i’m dying here!!! i’m dying here!!!<\/p>\n

my 10th period is the class from hell!!!
\n so far there isn’t much learning going on. mostly it’s
\n trying to keep some control. they’re
\n savages!!! LOLOLOLOLOL\n <\/p>\n

\n ok…here’s what’s really bothering me, and i know you
\n two will understand. i have to teach them how to write
\n a paragraph. they (the higher up people;) seem to
\n believe that if you can teach them how to write a
\n paragraph (in isolation) they will know how to write a
\n paper. they (the students) keep asking me, “how many
\n sentences does it have to be?” and i am under orders
\n to tell them it’s 8-10 sentences. <\/p>\n

i’m not only getting it from school, it’s happening at
\n home too. my daughter, gwen, asked me,”how many
\n paragraphs in a narrative?” what? i said, a narrative
\n is a story…you need enough to tell the story. her
\n friend adrianna said, “no, it’s 3 paragraphs. i
\n remember because i got an A on my narrative and it was
\n 3 paragraphs long.”\n <\/p>\n

\n all my freshmen were required to write an expository
\n “paragraph” on the issues that cause teens stress.
\n well, most wrote a “paper” on teens and stress. I
\n don’t think they understand it’s just a part of a
\n bigger picture. they set these kids up…they confuse
\n the hell out of them. right now i have to “learn” how
\n to write a paragraph “the right way” so i can teach
\n it.\n <\/p>\n

\n i feel like i’m lying to these kids…i’m turning into
\n the kind of teacher i don’t want to be…i’m not a
\n “change agent,” angelo. i want to keep my job…but i
\n know that if they would let me teach writing, real
\n writing, the kids would be better writers. but i also
\n know that i have to teach them to write for the
\n test. (the school will have it’s own writing test, and
\n they will continue to test writing on ACT tests.)
\n i’m becoming what i detest…i’m ready to just start
\n passing out dittos in my 10th period…they aren’t
\n learning anything anyway!!!\n <\/p>\n

\n guys, send me some words of advice\/encouragement…
\n i wish they’d let me be me. at least i’m better at
\n that than being what i’m fearful of becoming.\n <\/p>\n

\n your friend,
\n ****\n <\/p>\n

\n who didn’t tell her story in 8-10 sentence
\n paragraphs…or did she?…LOL\n <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

[My Response:]<\/p>\n

Writing on the run…as always
\n(Angelo still has…shhh!…one more syllabus to write for tomorrow)….<\/span>

\n

\nMy only suggestion vis à
\nvis the tension here between the teacher you want to be and the teacher
\nthey are forcing you to be is…hmmm….can you do both? Can you teach
\nthe kids the real way and the phony way? Can you teach the artificial
\nforms that the Powers are enforcing, and then just explain to the kids
\nthat those forms are just VERSIONS of narrative or paragraphs…? There
\nare others as well? Can you illustrate some of the other versions? You
\ncould tell a few spontaneous stories and then break their “form” apart
\nfor the class. You can talk about the process you went through to
\ncreate the story. What led you to your choices–rather than getting to
\nthe number 8 (sentences) or 3 (paragraphs) or whatever. You could also
\nbring into class a stack of writing–narratives of all kinds and
\nlengths–and you could do a quick scan of some of the features. Make
\nsure a few of them are short enough so that you could share them in
\ntheir entirety with the class. As a group you could infer a list of
\ncriteria for narratives. You could round off the whole exercise with
\nGarrison Keillor’s anatomy of a narrative. Good stories, Keillor says,
\nall have FIVE ELEMENTS: mystery, wealth, family relations, sex, and
\nreligion. And he gloats that he has one in 12 words: “‘God,’ said the
\nbanker’s daughter, ‘I’m pregnant; I wonder who it was?'”<\/span>

\n

\nOf course you can’t do all this in
\none class period, so why don’t you tell the class that from here on out
\nTHAT is your “agenda” as a group (to use Meg’s wonderful word)–to
\nfigure out some of the many versions of narrative, of paragraphs, of
\nforms. You could do worse as an English teacher.<\/span>

