. We look at how authors use characters, setting, and literary devices to establish themes and conflict. We are closely reading passages to analyze the text and the author's craft to assist in our writing. Today, while we discussed Lord of the Flies, we had this whole conversation around how the island itself is a character, how the author uses figurative language to establish human qualities, and then how the island as a character contributes to the downfall of some of the characters. The discussion was far from perfect, some of the reflections shared did not feel tethered to the source but it did show thinking.

I have written this post over a few days. In the short amount of time that has passed we have had amazing conversations around different texts, we have created picture books and shared them with students in the elementary. Today, we talked about The Marrow Thieves and the connections we are making. We talked about the state of the world and how some of the events of the book are not so far-fetched. We talked about Lord of the Flies and humanity, testing the boundaries when the social norms are abandoned. We watched a little bit of The Great Gatsby; we will look at Chapter 7 in various ways. Study the film, the text, and how a modern-day take with a heavy helping of Magical realism illustrates the same scene differently while conveying much of the same emotions.

Teaching is all about growth. This year I have decided to focus on that for myself. I am trying new things again, I am learning and trying to bring that learning into the classroom. I want to be more discussion-focused. I want students to understand risk-taking. This year already feels like we are in a different space, maybe a more intentional one than years past. Grateful for small adjustments.