I'll Cut For That

When I was in high school, a friend of mine lived near an interesting neighborhood. One day, on the way to his house with some friends, we noticed a barbershop with a fascinating name: I'll Cut For That. That barbershop became something of a running joke with my friends as we would observe odd items out in the world and imagine the ensuing bartering. Old shoe? I'll cut for that. Discarded McDonald's bag? I'll cut for that.

Some students were unknowingly sitting in front of my best friend at a matinee of a local theater production this afternoon. My friend texted me at intermission wondering if I had suggested this production to my students; I had, and I am very pleased they were able to get tickets. I asked him to let me know if they were talking trash about me... They were, but not in the way you might think.

"Mr. Moore will totally count off for that."

That's what my friend overheard, and although much worse things have been said about me, this one hurt. When students say that teachers will "count off" for something, then they must be imagining we have some secret (or not-so-secret) checklist of components with assigned points that will magically add up to the perfection of a 100%. Do you know what I'll "count off" for? Inauthentic writing.

It is as if the writing assignment I have given is a recipe to be followed, and that couldn't be farther from the truth. I hope you know, students, that you don't have a recipe. I have shown you a great cake. I let you taste it. You told me why it was a pretty good cake: it had just the right amount of cake-to-frosting ratio, it wasn't too dry, and it left you wanting another piece after you finished the slice.

Forget the recipe, and bake me some yummy cake.

I apologize to all bakers out there who know what an exact science baking is and would be horrified at the concept of attempting to bake a cake without a recipe. I can't and don't bake, so I am doing the best I can with this poor analogy.

Authentic, purposeful writing? I'll cut for that.

Tell Your Story: Advice From Neil Gaiman

You might have heard of Neil Gaiman. Maybe you saw Coraline. Maybe you read The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Maybe you're way into American Gods on Starz. Maybe you just have lots of friends who are fans that try to convince you to get on board but you resist. I fall into that last category. Sorry, I fell into that last category. I am on board now.


Neil Gaiman on Writing, from The Nerdist Podcast

I hope you watched/listened - for sure listen - because British accents are awesome. 

As we inch closer to a new school year, here are my takeaways from Mr. Gaiman regarding writing. Although his comments are geared more towards aspiring novelists, they apply to any writer...even student writers.

Nobody cares about your first draft.
This is SO TRUE. Just get it out there and fix it later! Don't be OCD and self-censoring or spell check every two seconds or agonize over whether or not the teacher will like it. Just write it! Of course, this does imply that your first draft will not also be your last draft...

You have to write when you're not inspired.
One of the tried-and-true statements of a first class Procrastinator. You're a writer - whether you're a novelist or a freshman or sophomore English student. Don't wait for inspiration before you start or else you'll never finish a sentence. Neil says that you have to write the scenes that don't inspire you. I hope there will eventually be some that do, but you won't know that until you start writing.

It's a process of putting one word after another.
Writing is the only way to write and the only way to get better at writing. Will everything be golden? No. And guess what - it doesn't have to be.

Read outside your comfort zone.
Wonder why your teachers make you read Shakespeare and Dickens? Me, too. Just kidding. If everything you read in school was John Green or J.K. Rowling, how much would you stretch and grow? Remember - Tolkien didn't spend his life reading Tolkien-esque novels.

There'll always be better writers than you, but you're the only you.
Don't worry about how you match up. Don't read your friends' stuff and throw in the towel because you don't think you're as good. Don't let one grade dictate your worth. Have something to say and say it in an interesting way! Guess what - people will probably want to read it. And you'll have more fun writing it... Even if it is for school.

My Nix

I finished a book over the weekend titled The Nix by Nathan Hill. It gets its title from a Norweigan folk legend, and the gist is that whatever you love the most...will hurt you the most. Yikes!

The novel, which is one of the absolute best I have read in a very long time and will suggest to people who ask me for grown-up-type novel suggestions not in any way associated with required or non-required reading for school-type situations, made me think. A lot. And I have come to the conclusion that I do not have a Nix. Lucky me! Just kidding. I have lots of Nixes. Please do not say Nix's, because then I will have to harbor ill will towards you for making a noun plural by using an apostrophe.

Did I mention Meryl Streep is attached to the rights and that this book is about to blow up huge?

