another year in Vegas

We had a creed that we lived by in my Literary Criticism course at University: What happens in Venice stays in Venice (or Vegas, if you will--the Venice comes from The Merchant of Venice, one of our primary texts).

I adopted this creed for all of my literature classes last year, my first year of teaching. I gave a whole speech about it to my students on the first day of school. My speech was all about how studying literature is dangerous and risky because it provokes people to think critically about their culture, the world outside of their culture, and most importantly, themselves. More danger ensues when critical awareness of our environment challenges us to form opinions and arguments.

Going into teaching with no expectations of what kind of people I would be dealing with, I felt I had to institute the Vegas Rule in order to create a safe environment for all opinions to be shared and heard.

They all nodded their heads when I got to the part in my speech about the well-known phrase, "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas."

"This," I said, waving my arms to indicate the space of the room, "is Vegas. What I say, what you say, what he says, what she says, stays in Vegas."

This sounds pretty silly for a high school literature course. And it is. Obviously, not everything we say will stay in "Vegas." I will talk to my peers about what goes on in my classroom, just like they will talk to their peers about what goes on in their classroom.

But ultimately, while I have them in that small, white-walled, fluorescent room for the span of 50 minutes a day, it is our classroom. And while we may not keep everything in Vegas, we create an experience that is ours and ours alone. We share discoveries, opinions, and ideas.

There is something holy in that relationship. Even if we exit this experience with distaste for one another, we are still bonded with an intimacy that's almost Platonic.

When I see my students from last year in class, or in the hallway, for those whom I don't have in class this year, it always feels like we have some kind of secret handshake, or wink. We share something in the furtive smiles we exchange... a year of living in Vegas.

You Stay Classy

Yes, I created, sponsor, and endorse Classy Monday.

Classy Monday is an opportunity for students in my class to dress up every Monday we have school for extra credit. Students can earn up to three points each Monday, depending on how classy they dress.

A tie is an automatic 3 points. Unfortunately, if you're wearing jeans with that tie, you forfeit any extra credit points. I'm trying to promote professionalism, not host Project Runway.

The first day of school, I accidently said, "You can wear a tie, just no jeans." Immediately I started laughing because I pictured a person in a tie with no pants on. Cheeky!

It's fun to see my students participate and get excited about this extra credit opportunity. Some of them dress up religiously--EVERY Monday. Some are more sporadic, but the best are the students who wait until the end of the year because they're grasping at extra credit straws just to pass the class or get their grade high enough to stay on the track team.

Now, we'll see how well my new students do next Monday...

Again, I love my job.

The Blood-Path Covenant

My American Lit classes and I have been enjoying some sweet nostalgia with an episode of Reading Rainbow, hosted by Lavar Burton (aka Jordie from "Star Trek: The Next Generation").

It turns out that Lavar is just a little bit creepy. The way he casually pulls children's books from his leather jacket is disconcerting. And his hands are so well-manicured. And he cares so much about Little Gopher and how he wants to paint the sunset so badly. Someone give Lavar a visor, and I'll feel more comfortable.

We started reading The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini today in Honors American Lit. I'm interested to see how the students respond to this novel. I'm sure it's vastly removed from anything they've ever read before. There's some pretty serious and graphic content that will spark some interesting discussion, I'm sure. If you've never read this novel, you should. It's a great introduction to Afghanistan's recent history and culture.

The boon of my year will be British Lit. I've revamped the course this time around, only including units on literature that I enjoy. My philosophy is this: if I don't like it, how can I inspire them to like it? My goal isn't to manipulate my students to like everything I like, but I do think I will get their attention more if I am excited about what we are doing.

So, in Brit Lit, we're working on a Greek mythology unit, learning about the pantheon right now and starting Homer's Odyssey. We will have so, so many opportunities for fun in this class. I can't wait for Toga Day... we'll eat Greek food (lambbbbbb!), play Greek games (Olympics), and wear Greek clothes (Togas... no naked Olympians here!). I considered slaughtering a lamb for a sacrifice... too much?

Ah, this is life.

I guess "Jones" is slang for Heroin?

Starting tonight, I'm going to try actual blogging here, instead of confusing people with my indulgence in abstract creativity.

I figure I have the guts to post at least one interesting anecdote a day from my weekdays as a teacher and my weekends as a struggling adventurer. That's right, if Indiana Jones were a woman, she would be me.

Tomorrow, I embark on my second year of teaching high school literature. Classes start in a week, but tomorrow we begin faculty/staff meetings, etc. "Etc." is all you need to know about that for now. We have some madcap meetings, but they serve for great entertainment (unless you're really tired and have a stackload of grading).

You never know what will happen at a faculty meeting: people cry, cell phones ring the melody of The Lord of the Rings (actually, you can ALWAYS count on that one), someone asks if the office is spying on the teachers through speaker phones, we discuss how best to avoid gunshots from inside and outside intruders, we are called on to recite obscure "mottos," etc., etc., etc.

I so look forward to more of that. I'm rather fond of it, really.

Also, my principal is a pirate. But, he's a good pirate. You can tell because he wears his eye patch over the right eye. Principale Pirate. He's got magnificent sense, and I think I would maraud any class under his command.