An Escape

I'm a book geek and proud of it.  I'm also a huge fan of YA literature, which is not always embraced by educators as being quality literature.  I'm convinced that these people simply have not picked up recent YA literature and base their opinions solely on Twilight (I like Twilight, it just doesn't need to be taught!).  I like to classify reading in my classroom into three categories: entertainment, life, and cultural literacy.

I do believe there are some books that students should be exposed to, yet, I do not agree that the books "we" have chosen as being culturally relevant are always on target.  Last time I checked, white males are not the only people in our society.  I do not mind teaching Shakespeare, Homer the blind poet, and all that good jazz.  However, we owe it to students to expose them to non-white male authors who provide a cultural literacy about the current world, too.

Too many students have a profound hatred for books, and I can understand why.  We over teach novels, we tell them what to think about the novels, and when they ask why they have to read it, we answer because we have to.  That's not good enough. 

We need to carefully examine the literature we teach and take some risks.  I recently read The Fault in Our Stars which made me ache with a desire to live, to love, to take risks, and to embrace the sorrow that is an inevitable piece of the human experience.  It is a book that deserves to be taught.  It should be taught. 

So, as a literacy specialist (yes, I have a master's in reading!), here are my suggestions for current YA reading that is about the human experience:

Sold
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian
Divergent
Bound
Never Fall Down
Split
Twisted
Boy 21
Between Shades of Gray
Jellicoe Road
Speak
The Piper's Son 
Shatter Me 
Copper Sun
Ophelia

A list for entertainment!

The Immortal Instruments (series)
Beautiful Creatures (series)
Under the Never Sky
Froi of the Exiles (could go above too!)
The Infernal Devices (series)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
Legend
Jane
Matched (series)
Delirium (series)

Now, I need to get back to reading Cinder :)

A Tad Emotional

I meant to write this post weeks ago, but my mind needed some time to just be.  Now, I'm three days away from beginning the second half of the school year, and it seems timely to begin writing again.

The course I'm currently taking is time consuming, but it is also extremely applicable, which is something I am always thankful for.  One of the topics we have been learning about is the role that emotion plays in the classroom. While inherently I think most teachers know that emotion is linked to our ability to learn, I'm not sure we always recognize the role it plays in our classroom.

Emotions are everywhere. I teach 9th grade, so these emotions are also tied to hormones. Lord, help us all.  One of my requests is that when you are in my classroom, you are THERE. Not in la-la land, not in your math book because you forgot to do your homework, and not on twitter, or Facebook, or tumblr, or...you get the picture.  However, I'm also realizing how much emotions can play in determining whether a student is truly present in my classroom.

Simply put, if a student is angry, sad, or irritated, it is difficult for him or her to put on a happy face and be excited about being in a classroom.  Their mind and heart are in totally different places than their body.  Yet, we often expect our students to act like an adult and flip the switch (let's be honest, sometimes we do not do it well either!). One of my students reminded me that it is not that simple.  This student was upset about something that to me was kind of silly.  However, she was genuinely upset, and it was clear she had become disengaged with what we were doing. I took her outside and we talked for a bit, and she said "you can't expect me to be happy just because you tell me to". Ahh, touche. I realized she was right.  She needed time to decompress, to calm herself down, and come back when she was ready.  So I gave it to her.

How often do we fail to give our kids time to just be?  How often do we give our kids the time they need to handle their emotions, whatever they might be? I know some people, including some teachers, will say that students need to just deal with it.  Yet, if we do not allow our students that time, then they won't be emotionally ready to learn in our class.  We will lose a precious day, and maybe even more if we fail to recognize their emotional needs.

I wish we had a better way (how about A WAY) to give our kids the time to deal with emotions when they begin to hinder their ability to learn.  However, I think being cognizant of it is a good start, and I'm going to strive to provide more opportunities for students to handle their emotions. No strings attached.