Well, ok, not really. I am briefly featured in a movie. That the people from some very tiny local TV channel made about my school. They weren't actually at all interested in me, but a very cute kid happened to be in my class, so they filmed in there for awhile and we "made the cut." So in case you are bored for 2 minutes and want to see my school (and me looking rather dorky and teacher-esque), click on this link and then click on the first video about the East Boston school--and that's us!
(P.S. They may remove the video tomorrow. So you can really only look at it if you're bored tonight...) ;)
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Great Moments in the History of my First Year Teaching
This is one for the books, folks.
So today, I began my next literature unit on the Odyssey by Homer. I've been nervous about this unit for weeks, because the last time I'd read the Odyssey was in 9th grade, and I'm not really sure I understood it much better then than I do now recollecting it. Thankfully, my principal graciously allowed me a day off of my normal work to plan for my next unit. I spent about a full working day's worth of hours focused on preparing -- reading SparkNotes, reading commentaries online, emailing fellow teachers with ideas, and beginning to read the book. I figured I did not have time to completely read through the book all the way before I began teaching, but if I read the notes enough to be familiar with the plot line and if I closely read well ahead of where my students were, I should be fine.
The version of the text that my school owns is a "children's translation" titled, The Children's Homer: The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy. Notice that it starts out with, "The Adventures of Odysseus." The opening lines of the book also read, "This is the story of Odysseus, the most renowned of all the heroes the Greek poets have told us of..." So, naturally, I figured, this is the Odyssey--it clearly says it's a story about Odysseus. I will admit I had a little pause about why the first 120 pages focused mostly on Telemachus (Odysseus's son), but I know enough to know that epics tend to include very long, divergent story lines, and I figured the focus on Telemachus was really to just highlight the story of Odysseus. I planned on and began teaching the unit today, explaining clearly to the children (so they would not be confused, as I first was) that we were reading the Odyssey, which is the tale of the quest of Odysseus but also (apparently) of his son Telemachus.
Then I had a brief meeting with our special education teacher, who was arranging accomodated materials for some students. She remarked, "Oh, you're reading the whole book? They only read half of it last year!" I was a little surprised, and a bit concerned that I would not be able to finish my unit in time if I was assigning twice the material that was covered last year. I reassured myself by saying this just meant my course was extremely rigorous, and in all my meetings with the principal she had never once suggested that I shorten the book. Besides, I am morally opposed to shortening books in general, so I decided to move forward and not worry too much about her comment. In class, however, a student raised his hand and asked, "Ms. Stuntz, this book seems to be broken up into two sections. Why is that?" Taking the tactic I have learned from previous teachers, I tried to speak as the confident authority even though I was also confused, responding, "The editor must have broken the Odyssey up into two chunks to make it more manageable for the reader." Child convinced. Problem solved.
Except these two suggestions in one day were just a little much, so I decided to seek a third opinion. I asked another teacher, "Do you happen to remember if and, if so, why they only read half of the Odyssey last year?" She paushed, and then said, "Oh, I remember! Because this is a really abridged version and the first half is actually the Iliad, so they just read the Odyssey." I paused, and began to giggle a little nervously. "Do you know the Iliad at all?" I asked. "Does it, by any chance, focus on Telemachus?" "Oh yes," she replies, "it's all about Telemachus's journey." "Oh no," I reply back, "I have just planned for and begun to teach the children the wrong book."
Now, this is not completely and utterly disastrous. There are many ways to solve this problem. The state of Massachusetts requires me to teach an epic; it does not have to be the Odyssey. This year, in spite of what I said on my course description, it may in fact be the Iliad. I also could have them read part of the Iliad as "background" (after all, it does come first) and then have them skip to the Odyssey and finish that. Or, we can read selections from both and search through them for epic conventions. These are all reasonable options for moving my course forward.
One very concerning questions remains, though. How am I going to explain to my children why Ms. Stuntz, who is a self-proclaimed expert on epics, was so confused that she could not tell the storyline of two entirely different epics apart? As my friend said, "Won't it be great to be a second year teacher?"
So today, I began my next literature unit on the Odyssey by Homer. I've been nervous about this unit for weeks, because the last time I'd read the Odyssey was in 9th grade, and I'm not really sure I understood it much better then than I do now recollecting it. Thankfully, my principal graciously allowed me a day off of my normal work to plan for my next unit. I spent about a full working day's worth of hours focused on preparing -- reading SparkNotes, reading commentaries online, emailing fellow teachers with ideas, and beginning to read the book. I figured I did not have time to completely read through the book all the way before I began teaching, but if I read the notes enough to be familiar with the plot line and if I closely read well ahead of where my students were, I should be fine.
The version of the text that my school owns is a "children's translation" titled, The Children's Homer: The Adventures of Odysseus and the Tale of Troy. Notice that it starts out with, "The Adventures of Odysseus." The opening lines of the book also read, "This is the story of Odysseus, the most renowned of all the heroes the Greek poets have told us of..." So, naturally, I figured, this is the Odyssey--it clearly says it's a story about Odysseus. I will admit I had a little pause about why the first 120 pages focused mostly on Telemachus (Odysseus's son), but I know enough to know that epics tend to include very long, divergent story lines, and I figured the focus on Telemachus was really to just highlight the story of Odysseus. I planned on and began teaching the unit today, explaining clearly to the children (so they would not be confused, as I first was) that we were reading the Odyssey, which is the tale of the quest of Odysseus but also (apparently) of his son Telemachus.
Then I had a brief meeting with our special education teacher, who was arranging accomodated materials for some students. She remarked, "Oh, you're reading the whole book? They only read half of it last year!" I was a little surprised, and a bit concerned that I would not be able to finish my unit in time if I was assigning twice the material that was covered last year. I reassured myself by saying this just meant my course was extremely rigorous, and in all my meetings with the principal she had never once suggested that I shorten the book. Besides, I am morally opposed to shortening books in general, so I decided to move forward and not worry too much about her comment. In class, however, a student raised his hand and asked, "Ms. Stuntz, this book seems to be broken up into two sections. Why is that?" Taking the tactic I have learned from previous teachers, I tried to speak as the confident authority even though I was also confused, responding, "The editor must have broken the Odyssey up into two chunks to make it more manageable for the reader." Child convinced. Problem solved.
Except these two suggestions in one day were just a little much, so I decided to seek a third opinion. I asked another teacher, "Do you happen to remember if and, if so, why they only read half of the Odyssey last year?" She paushed, and then said, "Oh, I remember! Because this is a really abridged version and the first half is actually the Iliad, so they just read the Odyssey." I paused, and began to giggle a little nervously. "Do you know the Iliad at all?" I asked. "Does it, by any chance, focus on Telemachus?" "Oh yes," she replies, "it's all about Telemachus's journey." "Oh no," I reply back, "I have just planned for and begun to teach the children the wrong book."
Now, this is not completely and utterly disastrous. There are many ways to solve this problem. The state of Massachusetts requires me to teach an epic; it does not have to be the Odyssey. This year, in spite of what I said on my course description, it may in fact be the Iliad. I also could have them read part of the Iliad as "background" (after all, it does come first) and then have them skip to the Odyssey and finish that. Or, we can read selections from both and search through them for epic conventions. These are all reasonable options for moving my course forward.
One very concerning questions remains, though. How am I going to explain to my children why Ms. Stuntz, who is a self-proclaimed expert on epics, was so confused that she could not tell the storyline of two entirely different epics apart? As my friend said, "Won't it be great to be a second year teacher?"
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