I didn’t mention this in my last post, but I have set a goal for number of blog posts for this month. I am planning on posting a total of 8 posts this month, an average of one a week. I’ve been slacking off in the area of posts, so I decided I needed an extra boost. And because April is looking to be a busy month, I don’t think I’ll be able to get many posts in. So, there you have it with more explanation than you cared for.
School has been going very well with all of the students. The Barilla kids and I are plowing through subjects. We finished our Reading class at the beginning of February, and we’re hoping to finish English and Heritage Studies at the end of this week. There’s always a sense of accomplishment in completing a class. I’m especially excited because I’m hoping to move back the starting time of school with two less subjects to complete each day. I’m all about an extra thirty minutes of sleep!
I’m continuing to teach 7th grade and 11th grade literature. This year is the first year that the 7th graders are doing videos for nearly all of their classes. I’m enjoying teaching them, and I think they’re enjoying have a real teacher in literature. 7th grade literature is an enjoyable class. It’s designed as a transition year from elementary reading to high school literature. We’ve been able to read several interesting stories. In fact, I don’t know if we’ve yet read a “boring” story in our opinion. I’m enjoying whetting the kids’ appetites for future literature classes. Hopefully, they’ll continue enjoying literature after I leave. I’ve always been enjoying teaching American Literature to the 11th graders. At the beginning of the year, both 11th graders expressed their dread of the coming literature class. I loved American lit in high school and college, so I was determined to help my students enjoy the class too. And I think so far, I’ve succeeded in that goal. I am faced with a deadline, though, for teaching the class. There are seven weeks of school left before I head home. We’re about half-way through the literature book, and I’m hoping to squeeze in a research paper on The Scarlet Letter. I fear my goals may be a bit too lofty, but I’m going to plow ahead as long as I can.
