Looking Back

Here's some writing I did at the very beginning of the summer, even before I spent the whole ten weeks looking for a job. This sounds very prophetic as to what my summer really was like: 

At the end of the year, I felt secure. Sure, my personal life was going all to heck, but I knew what I was going to do next year. I'd gathered up all of the yearbook materials, and I was prepared to spend all summer going over them and getting yearbook more organized. Then I was derailed at my checkout when my principal informed me that they were eliminating my part-time position. So much for the peaceful, productive summer. I would now spend all summer agonizing over cover letters, chasing down letters of reference, and going to interviews, and this doesn't even include planning and implementing a brand new curriculum. Aargh!
Now I have the crazy dilemma of trying to decide where I'll be at next year. No matter where it is, it's going to be a lot more work for me, because I'll most likely be teaching full time.  I've already got an offer, but I'm not completely convinced that it is the right fit for me. I feel disjointed, discombobulated, and disenfranchised, all at the same time.

I think the job hunt was even worse than I had imagined. I'm glad it's over.

"How It Feels to Be Colored Me" Ideas

As it is the end of the year, I wanted to make sure that my students have exposure to writing by women, people of color, etc. We spent a little time on the Harlem Renaissance, and one of the pieces that is in our book is "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" by Zora Neale Hurston. I love this essay because she is so positive in it, despite the obvious discriminations she experienced from being a black woman in the 1920s. Anyway, after reading the essay, I had my students watch this TED talk, and then we all wrote a positive experience journal. It was kind of fun to get upbeat for a while, because so much of what we read in English is, let's face it, a bit of a downer.