Yeah, well, what ya gonna do about it?
12:22
I've just re-read my last post, when I only had 3 little girls and that slimy little four-eyed arse-licking republic-stealing bastard was still in charge.
My how times have changed since then. The blog was an original attempt to try to keep up some semblance of writing skills, dedicating an hour a day to writing. It went almost as fast as my daily jog (Blog: three days; Jog: two days). I actually feel sorry for that dude who commented on my second entry. I can only imagine they've been waiting two years for a reply. I'll get around to that eventually.
I guess the topic of this blog should really be the reason why I've suddenly come back to the blog-writing fold. It's actually three-fold.
1) Hypocrisy can only go so far (see my last post). Making my Year 12 students blog, and then commenting on them doesn't really seem terribly fair. Particularly since the whole purpose of getting my kiddies to keep blogs is to help improve their writing skills in a public forum, in a real life situation. Improvement through embarrassment, if you will - a proven teaching tactic. Let them have a go at me if they will. I need to keep my writing skills up, and this seems to be the best thing for me to do. So, if any of my kiddies are reading this, have at thee. Or at me. Or whatever. Since the last few years I've been some devoid of writing ideas I may as well keep my writing skills up by electronic metaphorical regurgitation. Which leads into point #2:
2) I've written a short story. Four years since I last wrote a short story and one comes to me while on retreat. Well, not really come to me as if a bolt, but kinda crept up on me. A friend of mine is putting together a collection of spec fic for tweenage kiddies. Couldn't think of anything until I recalled a really bad Santa joke. I started on it, and finished two drafts in three days. So kewl. What was best it reminded me of what it feels like to write, and more importantly, complete something. And she seems to like it, which means I might finally get published something that I like. She's also the one who's been on my back for a while now about not finding time to write (her professional opinion: "get over it, princess"). Of course, if my story isn't up to her standards, I'll just guilt her into publishing it.
3) Just got back from a National English teacher's conference. Brilliant stuff. Of course, that's only if you're an English teacher yourself. If not - I can't imagine anything more dull (except for the conference that was there after us - professional turf growers. Seriously.) and after seeing them dance at the conference dinner, I have to say English teachers could be the most white profession ever. For anyone who hasn't been to any kind of conference, unless you're pissed all the time (which happens more often than you'd care to admit) delegates have a tendency to be inspired and reminded why you're in the profession in the first place. Unfortunately, when you return to the real world, reality gets in the way of improving everyting you promised yourself you would do. So I'm here, in at work, justifying the time I would be going back over the notes by wriyting this blog to try to get it straight in my head (which, by the looks of that meandering previous sentence, is going to be a lot more difficult than I hoped for).
The last speaker consolidated a theme which I wasn't really sure permeated throughout the conference until I had it spelt out for me in the final session. The guy was called Jeffrey Wilhelm, one of a number of American experts flown in (because as we all know, nothing is important until an American expert is flown in). His speech meandered a bit, but I was most impressed by what he had to say about teaching as a profession - it's not.
As in, teaching can't be considered a profession until teachers start acting as professionals. He put up a bunch of definitions and qualities of professionals and pointed out (depressingly accurately) that we are letting all those qualities be taken away from us by legislators. He says that all teachers need to be researchers in their own classrooms, and we all need to be activists. That which you would normally whinge about, actually write someone about it. That which you are having trouble teaching, experiment and ask for assessment from the kiddies. More work, yes, but not much and the results could hopefully improve your teaching.
12:51
And so I find myself back here. An hour of writing appears to be out of my reach first entry back, but I'm sure I'll build up to the hour once I find the time but I feel I need an outlet for ideas, statements and general whinging, even if only it is on a blog to begin with. First ideas get sorted out here, sent to message boards, typed up, sent out, discussed at conferences.
Might work.
But at least I'll feel I'm doing something.
As long as I keep at least doing this.
Man, I always suck at endings.