In this post, which is almost TWO YEARS since my last, I will attempt to encounter my Nix. In the novel, the person introducing the tale of the Nix says that in order to defeat it, you must bring it home. This is what this post will attempt to do.

I love creating. I love learning. I love instilling the love of learning and creating in others. And as I get caught up in the craziness of life, I have realized that too much of anything can be overwhelming. I recommit. I recommit to this: this senseless, senseful (not a word), sentient piece of writing.

Once a week. Like it or not, tens of readers, that is my goal. It's in my bullet journal and everything. Have you started a bullet journal? Maybe you should. I have a Google Calendar and Google Keep and all, but the bullet journal is cool - mine probably isn't as pretty as some people I know, but the effort is there. Here's the article that made me think it could work for me.

Okay, here's the point (although you maybe wondered if there even was one). Things in this crazy world make me think. They take me on tangents. They likely involve some self-deprecating stories and/or pop culture references. These posts will be more of the same, and they will likely involve me, my students (protected as they are because I am a rule-follower), and possibly (okay, probably), my cats.

Learning is important. Creating is important. This blog will exist as my attempt to bring the thing I love the most home in order to defeat my Norweigan folk ghost. Take that, Nix!

Critic FaceTime, or Hangouts with Liner

One of the most dreaded student questions in all of education... WHY DO WE HAVE TO DO THIS? Ugh. When teachers hear this uttered within the hollowed walls of our classrooms, so many thoughts go through our heads...

          Because I am the teacher and you are the student!

          Because I had to do it and you must suffer the same fate!

          Because it's on the test/final/state assessment!

          Because my principal/coordinator told me I had to!

          Beacuse you'll need it for college!

While some of these fleeting thoughts may be accurate some of the time, there are those lessons or assignments (more common than students think) that are applicable to life as an ordinary human being on the planet Earth. Yes, there are real people who are doing exactly what they are being required to do. When we explain this to students, we are someties met with resistance.

"No way. You're just saying that. Nobody seriously has to do stuff like this once they leave school."

In Humanities, our students have arts experiences throughout the year and write critiques of those experiences. This assignment is lovingly referred to as the HAE (Humanities Arts Experience). On the brink of our looming HAE deadline, our classes had an opportunity to have a video chat with one of the most established and well-respected critics in our area. Students submitted questions for Elaine and each class had their questions answered and heard some fun stories and thoughful insights from the mind of the critic herself. Throughout the chat, students picked up some valuable tips to make their criticism more colorful, concise, and gramatically correct. More than that, though, they got to take a journey through the thought process of a critic from the moment they walk into a venue through the performance, wiritng process, and (sometimes negative) feedback following publication.

The magic of Google Hangouts allowed us to do at school what people do at home or on the go all the time using tools like FaceTime or Skype. It was easy, accessible, and it got the job done. It is definitely something we will do again. It helps students to see people out there in the world doing the kinds of things they are being asked to do in school. Will this make the assignment more fun to complete? When it comes to writing a paper, "fun" is not a word that most freshmen and sophomores would use; however, the assignment can become more meaningful.

I am beyond grateful to Elaine Liner, theater critic at The Dallas Observer to sharing her knowledge, experience, and one-of-a-kind snark with our classes. 

What Just Happened?

I saw a play Saturday night called The Dumb Waiter. In case you don't know what a dumbwaiter is, it's this small elevator thing that was used back in the day to transport food from a lower floor to a higher floor in a cafe or fancy house.

In this particular play, two hitmen were waiting on instructions about who they were supposed to kill. After a while, the dumbwaiter started delivering food orders, which confused both the hitmen as well as the audience, as there was no food or even a working stove in the room. I won't tell you how it ended in case you ever get a chance to see it, but trust me when I tell you that it has one of those endings that causes you to replay the entire play in your head to figure out the moment when the end makes sense.

Sometimes, things don't make sense until the end. We ended our first unit of AP World History last week. Over a period of a few weeks, we read and took notes at home over a few chapters and then used class time to try and make connections across these various parts of history. Many students may have wondered, much like many audience members in the play I attended, what the point was. Why do I have to take these notes at home? Can't the teacher just teach me? Why do I need to make this Venn diagram of explorers? There is more to history than the details. The details have their place, which is why you need to do reading assignments and take notes. Making the connections can be a little more difficult to do on your own, which is why we spend time in class with that part. But hopefully, at the end,  during the test - it all starts to make sense.

