A Whole New Chapter

A year has passed since my last post. So much has changed! I got married, moved to another country, and am teaching at a new school. Wedding planning, job hunting, moving, and getting acclimated has taken up much of my free time so I haven't blogged in a while. Now that things are more settled in, I can post updates.

Currently I teach seventh grade Literature and advise a group of seventh graders in Minnesota. Our curriculum this school year began with a reading of The Outsiders by SE Hinton, students made text to life connections and learned how to identify themes. They also watched as dynamic characters developed throughout the text. The next quarter, we focused on poetry. Students learned the history and rules for creating various types of poetry from around the world, especially those of Latin American poets. They also practiced writing their own poetry using the examples we read as a guide. I will expand on this topic in my next blog post.

Currently, students are reading Fences by August Wilson and watched 42, the film about Jackie Robinson's athletic career. In addition to exploring the shared themes of race relations, family obligations, and practicality vs idealism, students are learning to share informed opinions on these and other topics.

Stay tuned!