week 2 - no need to reinvent the wheel

A lot happened this week...

- This week was Picture Week. The students took their pictures during English class. I definitely had some deja vu moments when I went with the students to the gym each block and watched as those infamous LifeTouch photographers captured images of my students in all their 9th and 10th grade glory.

- I attended my first school staff meeting on Monday. For the first time I saw how many teachers a large high school like this one actually has - we filled up the cafeteria. I made an appointment to meet with the principal next week, so I'm looking forward to meeting him and learning more about the student community at this school.

- Ms. S got sick on Wednesday and had to leave after 1st block, leaving me as the only teacher out of 4 (the CT, the para, and the sub) who kind of knew what was going on. I found myself teaching a review of transitive/intransitive verbs by myself, for a good 15 minutes. It just kind of happened - the best part was that I felt so confident up there. I could see flashes of understanding in the students' eyes and it encouraged me so much. In fact, I'm thinking it was the natural high that gave me the adrenaline I felt as I kept teaching. But the best encouragement came from the CT and the sub, who both said I did a great job. High praise coming from 2 seasoned educators.

I ate lunch with the sub and was surprised to learn that she was a Christian who is actively involved in volunteering for City Union Mission and a member of multiple prayer groups. One of her prayer groups is the very same one who prayed for my roommate last year as she was undergoing treatment for her rare bone marrow disorder. Absolutely amazing. This woman has worked in a nearby district for many years, so I have written her name down just in case I solicit that district for a job in the future. This precious prayer warrior prayed for me after school that day. It was the sweetest thing. Meeting her was the blessing of the week.

- The title of the post came from my first creative attempt for a lesson plan this semester. Last week I began work on creating a Choose Your Own Adventure story(ies) for my 9th graders to introduce our first short story in the short story unit. The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell is a fascinating suspense/adventure story about a famous hunter who must match wits with another hunter - one who has decided to hunt people instead of animals. I thought that a CYOA game would cultivate discussion about making choices and figuring out how to survive by using what you know. I read those novels as a kid and found them incredibly entertaining. I loved how each story could begin the same way, yet have multiple different endings based on which pages you chose to turn to.

However, when it came to writing my own CYOA, I quickly learned that I had set myself up for an incredibly difficult task. I was actually writing several short stories for this CYOA game, and they were multiplying exponentially as I continued to offer 2 choices for the students on each story card. It was too much work. I was so disappointed, thinking that I had set myself up to fail, but fortunately Ms. S liked my idea. She suggested that we just borrow some of those CYOA novels from other libraries and have the kids work through them in groups next week. So, my idea still works, even though I'm not actually writing the scenarios for them. As Ms. S said, "there is no need to reinvent the wheel."

- Back to School Night ocurred this week. I had been told I would most likely see all the parents of the honors 10th graders and very few of the regular 9th graders. It was true. Mrs. B's room was full of eager parents while Ms. S had just a handful. There were a few parents of struggling students that I would have liked to see who did not show up. However, it was great to see whose parents did come, because it showed that they definitely take an interest in their child's education. Lots of interesting adults came, some who I definitely recognized as being certain students' parents and others who completely surprised me as to whose parents they were.

- More planning for teaching the short story unit to the freshmen and "Julius Caesar" to the sophomores. Dreading "Caesar," it sounds so...boring and dull. But I guess it's not fair to call it that when I haven't even read the play yet. Et tu, Brute?


All in all, a very eventful week. I am so excited about leaving grammar far behind and moving on to short stories with the freshmen! It's going to be awesome. The sophomores start Elie Wiesel's "Night" this Monday, that will also be exciting! Hooray for actual literature! :)