Some people may not have been over the moon when they saw their test grade. But I have a suspicion that the next end - the next test - will be better. Why? Because you've seen an ending now. You know what types of questions to expect. The mystery and anticipation are gone. Don't give up. One woman in the audience of The Dumb Waiter got up and walked out RIGHT BEFORE THE BEST PART. She decided that it would be better just to bail rather than waiting it out to see if it paid off. Don't walk out. Don't give up. The best part may be coming your way soon.

Check Me Out! (from a library)

I love to read. I always have. It may be your thing too, or it may not. If it's the latter you're probably not even reading this blog anyway, but I'll try to sway you to the literate side regardless. If you do love to read, then I will from time to time catch you up on books that you may want to check out. Have you read a book recently that peeps may want to read? Guest bloggers are welcome, so just ask!

Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle

Nate Foster is an almost 14-year old who knows he is meant for something bigger than the smallish Pennsylvania town he is stuck in.  He is outshone by his track star big brother, picked on at school, and misunderstood by...well, pretty much everyone. So when he finds out about open auditions for ET: The Musical on Broadway, he knows that this is his moment. With the help of his best friend, some elaborately rehearsed stories, a full bag of donuts, and a semi-charged Nokia cell phone, Nate sneaks out of town on a bus headed for the Big Apple. This hilarious and heartwarming book follows Nate through his adventures navigating New York City for the first time on his mission to be discovered as Broadway's next child star.

I have not unabashedly loved a book like this in a long time. Nate is truly a one-of-a-kind character whose voice is so distinctly written that he seemed like me, lots of my childhood friends, and many of my students all rolled into one. If you are a theatre kid, are related to one, or are lucky enough to have one as a friend, then this book is seriously a must-read.

If you have a few minutes, here's Tim Federle talking about his inspirations for the book...

History of the World, Part I

History is hard.

I mean, right? Living it is one thing, but then re-living it over and over? Sounds pretty terrible, but making connections among themes throughout world history is one of those things that sharpen those critical thinking tools that people (hopefully) use their whole lives.

There is A LOT of history in the world. I mean A LOT. In Humanities, we teach the AP World History course over a period of 2 years. That system has some advantages and some disadvantages. The biggest advantage is that we get to linger in some periods of time if we want or need to because we don't feel the rush to scramble from the dawn of civilization to the present in time to study for the big AP test in May. One of the main disadvantages, however, is that every couple of years, a new batch of Freshmen has to start in the middle of history. This is one of those years. 

Classes this week were divided into groups with the task of summarizing periods of history in order to review the Sophomores who learned about this stuff last year and to catch the Freshmen up on what they missed (and have to look forward to next year). Basically, everything from Mesopotamia to the Mongols. This brings me back to my two recurring notions (in case you missed them):

1. There is A LOT of history in the world.

2. History is hard.

Now, I do have to say that that second statement is a little misleading. History itself isn't hard; however, what we saw this week is that summarizing it can be a challenge. For many people, summarizing an episode of The Walking Dead can turn into a thirty-minute monologue. Try summarizing the roughly 500 years of China's Tang and Song dynasties. Geez. Students had just 6 minutes to do just that, and they were successful in completing that daunting task. Sure, they may have mangled an interpretation of The Weeknd's I Can't Feel My Face in doing so, but their point was made (see original video below for pop culture reference). But what about the rest of the class in the audience?

Observers were asked to make a note of TWO things from each presentation that they saw as the most important. TWO. You mean I can only write down TWO things about the history of Africa from the beginning of time through 1450??? Yes. TWO. If you thought the first summary was a challenge, then this one is like finishing one of those giant plates of food where you get a free t-shirt if successful.

Summarizing is difficult, but it is important. Not only important, but crucial. It's a skill that we will continue to work on throughout the year. Sometimes (and not just in school), we get bogged down in the details without looking for the big picture. Details have their time and place, but they tend to become irrelevant without bigger ideas guiding them. 

What's the big idea?

Um, we're working on that. Big ideas aren't big enough if they're simply handed down from a teacher to a student. Let's discover some big ideas together, shall we?