Woke up in a surprisingly good mood for a Monday after I messed with my sleep schedule. But teaching is tiring. Don't let anyone tell you different. If it's not tiring, you aren't really teaching. And now, it's only Monday and I'm already drained...
I'm one of those people who absolutely LOVES what I teach. I enjoy, not only reading, but analyzing a story. I relish in finding deeper meanings, comparing stories to other novels, poems, songs, or movies. I get excited when I find allusions and references buried in plot. I love spending time imagining character's lives, back stories, and motives.
I pride myself in the fact that I have a deep understanding of grammar rules in two languages.
Writing essays allowed me to prove my points to people, something I've loved as long as I can remember. Knowing the formats helped me make my point.
I love my subject. And some of my favorite stories are from 8th grade (the grade I am currently teaching)!
In credential school we are told that people who love their subjects always have this problem... this frustration of seeing kids disinterested in the subject you love, butchering the information you revel in.
We're told that the best teachers are those who love to teach.
And I do! So much!
There's nothing that makes my day more than seeing the light bulb turn on over a student's head. Seeing that "Oh, now I get it!" look in their eyes.
I get so excited and proud when I come across a well written paper, or even just a project or paragraph where the student's followed all the directions.
...and so sad when I find a paragraph that is completely off-topic.
The prompt was to write about how the setting affected the mood in "The Monkey's Paw." The majority of the paragraphs I graded today were summaries. A fair amount talked about how the characters' actions and speech affected the mood (which at least covered one of the three elements that affect mood) but very very few answered the prompt. And those that did, did not do so in depth.
*sigh*
Back to the drawing board!
I've been teaching Compare and Contrast essay formats for 3 days now. We created foldables today. I'm about to assign an essay.
Wish me luck!
FALL BACK! Revised Designs
1 year ago
1 comments:
I always had a really hard time writing essays about books I was supposed to read for class. Sometimes I was not interested in the specific book. Other times, I didn't care for the genre. It definitely contributed to my lack of motivation to express thought on whatever it was that we were reading. However, not understanding the prompt is completely different than not having the ambition or motivation to physically complete the work. o_o
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