Time flies when you're having fun

It is hard to believe the semester is coming to a close. I very much enjoyed all of the learning experiences that I had with all of you. To those of you preparing to teach the future of America, good luck. I cannot imagine what that would be like to go and do. If I do ever get into teaching at the collegiate level, I know that what I have learned will help me greatly in being a better teacher. I hope that I can stay in touch with many of you to get some pointers about this whole teaching thing and if you guys need anything from me, I'd be happy to help you out. Good luck out there teachers!

The Classics

I really am a stickler for the classics. I love learning about and finding new understandings of the Canon. Now, there are two issues with the canon, namely, diversity and relevance. Kids may have trouble relating to the texts and most of the texts were written by heterosexual white men. I feel like a lot of the argument about young adult lit revolves around YAL or the classics. I like the idea that we explored with graphic novels, why not both?

There are many young adult literature books that you could read in tandem with a classic text so that the students can better understand and more deeply take in the story. There are many modern adaptions of canonical works, as well as books that tackle the same themes. For example, Chuck Palahniuk based his main three character's in Fight Club off the love triangle from The Great Gatsby. Coraline by Neil Gaiman tackles a girl trying desprately to fit in and discover herself, but in the way The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger is about a boy's look inward to see who he is.

Now, combining relevant stories with non-print activities such as drama and video assignments, I think that students can gain a much deeper and better understanding of the classic texts.