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School
This week at school has been a rough one. Nothing bad happened, really, but my students just were over-the-top annoying. I love teaching--I really do--but this was just one of those weeks. We all have them.
The seniors have finally finished reading the novel Grendel. (They are writing an essay about it still, but at least the reading is over.) This was the first time I had taught the novel, and I'll be honest--I don't think I did a very good job teaching it. I can be a bit hard on myself about my teaching sometimes, but one thing I have learned to do is just to accept that sometimes things just don't go as planned, especially when it is the first time attempting something. The major problem with teaching this novel is that I assigned it for my "regular" seniors , and it was too difficult for many of them to read on their own. ("Regular" at my school just means they are not AP, so regular includes many levels of students, from very capable "should be in AP" ones to some who probably won't graduate.) I had to revise my schedule so that we were reading much of it in class, and let me tell you, after reading a chapter five times a day for twelve days...I'm so over Grendel.
The upside is that some of the students liked it (mainly because of details like "blood spurting like a geyser"). I don't know--if I want to do this in the future, I just need to rethink how I'm going to do it.
The Pre-AP 10th graders are good. Silly, but good. They are definitely a bright spot in my morning. Both my 1st (seniors) and 2nd are good classes, so I like starting the day on that kind of note.
Enough school talk.
TV
I have a good bit of grading to do this weekend because I took some time over the week to watch some of the new TV shows. My guilty pleasure is Dancing with the Stars, but I'm just not enjoying it as much this season. I don't think the celebrities have as much charisma as in the past, and some of them I haven't heard of.
I loved The Office. I think that show has quickly become my favorite.
I'm now watching Grey's Anatomy with the rest of the world. I find the main character, Meredith, a bit whiny, but I like the show overall.
Thursday night, I couldn't sleep, so I watched the last half of ER, and all it did was remind me why I stopped watching this show three seasons ago. Seriously, can anything good happen to any of these characters? Spoiler alert: Luka (who long ago lost his two kids and his wife to a bombing in Croatia) and Abby (who has a bipolar mother and has struggled with alcoholism) are excited about the birth of their baby (finally, some happiness!), but when a gunman opens fire on the ER (yeah, okay), Abby falls on the floor, which somehow causes her to go into early labor. Of course, she has to have the baby early. Of course, the baby is extremely tiny and may not have full brain function if he even survives. Of course, Abby can't stop bleeding and must undergo a hysterectomy. I know life is hard, but c'mon ER! Can't someone on this show be happy for once?
And in closing...
I didn't mean for this post to be this long. I guess I just had a lot built up inside me, just waiting to be vented through a post. While I'm on it, can I also say that if I hear the song "Unwritten" by Natasha Bedingfield (sp?) one more time, I'm going to pull out my hair? That song gets so much airplay it is ridiculous.
The end.
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5 comments:
I left you a comment, how come it didn't post?
Hope your week is going well!
Hey Jen--Please don't hate me, but I didn't post the comment because of the specific reference to Wealtheow's, well, you know. (For the rest of you out there, it relates to the novel GRENDEL. The reference is very grisly and disturbing.)
Oh, and about that part in the book--I didn't read it aloud. I told them they could read that part to themselves if they so desired (and of course they did). I just wanted the record to show that I didn't force them to read that part.
I, too, plan to rent Seasons 1 and 2 of Grey's to catch up...of course, that's a plan for AFTER I get caught up on some grading first.
Did you like THE OFFICE last week? I loved it.
Crap. I forgot that The Office was on last week. What happened?
Grendel---are you planning to teach it again? I taught it for the first time ever this year. I'm not so sure I'll do it next year. Don't know.
Spoiler alert on THE OFFICE:
Pam told Jim she was still going to marry Roy, but then the show fast forwards to several months later, and Pam says she had cold feet and couldn't go through with it. Jim transferred to the other office (I don't remember where), but there were some funny bits at his new office. Pam, of course, keeps looking longingly at Jim's old desk, which is now occupied by the guy that used to be the intern.
The funny part was that Michael outed a gay employee (Oscar) and went about dealing with the repercussions in a completely inappropriate way (in typical Michael fashion). You definitely should watch this one when it airs again. Hilarious.
About GRENDEL--I don't know if I'll teach it again. If I attempt the literature circles, I might offer it as a selection in the future. I had one girl tell me that she LOVED it, and a few guys enjoyed the gore. We'll see--this was my first time teaching it, too.
I think I'll use it as a lit circle choice next year. That way, if any poo poo hits the fan about it, I can say, "Well it's only five students..."
:)
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