There are those little things that happen in the classroom – the ones that give us the warm, fuzzy feeling inside – that remind us of why we are there. At least that’s the case for me. I’ve decided to share a few of those things that happened last week as a reminder that we do matter, even though there might be many other things trying to bring us down…
- I decided to do a thematic study of Macbeth, so the students chose outside novels (from a list) to read on their own as we read the play in class. The purpose was for them to make connections between the two texts, considering theme, motifs, literary devices, author’s purpose, character, etc. One student really got into the book Killing Mr. Grififn by Lois Duncan. He came to see me in the mornings or after school to see if the book was in (while we were awaiting the novels’ arrival from the AEA). Well, this student came to have many conversations with me throughout the week on what he was reading. I didn’t ask the kids to look for foreshadowing or irony because I wanted to keep it simple – but this student brought those things up to me anyway. He’d point to a passage and say, “Wouldn’t that be a great example of foreshadowing?” He read the part about Mr. Griffin coming back in the door and saying “I love you” the last time to his wife before he died and pointed out the effects of that on him. He LOVED the book, ate it up, couldn’t stop reading. This student might just go and pick out another book to read – and wouldn’t that be the day!
- For the same reading project, a girl was wrapped up in her book Abby, My Love. I’ve never seen this student so taken by anything I’ve put in front of her. Her classmates were busy making props to act out scene 1 of Act 4, but she was just going to read – and that is fine by me. I tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she’d like to go to my closet and read where it was quiet. She smiled and kindly shook her head no. As I was walking away, she called me back and said, “But this book is just so good. I can’t put it down!” I could tell that by her behavior, but it was so great to hear her say it!
- The acting out of Act 4, scene 1 of Macbeth was very enjoyable. I asked for three directors, eight prop makers, and 17 actors (every student had a job in our production). I had no trouble filling the spots. We had a half hour of class to plan and work. The next day, students came in excited to put it all together – although it wouldn’t win itself an Oscar, it won my heart!
under: Successes
