Who knew that planning a novel would be so time consuming? I spent the better part of yesterday, probably close to 7 hours, planning Adam of the Road. I wrote questions, found vocabulary, and tried to think of exciting activities to do with the chapters. Part of it I think is that I spent a lot of time trying to come up with higher order questions so that I can pass the discussion part of my observation on Tuesday. The other reason I think it took so long is that I have a binder full of stuff for this novel that I have to sift through and find the things that are important and ignore the stuff that isn't, which isn't always easy. I think as soon as I'm done planning, I'm going to throw everything away that I'm not using. It's not helpful to me, and it does no good to just sit in the binder and look pretty. I only have three chapters left, I hope I can finish it today.
It was a pretty uneventful weekend. I went to lunch with Kelly yesterday and then I went to the Drake football game against UNI with Kelly and Liz. It was pretty fun, despite the fact that they lost pretty badly. Today I went to dance. Somedays dance is really frustrating for me because I only take one class a week, and I'm not always consistent in my technique. That's frustrating because at one point in my life, I was actually a decent dancer... Oh well, I can't be everything I suppose.
I should go grocery shopping so I have some food in my apartment. I might actually get to go to the 7th grade boys' football game tomorrow night since I don't have dance and I don't have any meetings!
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Erin, congratulations on tackling 7th grade lit! I found your blog while googling Adam of the Road. I'm a homeschool mom whose 7th grade daughter is currently reading it. Instead of writing lesson plans for each book you cover during the year, you might consider checking out a curriculum called Teaching the Classics. It teaches the five elements of literature and includes a terrific list of Socratic-type questions that your kids, no matter what their abilities, could really thrive on.
You probably don't have the freedom to do whatever you choose in your class, and I'm not suggesting you add this--but if you become familiar with this method of teaching your students, it might be beneficial to all.
Back in the '70s, when I was in 7th grade, we had a very innovative literature class, where we could pick and choose books to read individually. The teachers were so dedicated, and they were able to pass on their love of reading to many kids.
Again, kudos for doing the job you do. You WILL change lives, and some you might realize right away; others you might not ever find out. But you'll touch them.
Kristine
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