Taste of Success

Today I started the first unit I have ever taught on literature in a high school. Somehow I don't remember being either this nervous or this organized when I taught college. Maybe I was too young to worry.

More likely too cocky: I was going to write the Great Jewish-American novel, and teaching was just a day job. Not much different from so many of my current male students who are going to get athletic scholarships to top colleges and play in the NFL and the NBA, I reckon.

Anyway, the "set induction" was a game of arranging the story titles in Walter Dean Myers' terrific collection, 145th Street. Over the weekend I made up oak tag title strips; the students held up the strips and debated over what order the titles should go in, rearranging themselves in a line at the front of the classroom. All they knew about the book was a quick look at the front cover and the fact that it was by Myers.

I knew most of them would place "Big Joe's Funeral" at the end and the "Block Party - 145th Street Style" at the beginning, and that's exactly what happened - but interestingly, each class had its own internal logic about who was going to get hurt doing what or who was going to fall in love with whom and when. Of course, the whole idea was to get them a little invested in the book before they even opened it, and then to surprise them: The funeral is the opening story. It worked pretty much like a charm, although of course there were a couple of groans and complaints ("How are we supposed to do this when we don't even know what the story's about?").

I also managed to get students to read in all three classes, even the one with the lowest enrollment and the lousiest attendance (only 5 kids came today). Almost everyone took notes on the main characters, per my instructions, and just about everyone did the quickwrite exit ticket at the end about a character of their choosing.

Tomorrow will be more fun: I've downloaded Google Earth to my netbook, and we'll follow the route of the funeral through Harlem. I also bought the Armstrong version of "(I'll Be Glad When You're Dead) You Rascal You," and hopefully they'll be able to hear it through the tinny speakers.