poem about teaching – Page 3

#41: On the Very Last Work Day of the School Year

On the Very Last Work Day of the School Year It began with a breakfast during which we said tearful goodbyes to beloved colleagues retiring or moving on, a difficult, but joyful thing, wanting them to stay but wishing them well and happy returns for all they’ve done for our school and our kids. WeContinue reading “#41: On the Very Last Work Day of the School Year”

#39: On the End of the School Year

On the End of the School Year It’s always a cluster, unnatural and awkward in every way, but mostly for teachers, or maybe just for teachers like yourself, English teachers with too many students, too much grading, not enough time to get it done, or, at least, to do it well, speeding through, losing sleep,Continue reading “#39: On the End of the School Year”

#36: On Teaching Vietnam

On Teaching Vietnam We have read Bao Ninh’s The Sorrow of War and now we’re watching a film called Regret To Inform, a documentary inspired by Barbara Sonneborn’s personal quest, twenty years after the fact, to come to terms with her husband’s death in Vietnam, to go there to that country, to try to understand where,Continue reading “#36: On Teaching Vietnam”

#35: Sax and Violins

The title stolen from the Talking Heads tune; the subject stolen from real life. Censorship, or the urge to censor, is still alive and well. Sax and Violins The parent of the high school junior objects to all the sax and violins in the literature studied in English classes. She objects, in the case ofContinue reading “#35: Sax and Violins”

#34: How Discussion of The Great Gatsby Gets Totally Derailed by a Big Spider

How Discussion of The Great Gatsby Gets Totally Derailed by a Big Spider It’s happened before: bug gets into the room and distracts the students, rightfully so, because it’s like, you know, a bug. Today it’s a spider, a really big one, as the teacher tries to tease out this delicious bit in the novelContinue reading “#34: How Discussion of The Great Gatsby Gets Totally Derailed by a Big Spider”

#33: After Teacher Appreciation Week

After Teacher Appreciation Week On Monday, several dozens of cookies were placed in the staff lounge, a gift from our secretaries and support staff. On Friday morning, the administrators served us hot coffee and fruit and pastries. We were still trying to polish off the cookies in the staff lounge, some of which are stillContinue reading “#33: After Teacher Appreciation Week”