The 20s and Gatsby

Next week I’ll be using the following in preparation for The Great Gatsby in my College in the H.S. course:

• The Cotton Club clip
• Eight Men Out clip
• Izzy and Moe clip
• The History of Jazz clip
• “I’m a Fool” by Sherwood Anderson
• “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• “Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemingway

I’m really looking forward to this unit since I’m putting a concentrated effort into this class being my central focus for the next few weeks. Everything else is pretty well mapped out for my other classes.

Great News!

I had 155 students in five classes this semester, and I only had three students earn an ‘F’ grade. It feels great!

I have wrestling districts this weekend, so I will try and post some ideas I have on another topic tonight before I leave town. Have a great weekend everyone!

You’ll Never Believe This!

This morning, during finals mind you, the teaching staff was mandated to attend a staff meeting concluding 15 minutes prior to the first final of the day. We sat down, already grumpy since our time is crunched because of a special schedule we use for finals week, and we received a 20 minute lecture about ladder safety. Ladder safety!

Not only do I feel staff meetings are unwarranted during finals, but I can think of only a few topics less pertinent to my job which could’ve been our focus. What a complete picture of disrespect for our time!

Ladder safety!? You can’t write this stuff.

Do We Need Classroom Rules?

I posted recently that I don’t have a set of class rules, and a responder wondered how I go without rules.

This may sound overly simple, but I tell my (high school) students that I only create rules if we need to have them. We only have them in my classes if students can’t respect one another and me.

First Time Ever

I finished the final grades in two of my classes, and for the first time ever, not one of my senior Mythology and Writing students failed the class. I know that sounds odd, and I’m not sure if it’s more of a commentary about my current or former students (or me then and now), but I feel such elation right now I can’t describe it. This class is often a dumping ground for kids who fail elsewhere and is a non-honors group, so the challenges are many.

I feel I did a good job, but really things just fell into place; the stars were aligned. I even got to make that awesome phone to say “Johnny just passed the class. That’s one less worry for you and one more step towards graduation.”

I hope the rest of the week goes just as well.