Being a teacher is the hardest job I have ever worked at. Although we worked extremely hard many nights while I was employed by a newspaper, working with teenagers offers a different set of challenges. Many of those challenges are simply tied in to society today. There are bright spots which make the down times seem like minor smudges in the big picture.
I had several bright spots this week. One, which I won't go in to with much detail because it is still being formulated, is the news that I may produce another school newspaper next year. I have found such satisfaction with teaching my students newspaper. They learn layout, writing headlines, writing stories, editing, deadline, teamwork, and many other aspects which may not be noticeable during their time in my class, but pay off when they continue in their educational journey.
I saw almost 15 students who had been part of a journalism class in my first teaching position graduate with their AA degrees last week before they walked across the stage for their high school diploma. Many were in the top ten of their class. Although my journalism class cannot take all the credit, I am sure some of the skills they learned in class carried them a little further.
The bright spot I am really celebrating this week is a student who requested a book. Now this may not seem like a big deal to people who read, but in today's world, with kids who have phones glued to their hands and air pods permanently implanted in their ears, it is a big deal.
When you walk in my classroom you see reading material. Books upon books, magazines, newspapers and written copies of everything you can imagine. I always invite my students to read, borrow or take home anything they would like and although I did have one student pick up a book, she put it back when the other students began kidding her about it.
The district asked each class in the month of April to use a standard for their class each Tuesday in the month. I called this "Teaching the Standard Tuesday" or TST. The standard was R.L 2.6 Point of View and we were to select a passage from different books written by authors who are from outside the United States. This was not a hard lesson for me to do until I came to the final week.
I finally found a book for young adults written by an African author from Nigeria. My Sister, the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite was perfect. After I read the excerpt I found, I posted it, made copies for my students and decided I had to buy the book for myself because it sounded so interesting. We completed the lesson and I was a little disappointed in the student reaction although I knew my students were not avid readers.
Yesterday, in my last period class, a student came up to my desk and asked me if I had gotten a copy of the book and had I finished reading it. I explained I was almost finished and found it very interesting and an easy read. She then asked would I bring it to her so she could read it.
ABSOLUTELY! My heart was happy after an extremely rough day which included a lockdown for a time and students who are done with school at this point with interest that could be held on a gnat's wing.
Thank you Oyinkan Braithwaite. Your book passed the teenage test.
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