After feeling like a nincompoop for the two years I taught at King, I sort of feel like I got the hang of the teaching thing this year. And my students seem to think so too! These came from my students’ responses to my end-of-the-year survey. Each one was written by students in my lit classes ... Oh, and two other things that didn’t really fit in with this list, but I wanted to share anyway:
“You made me be a better man.”
“Years from now, when I’m out with friends and we’re talking about high school, I’m going to say, ‘Once, I had an English teacher who taught me so much more than how to write an essay.’ ”
Everything I need to know in life, I learned in Kara’s class …
(by the students in 2nd and 6th period “Literature of Change”)
Even if you’re not the greatest in school, even if you’re not a saint, you can still be great at something.
My opinion is important. It is important to have a clear idea of what I think.
Don’t contradict yourself! Don’t end your thoughts with, “I don’t know” if you really do know.
It doesn’t matter how good your ideas are if other people can’t hear them. Don’t put your hands in front of your mouth when you talk.
I always thought poets had great English backgrounds and were well-educated with a nice life, but Miguel Pinero taught me you can be a jailbird, on drugs, living on the street, and still turn your life into something successful.
Failing is not an option.
Fight back. The slaves revolted, and they had nothing. If there is injustice in your life, find the strength the slaves had and fight back too!
No matter what you may be going through at a particular moment, there’s always a possibility of changing and doing better for yourself.
Stay positive to yourself and the ones around you because you will never know just how much of an impact you will have on someone else’s life. You influence those around you, although you may not know it.
Before you go with the flow, you have to inspect the flow. And if the flow isn’t right, then you have to swim upstream.
Make a list of things to do before you die … and do them!
Don’t judge people by what they do, but try to learn their reasons for doing it.
Your behavior is important. It is rude to disrupt and use inappropriate language.
Your words are like gravity. They can hold you down. Choose them carefully.
Question everything.
Where I’m from might not be the nicest place, but it’s important and it made me who I am today.
Write what you feel and how you feel. A poem can be turned around drastically once emotion is added.
The values I will carry with me from these authors are that life is too short to regret, hide, or hate people, or anything.
Poetry doesn’t have rhyme or go together perfectly. It can be unshaped.
Listen + Think = Learn.
You’re not done yet.
Friday, June 20, 2008
