It has been absolutely ages since I last posted – blogging has been low on my list of important things since I returned to work, full-time, at the start of this year.
Not only am I now working five days a week, I am also teaching English again – for the first time in about ten years. Wow! Reading a lot of novels only does so much to keep you up to date with what students should be doing in Year 9 and 10 English…
I am still teaching Science too, which is always fun – I get to refine and update what I did last year, taking into account the things that worked and didn’t work, and I get to try out some really cool new learning materials and teaching strategies from the Australian Academy of Science’s “Science by Doing”.
English is also exciting – the English Curriculum is broad and open to vast interpretation, which means I can do pretty much anything, and actually get my students to cooperate and catch my enthusiasm. Unfortunately, sometimes my enthusiasm just isn’t enough… But more on that in another post, some other time.
What I want to share today is how amazing my students are.
They have been making up some pretty interesting spelling lists, and typically getting more than 80% right on their weekly spelling tests. They have been reading for pleasure – and many of them have been sharing some of the interesting books they have been reading. They have re-introduced me to Young Adult Fiction, a genre I have always enjoyed. They are sharing news stories and information about ideas that interest them, and discussing them with me in mature and complex ways.
In Term 1, we completed units on fiction and non-fiction writing – fables or science fiction, followed by persuasive / opinion writing for the Whitlam Institute’s What Matters Competition.
Now, I know that these genres are not going to tick the boxes for all students. I am not sure that I, as a student, would have enjoyed four weeks exploring the genre of fables and then writing my own fable. (The other units I would have loved, however…)
The work produced by my classes has been exceptional. Over the last three months, I received some really deep fables, as well as some really funny ones. I have read a heap of really interesting science fiction stories. Many of them left me wanting to read the next chapter. And I have been brought to tears reading about things that matter to my students.
eLearner 