What Do You Make?

I still find it amusing to hear people's reactions when I tell them I am a high school teacher: "Oh, my god" or "I could never do that." Once in a while though, I get "Be honest, what do you make?" I am not totally sure why people find it more appropriate to ask a teacher what they make as opposed to someone else. Have you ever met a dentist and wanted to know what they make? My guess is no (or at least if you did you didn't say it out loud) but for some reason - some - people think it is completely appropriate to ask me how much I make; its as if people automatically envision movie scenes from Dangerous Minds or To Sir with Love - as if I'm in a room with 40 students, with bars on the windows, and two textbooks with half the pages ripped out being duct-taped to a chair. All this I find laughable given the school I do work at: I have a huge sunlit classroom, a brand new computer, an InFocus projector mounted on my ceiling, countless supplies and books, and some of the nicest people I know (my coworkers and my students).

When I get this question - which I did this weekend - I smile graciously, but in my mind I think of a poem by Taylor Mali entitled "What Teachers Make." Mali is an English teacher and performance poet. You can easily YouTube him perfoming this poem. I get emotional every time I see it - in a good way. I'm not posting it here because there is a certain hand gesture at the end I don't think is appropriate for my blog. Here is the written form - the image he creates at the beginning is a dinner party he was at and someone asking him the fatal question...

"What Teachers Make"

He says the problem with teachers is, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"
He reminds the other dinner guests that it's true what they say about teachers:
Those who can, do; those who can't, teach.

I decide to bite my tongue instead of his
and resist the temptation to remind the other dinner guests
that it's also true what they say about lawyers.

Because we're eating, after all, and this is polite company.

"I mean, you're a teacher, Taylor," he says. "Be honest. What do you make?"

And I wish he hadn't done that
(asked me to be honest)
because, you see, I have a policy about honesty:
if you ask for it, I have to let you have it.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.
I can make a C+ feel like a Congressional medal of honor
and an A- feel like a slap in the face.
How dare you waste my time with anything less than your very best.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of study hall
in absolute silence. No, you may not work in groups.
No, you may not ask a question.
Why won't I let you get a drink of water?
Because you're not thirsty, you're bored, that's why.

I make parents tremble in fear when I call home:
I hope I haven't called at a bad time,
I just wanted to talk to you about something Billy said today.
Billy said, "Leave the kid alone. I still cry sometimes, don't you?"
And it was the noblest act of courage I have ever seen.

I make parents see their children for who they are and what they can be.

You want to know what I make?

I make kids wonder,
I make them question.
I make them criticize.
I make them apologize and mean it.
I make them write, write, write.
And then I make them read.
I make them spell definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful, definitely beautiful
over and over and over again until they will never misspell either one of those words again.
I make them show all their work in math.
And hide it on their final drafts in English.
I make them understand that if you got this (brains)
then you follow this (heart) and if someone ever tries to judge you
by what you make, you give them this (the finger).

Let me break it down for you, so you know what I say is true:
I make a difference! What about you?

Caesar Materials - Best Supporting Roles

Since I have started teaching The Tragedy of Julius Caesar I have focused my own education on two supplemental materials:

1. Memoirs of Cleopatra - by Margaret George. When I was in high school I took a history course titled Ancient Greece & Rome. We were given an outside reading assignment and a list of books that pertained to the course. I liked the idea of reading about a powerful female and went to the bookstore for Memoirs. When I found the book there was one minor problem - it was 957 pages long. Now I was reader then as I am now, but everyone has their limits and that seemed to be mine. I spoke with my teacher and he allowed me to read the first 300 pages and that would suffice. Other girls got wind of this and liked the idea. Can you guess what happened? We got addicted. A young female ruler of a powerful, exotic country has a love affair (and possible illegitimate child) with the world's most powerful - and married -man (Caesar) who ends up being murdered by his best friends and then the same woman ends up having a love affair with his other best friend (Antony). 10 girls - including me - carted this monolith of a book around school for about two months, reading before the bells rang, being asked to put it away during class. I have picked it up again and am having the same reaction. I have read several of George's books since but still love Memoirs the most. It helps give a new perspective to the story of Caesar and is far more historically accurate than my dear Will.

2. HBO Rome series - During December break, while at the video store, I decided to try ROME on dvd as I thought it may help add another layer of insight to Caesar's world and boy, did it. I cannot technically recommend this series due to content (it would definitely be rated R) but I found it truly enlightening - not just of the plot to kill Caesar but of the time period. Often times movies and TV tend to glorify and romanticize the "olden days." We know better, though. Shakespeare's theatre alone had up to 2,000 bodies cramped into tight quarters with no public bathrooms. People did not bathe and household waste was thrown out windows onto the streets. Rome was not very different and luckily, the series stays true to the nature of the time. One scene that is important and visually appropriate is the depiction of Caesar's murder. I plan to show this in class when time allows. I think it is important to look at a moment in history from multiple people's perspectives. You sometimes see things you had not before. Plus, HBO has a bigger budget than the Brando movie did.

QUESTION: What historical story do you find most shocking or compelling?

Better Essay Writing - BRING IT ON!

