Who is Steering This Thing Anyways?!?

Teachers often have to rely on somewhat corny (sometimes totally corny) catch phrases to get their points across. I have several I have developed over the years and they vary in their levels of snark. Here are several of Ms H's catch phrases:

* "Hey, am I your Mommy? No, then clean up after yourself"
* "Keep talking; it gives me more to write down"
* "I don't need 15 year old friends. I'm good"
* "How may I help you, Star shine?"
* "Go outside, come back in, and try that again."
* "And repeat after me: Thank you Ms Harrell"
* "Don't make me pull over this minivan" (love this one; throws them off, but they get the point--Not the Mommy!)
* "You are the captain of your own destiny"

Now that last one--yes, corny. Yes, effective. Yet I had forgotten it applies to me too.

This summer I taught summer school and I slogged through the first term. It.Was.Torture. And really that was all me. The kids, with the exception of some *darling* freshmen girls, were fine. But I was bored. Therefore, my teaching was boring. I was probably more "by-the-book" than I have ever been during my career.

In addition, I was procrastinating BIG time. I kept putting off this huge project I needed to do for my administrative credential. I felt lost and stymied by my predecessor's lack of organization. (Now people who know me may scoff, but when it comes to the writing process and my saving system, I am highly organized.)

In short, I spent most of June whining. A true joy to be around, I'm sure.

But then term 2 of summer school started and I snapped. I couldn't do it. I couldn't go through each chapter of the book, read stories, do a packet, and give a test. Not gonna do it.

So I didn't.

I taught Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in 14 days. It was awesome. I did everything I could think of doing. I taught about the history of Shakespeare, Elizabethan literature and life. I read sonnets with the students. The students read the play as a class, taking parts and in small groups. I even made them act out scenes in front of their peers. We watched two of movie adaptations and did an in-depth analysis.

It was a great kick in the butt.

After months of indecision, I finally felt motivated enough to tackle my project. I gave up trying to make my predecessor happy and I wrote lessons that I felt good about. I through out pretty much everything from last year and started from scratch. It was scary, but it felt good.

One often hears in education: "Try not to reinvent the wheel." Many times that is true. Many times things can be built upon slowly and improved over time.

But sometimes what we need is radical change. We need to change our own outmoded expectations about things before we try to get other people on board. My students weren't going to stay motivated day in and day out for six hours a day if I didn't get my act together and do something I cared about. And people at my school aren't going to care about the homeroom lessons I've written if they don't truly reflect my passions and convictions about teaching.

So, message received. Just call me El Capitan.