\n

\nThe bottom line is that
\nANYONE who can do “real” narrative can do the phony, school-type in
\ntheir sleep. Thus, if you do a good job with the real, you’re home free
\nwith keeping your job. So yes, teach them the phony school type, but do
\nit with a wink. It’s actually not a bad exercise. But as a bigger
\nagenda, set a yearlong, class-community-wide agenda for figuring out
\nwhat makes a good narrative, what makes a good paragraph… It’s a
\ngrand mission! And the cheap forms of a bureaucratic pedagogy can’t
\ntouch it or harm it…. If anything, a good teacher can use this very
\nproblem to help kids get “meta” about writing and language–getting
\nstudents to think about choices and purposes and effects, in ways good
\nwriters always have, if even only intuitively… <\/span>

\n

\nI know you’re worried about time.
\nBut the good thing is this: You have ALL YEAR to do the real thing, and
\nas for the phony stuff–that can be done really quickly. A lot of the
\nstuff you do in life with a wink can be done really quickly, I find,
\nbut that’s another story. But seriously, if you and your kids are
\nliving the life, as Burke so strikingly puts it, of “linguistic
\nquizzicality”–full of wonder, amazement, surprise–and sometimes
\nskepticism, distrust, and disgust–at the powers of language–well, the
\nkids will learn narratives and paragraphs….(in 8, 9, and sometimes
\neven 10 sentences…)<\/span>

\n

\n You know my next question:
\nMay I use your wonderful story in my blog and share it with my classes?
\n:) <\/span>

\n

\nKeep us posted! And good
\nluck with the savages of 10th period…(now THAT sounds like a
\nstory…). :) Your friend and sympathizer from the calm of the Ivory
\nTower, Angelo<\/span>

\n
<\/p>\n

[The Alum’s Response:] <\/p>\n

i understand…i do. what you say is wonderful and true. (that rhymes;) but it’s not that simple…or maybe it is and i’m just losing focus about what’s really important. i find myself doing things that i’ve been against from the start of my educational career, without realizing i’m doing it. for example: i’m doing book shares with the students instead of having
\n them do book reports. now i know…i know…my goal
\n is to get them to enjoy reading. today in class, i
\n told a student that tomorrow he better bring in a novel,
\n instead of bringing the TRL magazine he was
\n reading that day, thinking about the “book share” assignment. he just looked at me and said, “why can’t we read what we want?” my heart just stopped. i grabbed
\n his face and said, “you’re absolutely right. i don’t
\n know what i was thinking. you read whatever you like.”
\n this horrible transition seems to be taking over
\n without my being fully aware of it. ANGELO, OF COURSE
\n THEY CAN READ WHATEVER THEY WANT!!!! <\/div>\n<\/p>\n

i keep losing focus…<\/p>\n

there’s just so much that needs to be
\n done!! save me from myself!!!<\/p>\n

**** <\/p>\n

[My Response:] <\/p>\n

I can see the care in your eyes as you
\n told your student, yes, he could read what he wants… But dear friend, I fear
\n you’re reacting with a tinge of that guilt that all teachers, parents, and responsible
\n adults feel now and then–particularly when we’re looking out for the child’s
\n welfare. I think you have to hold the line on the TRL magazine!
\n It’s just me, and you know that this one voice of mine will ultimately be contradicted
\n by another voice lurking beneath (in TW this week we’re reading that schizo
\n Covino…), but…BALANCE is the key (said he, in a shout so loud so as to lose
\n his footing and fall back…). Reading is so much like a eating–so lifegiving
\n and pleasurable it is–and there is such a need for a balanced diet for both….<\/span>

\n

\n If your daughter kept eating Cheetos day
\n and night (like someone else’s daughter I know…), and you approached her and
\n asked her to eat her vegetables…. Would you respond similarly to her
\n indignant response of “why can’t you just let me eat what I want?” :)
\n All said with a smile…but, the point is, sometimes the teachers DOES
\n have to be directive…and structure things… The structures just have
\n to be the right ones (and I know YOU know what the right ones are…your administration,
\n I’d say, DOES NOT (or maybe is not yet confident in you (and not just you personally;
\n I’m sensing that common condition out there of “teacher-proofing” instruction…more
\n later…)).<\/span> <\/p>\n

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