I've just re-read my last post, when I only had 3 little girls and that slimy little four-eyed arse-licking republic-stealing bastard was still in charge.
My how times have changed since then. The blog was an original attempt to try to keep up some semblance of writing skills, dedicating an hour a day to writing. It went almost as fast as my daily jog (Blog: three days; Jog: two days). I actually feel sorry for that dude who commented on my second entry. I can only imagine they've been waiting two years for a reply. I'll get around to that eventually.
I guess the topic of this blog should really be the reason why I've suddenly come back to the blog-writing fold. It's actually three-fold.
1) Hypocrisy can only go so far (see my last post). Making my Year 12 students blog, and then commenting on them doesn't really seem terribly fair. Particularly since the whole purpose of getting my kiddies to keep blogs is to help improve their writing skills in a public forum, in a real life situation. Improvement through embarrassment, if you will - a proven teaching tactic. Let them have a go at me if they will. I need to keep my writing skills up, and this seems to be the best thing for me to do. So, if any of my kiddies are reading this, have at thee. Or at me. Or whatever. Since the last few years I've been some devoid of writing ideas I may as well keep my writing skills up by electronic metaphorical regurgitation. Which leads into point #2:
2) I've written a short story. Four years since I last wrote a short story and one comes to me while on retreat. Well, not really come to me as if a bolt, but kinda crept up on me. A friend of mine is putting together a collection of spec fic for tweenage kiddies. Couldn't think of anything until I recalled a really bad Santa joke. I started on it, and finished two drafts in three days. So kewl. What was best it reminded me of what it feels like to write, and more importantly, complete something. And she seems to like it, which means I might finally get published something that I like. She's also the one who's been on my back for a while now about not finding time to write (her professional opinion: "get over it, princess"). Of course, if my story isn't up to her standards, I'll just guilt her into publishing it.
3) Just got back from a National English teacher's conference. Brilliant stuff. Of course, that's only if you're an English teacher yourself. If not - I can't imagine anything more dull (except for the conference that was there after us - professional turf growers. Seriously.) and after seeing them dance at the conference dinner, I have to say English teachers could be the most white profession ever. For anyone who hasn't been to any kind of conference, unless you're pissed all the time (which happens more often than you'd care to admit) delegates have a tendency to be inspired and reminded why you're in the profession in the first place. Unfortunately, when you return to the real world, reality gets in the way of improving everyting you promised yourself you would do. So I'm here, in at work, justifying the time I would be going back over the notes by wriyting this blog to try to get it straight in my head (which, by the looks of that meandering previous sentence, is going to be a lot more difficult than I hoped for).
The last speaker consolidated a theme which I wasn't really sure permeated throughout the conference until I had it spelt out for me in the final session. The guy was called Jeffrey Wilhelm, one of a number of American experts flown in (because as we all know, nothing is important until an American expert is flown in). His speech meandered a bit, but I was most impressed by what he had to say about teaching as a profession - it's not.
As in, teaching can't be considered a profession until teachers start acting as professionals. He put up a bunch of definitions and qualities of professionals and pointed out (depressingly accurately) that we are letting all those qualities be taken away from us by legislators. He says that all teachers need to be researchers in their own classrooms, and we all need to be activists. That which you would normally whinge about, actually write someone about it. That which you are having trouble teaching, experiment and ask for assessment from the kiddies. More work, yes, but not much and the results could hopefully improve your teaching.
12:51
And so I find myself back here. An hour of writing appears to be out of my reach first entry back, but I'm sure I'll build up to the hour once I find the time but I feel I need an outlet for ideas, statements and general whinging, even if only it is on a blog to begin with. First ideas get sorted out here, sent to message boards, typed up, sent out, discussed at conferences.
Might work.
But at least I'll feel I'm doing something.
As long as I keep at least doing this.
Man, I always suck at endings.
Labels: blog writing, conference, English teaching, hypocrisy, writing, year 12
posted by Nutshell King at 9:03 PM
2 comments
