Sunday, August 13, 2006
The Inferno
I was watching Grizzly Man today and found a perfect metaphor for my first day as a high school teacher. The man they were interviewing about the grizzly guy said, "I guess he thought he was going to get out there with those bears and it was going to be a feeling of mutual respect and love. I guess he thought they would see that he cared and it would be some type of beautiful relationship. What he did not know was that the bears just wanted to eat him." I feel like the grizzly man. I trapsed into the classroom believing that the kids would see how nice I am, and how much I want to help them. Instead, they saw dinner, or a snack really. They devoured me in short order. By the fourth period, I wanted to go home and never come back. Right now, I feel sick to my stomach at the thought of returning tomorrow. I waver between confidence and desolation. I have worked all weekend preparing for next week, but I do not know if I can get them to shut up and listen. I have to start my eleventh graders with the Puritans and the Pilgrims and I have to find a way to make them care. I am going to do Ann Bradstreet's poem about the burning of her house and the loss of her grandchild. I will introduce these poems by asking the kids to write about a traumatic event in their life and explain how they handles that tragedy. Maybe that will build up a sense of empathy with the little ones. We will see. I know that if I do not give up, it will be ok. Pray that I will have a better week.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
I think that's a fabulous assignment, regarding the Ann Bradstreet poem. The hardest thing about 11th grade English is the subject matter-- getting kids interested in the topics of concern for the material is certainly a daunting task.
And I hope so much that things work out for you. Trust me, I know exactly how you feel right now. After my third week of school, there wasn't much stopping me from running away and never coming back. But I was lucky, because I had ninth graders (all first-time ones) who were just as scared as I was. They didn't get bad until later on that 9 weeks period. But I made and through and so will you. Just keep positive and continue to show that you care because even though it may seem like they don't want you to be caring, that's what they so desperately need you to be.
Wow, I butchered that one sentence! It should read, "But I made it through and so will you." Geesh, it's too early for me to be typing!
I'm glad you were watching Grizzly Man. I watched it this weekend too.
I'm sorry things are going so bad. I wish I could do something to make things happier.
Children seem to resist what is new in their life. They are going through all of these changes, and you having a new, fresh enthusiasm makes you stand out from the other teachers. They will realize that you do genuinely care about them. Also, there might be someone in your class that is very enthusiastic about what you are teaching, but they are afraid to talk. Good luck!
Post a Comment