RCI English 8

Walking around the room, listening to the scratch of fifteen to twenty pencils on paper for the first part of every class, I was impressed to see how much of themselves each student scribbled into their journal writing.  One of the most engaging literacy tasks a person can participate in is the simple act of writing about anything at all.   Today’s topic was not a tremendous challenge (What would you take with you if a category 5 hurricane threatened to destroy your home?), but it produced a lot of thinking as students mentally sorted through their mental list of possessions, and prioritized the things that are most important to them.

Very often I feel that even simple prompts like this can be therepeutic for young writers. As the topics I assign get progressively more in depth and force them to analyze their beliefs, traditions, and principles, the value of the writing experience will grow exponentially. I’ve always been the kind of person that prefers to hash out my thoughts and convictions in the written word before I go about sharing it verbally with others.  When I fine myself in a position of argument or disagreement with a peer or colleague, I’m much better off laying down my words in front of me before I present them to him/her.  Perhaps I’ll never make it as a Lincoln-Douglas debater, but hopefully I’ll be less likely to cram my foot into my mouth as well.

Just enjoying a bit of writing time with my journalism students at present. A very impressive group, I must say.  Last year was my first year teaching journalism as an elective, rather than sponsoring it as an extra-curricular activity. Despite my difficulties planning for this new class, last year’s group of creative, talented students helped me along the way with their attitudes and excellent work.  They will be missed!

This year’s group of student-journalists appears no different.  I think what impresses me most is their energy.  I feel like they were really prepared to hit the ground running from the moment they walked in the door. Their first exercise in gathering news was to interview me on a pair of topics that I deal with very closely: the Westmoreland Players Community Theatre and the Rappahannock volleyball team.  Their level of questioning was very impressive, and should make for some insightful articles.

Very soon I will be sending them out to find stories of interest and importance to our readership. Look for the first issue around the end of September or beginning of October.

Well done to all of my students on their 1st week in the 8th grade! I’m looking forward to a fantastic year!

After a laborious summer of slinging many bags of ice, directing a play at the Westmoreland Players Theatre, and taking a pair of graduate classes through VCU, it is finally time once again to return to my glorious classroom, which was recently repopulated with a fresh batch of 8th graders.  Today marks the end of DAY 2 in our 180 day escapade together, and I couldn’t be happier with their friendliness, attitudes, and ability to stay awake while I was droning on and on through the discussion of our class syllabus (sorry for that).  This is going to be another exceptional year for us at RCI, and these students have a tremendous impact on our success. 

I set this blog up a few months ago, but haven’t taken the time to update it or post on it until now. I plan to post something at least once a week, and I invite my students and their parents to get active in my blog as well with any comments or questions you might have of me.  I hope that this blog will better enable me to communicate with the educational community that I am so proud to be a part of.

For now, I think it best that I get some needed rest as part of my 1st week reacclimation process to the classroom.  I had forgotten how taxing the additional responsibilities of coaching can be on a person’s quality and frequency of sleep! Would not trade it for anything, though.