One of my classes asked for some help on how to make their essays stronger. They gave me four categories and here is what I came up with for each:

1. TRANSITIONAL PHRASES – Consider the difference between ballet and cheerleading. Ballet consists of a series of fluid motions, each dance move flows into the next. Ballet partners even synchronize their movements to coincide or look like one moving body. Cheerleading is very different. While still incorporating dance moves these moves are held by the cheerer for a moment before abruptly moving on to the next position. Cheerers usually shout one or two syllables at a time while keeping their arms strong and powerful, not gentle. Hopefully, you see where I’m going with this. The English equivalent of a cheerleading would probably be a brainstorming list of bullet points. When writing an essay you should not be shouting at me or abruptly moving from sentence to sentence without explaining how they connect; an essay should be like a ballet. A very rudimentary set of transitions would be: Firstly, Moving on, Finally, etc. Perhaps we could see them as elementary school students learning ballet? Strong transitions that fluidly weave one paragraph with the next usually references the point previously made: An even stronger example of this, Another character that reinforces the author’s message to the reader, etc. If you do not feel confident in your transitional phrases, use the web! A site you could use as a jumping off point is: http://www.studygs.net/wrtstr6.htm.

2. QUESTION IS TOO BROAD – Whenever you receive a writing prompt, always break it down into pieces; it makes life a lot easier. So, let’s take a look at the prompt I give you for essays: What is the author’s message to the reader/ purpose for writing the novel? What does he feel so strongly about and what must the readers do with this information once they understand the message?

This would be my train of thought: The focus is the author’s message – so I need to identify a theme from the work. And it’s the message to the reader, so I need to mention “the reader” in my essay. So, what is the author writing about? I know that, usually, authors are upset with the way the world is and they write books to warn us. What is the author trying to warn me about? And once I figure that out, what should I change about my life or my behavior?

So, in cheerleader form:
1. Identify a theme
2. Consider why the author thinks this theme is important for the reader to know
3. Predict how the author wants the reader to change

Now, just start with step 1. Think back on what we have been discussing in class. What have I, as the teacher, been emphasizing? Come up with a theme you feel confident in explaining. Here is an example:

1. People need to be more accepting of others’ differences
2. Currently, the author’s readers are too judgmental of others
3. Readers should not stereotype others based on their appearance or social standing in the future so as not to lose out on potential friendships and romantic relationships.

Can you guess what work I chose this theme from? Too general? That is the sign of a strong essay. If you have character names, locations, scenes, etc. you are being too specific. Save those details for when you need to find examples to back up your thesis. And lastly, when in doubt, ask me! I am always hear to help and sometimes all a student needs is someone to listen to them talk out their ideas.

3. THEME/READER’S ACTIONS – This is a leap in inferential thinking. It is not easy. I completely realize I am pushing you a great deal here, but believe me - you will get so much more out of literature if you can train your brain to be more aware of the messages the author is sending to you. I relate this to my sister’s job. She sells and promotes high end contemporary art in New York City – very glamorous. Sometimes I will go to visit, she will show me the latest exhibition, and I will enjoy the work but not truly get it. The last work I saw was a sculpture made to look like a cloud of black velvet. Birds were placed in and around the velvet to look as if they were flying in and out of the cloud. Obviously, it does not translate well to the written word, but I found the piece very moving, despite the fact I had no idea what was going on. Then my sister began to tell me the artist’s purpose. The artist had taken her inspiration from the epic poem “The Divine Comedy” by Dante (and, I, a literary geek! How cool!). In the poem Dante describes the three options for the afterlife Christians’ had: Heaven, Purgatory or Hell. The black cloud sculpture was actually an interpretation of one of Dante’s layers of Hell. The birds were symbolic of humans in Hell, constantly in a state of trying to escape and being sucked back in. It was AMAZING. As I moved around the exhibition my sister continued to describe each of the sculptures, explaining another layer of Hell from the epic poem. Once I had gotten the artist’s purpose I was able to experience the work on a completely different level than I had before. We must train ourselves to do this with literature.

4. CREATIVITY – The most difficult thing to teach and the reason why despite my artistic abilities I am in the English, not Art, department. I will do my best, though: First off, you need to put yourself in my shoes. Imagine you come home from work, sit down at your desk, uncap your purple pen and begin to read 20-70 essays on the same text. You have done this for several years already. Now read the first line of the first essay: “In the novel, The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger, the protagonist Holden Caulfield runs away to New York City.” Now be honest: Are you excited to read this essay? Now look at the 19-69 essays you have left to read. Are you excited to read those? THAT is why creativity is so important. Find your voice and manipulate language in creative ways.


Ideas:
1. Think about what you are passionate about and use it as a connection to the text: a song, a poem, pop culture, historical events, soccer, dance, cooking, etc. You will be surprised at how easy this is.
2. Use your five senses when describing scenes or people: Twain shows how vile Huck’s father Pap is on the inside by making him ugly on the outside with scraggly hair, unwashed clothes and a strong stench of alcohol. Utilizing your five senses like this makes a scene or person come alive in a far more interesting way than just saying “Huck’s dad is gross.”
3. Here is a list of others: Play on words (if you consider yourself clever or sarcastic this one is for you), alliterations (slippery slope), analogies (can help with fluidity), creative sentence structure (please do not start every sentence with a subject and then a verb – Oy!!)


QUESTION: How did I make these tips creative and interesting to read?