Stories from the classroom

Of the two classes I am teaching this semester (which ends in two weeks), both Composition and Intro to Critical Thinking have pushed me to explore new methods and material. Of the 5, yeah FIVE, students in my composition class, I initially thought only 3 had the desire, let alone the talent, to be original or daring in their writing.

One is an ex-student of Mrs. Chili’s, whom she predicted I would love. He is bright, funny, intuitive and has a real voice in his writing. He is a challenge to inspire for quick writes, but when he gets going, he is a great source of the unpredictable.

The next is a girl, barely 20, who seemed to be a barely-there bubble of adolescent materialism; she loved to talk about her shoes, her cell phone and its ringtones and brand-name this and that. What I was delighted to discover was that she also has a wry take on the world, a clever knack of mixing up metaphors and a spark of daring.

The third is an inyerface ex-druggie from Florida who writes with ferocity and gushes on whatever topic she tackles. All her quickwrites deal with an extremity of experience I would not have normally, in my naivete, associated with one so young. She, at 22, has been around the block, the whole friggin’ neighborhood, which has resulted in an attitude that screams of bravado and cautious confidence.

Finally, I have a boy who, at 17, refused to commit to any opinion or commentary in classroom discussion. “Oh, I don’t know”, was his frequent rejoinder. I have cured him of that; I called him on his lame, “I have to write in this damn stupid journal and OMG, it’s so ridiculous” CRAP. His second journal offering cracked me up as he was so obviously overdoing ti to make sure I noticed his effort level; he wrote some poetry, had some fun with a parable and generally ceased his previous bullshit.

The fifth student is someone who is destined to learn the same lessons over and over, failing the same courses repeatedly, until he learns some clearly elusive lesson: there exists a direct correlation between decent homework, classwork and studying and passing a course… A radical and mysterious theory, eh?

Yesterday in class, I brought a book of poetry by Billy Collins in and read a number of selections to them, notably Another Reason I don’t Keep a Gun in the House, Embrace, and one I loved, but they had less of a reference point for, Forgetfulness.

I asked them to internalize that rhythm and then, to capture some words with prompts such as cold, or July, or bed. Everyone came up with wonderful figurative language, and they really seemed to enjoy themselves. They also listened attentively to one another’s work and offered up good comments and effective suggestions for tweaking. I won’t publish their responses but I had some fun with this myself and came up with this work in progress:

Cold

When it bites, sinking its steel spikes deep into bones

I tremble

like the last leaf in December.

Bundled up, hat, mittens and deep maroon scarf

cannot completely ward against its menace;

cold always finds a way in,

leaving fingers numb, cheeks chapped

and feet tingling in sweaty boots.

Another one I had fun with, based on Billy Collins’ original, is this:

July

After two weeks of hot ponderous air

Not moving soon, said the radio

I follow the example of my dog

and curl up motionless on the tile floor

 

Four times that morning

I have checked and rechecked that the sun

is barricaded somewhat from the house

with wooden blinds shielding its barrage

 

I remember not noticing heat and humidity

as I ran, as a half naked banshee

shrieking though the sprinkler’s icy arc

 

The heavy heat will fade and with it

the intensely illuminated world

bringing the inevitable darkness and the cold.

I don’t always do the things I assign my students, but sometimes, when it’s possible, I like to dive in. When do you all do the work you assign and how much a part of your teaching is it possible to make this kind of thing?

My Critical Thinking class is an entirely different challenge and will be the subject of my next post…