Teaching the Classics

I'm a fan of teaching classic literature in high school English classes; I actually enjoy reading some books better now than I did in high school, but I think that there is merit to teaching more current literature. Right now I am reading the novels The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and To Kill a Mockingbird with my high school students, but I just finished an excellent book; I read Shanghai Girls by Lisa See. I loved this book! If I was teaching a World Literature course I would definitely consider adding this historical fiction to the curriculum. While I think that the literature canon that scholars have previously chosen to represent "great" literature is great and good reading, I think that the canon should be expanding. As teachers we strive to keep up with pop culture and new trends (at least I do) so that we can relate to our students. I'm not suggesting we start teaching Gossip Girls, but what if we expanded the classic literature list to include more cultural pieces of work, or books written in the last fifty years. What literature do you teach in your classroom? Do you think we should stick to the canon, or would broadening the literature we introduce to our youth be a good idea?

Professinal Learning Communities

This week in my Masters course we have been reading about Professional Learning Communities(PLCs). I found the topic very interesting because the school I work at has active PLCs. All the high school teachers currently meet on a monthly basis from 8am-10am to discuss various topics. This is seen as "good time" to meet, as opposed to the typical 3:00-5:00 staff meetings. In one of the videos I watched Dr. Ann Liberman said that after school meetings tend to be a bad time because who wants to stay after school to discuss the problems in the classroom. Generally meeting during the day, the teachers have fresh opinions to offer. The meetings at my school generally have a focus to them, sometimes state testing, strategies to use, or new technology we should be implementing in the classroom. One of the interesting things I read about this week was that teachers should have input on the professional development they are taking, because then they will gain more from it. How many of you work at schools where you can choose your professional development? I like to attend workshops in my area, although I struggle with the fact that I like to be in the classroom. Our district recently subscribed to a website called PD360, which allows teachers to take online professional development courses. It's a nice way for teachers to be able to access professional development classes on their own time.

I would like to hear from other teachers about the PLCs that take place in your school. What have your found successful about your meetings, and what did not work so well?

Welcome

Welcome to my Education Blog. I am starting this blog as a result of the first class I am taking towards my Masters Degree. The class that I am taking, Teacher as Professional, has really stretched me to define who I am as a teacher and when I want to go from here. I am looking forward to continuing this blog and inviting others to post and comment on important topics educators are facing today.