August 31, 2006

Sorry I did not blog at the end of the day. I have to get back into the habit of doing it before I leave school. I really thought I would get a chance when I got home. With two young kids, I should have known better.

Thursday, we did our first daily drill. Each day, when class starts, I will have some activity on the screen to copy and correct, or reflect on. Most times it will be two sentences to be corrected. That way we can have a grammar lesson every day. While I will cover grammar in small units, it never hurts to review the rules. I expect the students to keep the daily drills organized in a folder or notebook.

We also finished listening to the song. We discussed what Dylan was trying to say, although the song is bizarre at times. Some students are having difficulty figuring out what to write. I guess it is difficult to see how to write an essay when we have studied a song. But think of it like this. You are using the song to get you thinking about the subject: what have you seen in this world, and what have you learned? Let that idea float through your head this weekend. Your job, then, will be to speak to us, reflecting on the events of your life, telling us what you have figured out about life so far. We, then, as your audience, will take what you have learned and your events, roll them around in our heads, compare them to our own, and try to see the world a little differently as a result of hearing how you see it. As a writer and artist, my job is to get you to rethink how you see the world. That is also why I teach.