This morning, I am
asking my Contemporary Literature juniors and seniors to reflect on these
questions, so I thought I would join them as well.
1. What has your English class experience been like so far?
2. What has your reading experience been like so far? (inside and/or outside of school)
3. What are you hoping to gain by taking this class?
English class has always been one of my favorite classes. From Zybard and Currier at St. Hugo of the Hills School to Carapellotti at U of D Jesuit High School and beyond to professors at U of M, these teachers always made their classroom a great place to learn, study, and discuss reading and writing. Now, that's not to say that every class was an out-of-body experience, because they weren't. I remember struggling through some topics in high school and college, eventually leading me to become a master at writing essays without ever opening the book (to the envy of all my stressed and struggling friends). My Masters program at Madonna University? I earned a 4.0 without really using the textbooks. But those teachers who made me love the novels we read, those are the ones who had the most influence over me and my decision to become a teacher.
I've always been a reader. I remember back to the elementary school days with standardized testing; you always needed to have a novel with you for if you finished early. Back in the day, my mom would even take us to the library for books. I distinctly remember sitting on the couch with my two younger sisters as she read Roald Dahl's Matilda to us. And then when Harry Potter arrived on the scene? Look out! I ate those up as fast as J.K. Rowling could publish them. I don't ever remember being as excited for a new book like those ones. Gradually, though, I became busy with required reading for school. Harry Potter was replaced with older "canonical" titles that I couldn't understand or couldn't catch my interest. Or, being an English major, the amount of the required reading for classes was too cumbersome to allow for me to actually enjoy it. It wasn't until my student teaching experience at Orchard Lake Middle School, when I saw all of these sixth graders reading novels of choice, that I was reinvigorated to start reading again. Hunger Games and Percy Jackson were amazing and eventually transitioned to summers making my way through a never-ending "to read" list including novels like Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore and The Martian. I enjoy that I've found the time and methods to include my own reading of choice in my life, even if it does mean co-reading it along with reading for my high schoolers. Reading rocks!
I'm super happy to have started this Contemporary Literature elective. I'm looking forward to an intimate class with nine students. It'll be like a fun book club that meets every third period. My hope is that by reading good current novels, some of the high school students who have turned out like me (avoiding reading and finding the easy way out) will see how awesome reading is again and re-dedicate themselves to actually reading books from cover to cover. Well, for my class at least. Got to start somewhere!
