“Carolyn,” the sweet middle-aged nun who taught my section of “Jesus Christ” had said, “there is no exclamation point in the name of this course. To include one, is to diminish our reverence for the lord.” She tapped the heading at the top of my paper and handed it back to me. As a studious but irreverent goth attending Loyola as a transfer student at the very start of the millennium, I was still adjusting to my new environment: small school, big city, and I hadn’t quite figured out how to adapt my sense of humor to meet the moment.
My mom was a high school reading specialist in a small Wisconsin town. Which meant she spent much of her time with the kids who didn't read, wouldn't read, and were just trying to get through the days until they could quit school and move on to the paper mill. She loved them all. By the end of her career, she was starting to see the kids of the kids she'd taught. Most of them (not all) were in pretty much the same place their parents had been. I asked her how she kept at it, knowing how badly the odds were stacked against them. She told me that she knew that she couldn't save anybody, but that every encounter we have in our lives adds to the good side of the balance or the bad side. Her goal was to make all of their encounters with her land to the good side. It's the lesson from her I rely on more than any other.
You have captured the learning experience perfectly. As a student, writer, and teacher, I came to understand the Aha! moment (excuse the exclamation mark) personally, and then made it the centerpiece of learning in my classroom. The approach really helped students get on the path to success. It made it fun, and educational.
oh my gosh, I always say that my favorite sound is that noise somewhere between a gasp and “ohhhhhh” that you hear when things finally click or someone catches the foreshadowing or whatever. The lack of that sound made eLearning almost impossible for me to teach.
I loved every about this post. I am not a teacher but I've always cared deeply about learning and what it takes to open a mind. The closest I've come to doing what you do is tutoring in a juvenile detention facility school. I worked with a teacher who, like Sister Something and you, believed that students would find their way if they were exposed to a range of stories and texts. One student would be reading Shakespeare, another would be reading The Outsiders, while yet another would be reading a Marvel comic. She knew if they found a spark they would keep feeding it and she was right there to help.
I’m smitten with Sister Something for her daring curriculum of non-canonical gospels. I would count Jason Reynolds’ elevator book right up there with anything else students are taking home to read. Long Way Down is a modern classic.
I’m presenting a talk at NCTE this fall called “What the Heart Wants” about the books I buy the most because they keep getting stol…. They keep walking away. ☺️
I always tell my students that I love putting books out in the world, so they can take a book and keep it, give it to someone or return it-it’s all okay 🥰
The best thing I've ever read on the Aha! moment is chapter one of Michael J. Bugela's book "The Art and Craft of Poetry." It changed the way I thought about writing and teaching poetry. He writes, "As a reader of poetry, I knew that the best works of great writers was not based on mere description or observation but on epiphany or peak experience." (The rest of the book is pretty awesome, too.)
As a non-Catholic person working at a Catholic school, this post resonated (a buzz word a college professor tried to grade out of me) with me. As most of my co-workers have figured out I'm not Catholic by how I struggle through the sign of the cross and stumble through forgiving our trespassers. It's the kids who give me the benefit of the doubt, there is one sweet first grader who when leaving my office will be in the hallway when he doubles back to tell me god bless. The kids are who encourage me to learn more about Catholicism in order to help them on their journeys even if it isn't mine.
My mom was a high school reading specialist in a small Wisconsin town. Which meant she spent much of her time with the kids who didn't read, wouldn't read, and were just trying to get through the days until they could quit school and move on to the paper mill. She loved them all. By the end of her career, she was starting to see the kids of the kids she'd taught. Most of them (not all) were in pretty much the same place their parents had been. I asked her how she kept at it, knowing how badly the odds were stacked against them. She told me that she knew that she couldn't save anybody, but that every encounter we have in our lives adds to the good side of the balance or the bad side. Her goal was to make all of their encounters with her land to the good side. It's the lesson from her I rely on more than any other.
You have captured the learning experience perfectly. As a student, writer, and teacher, I came to understand the Aha! moment (excuse the exclamation mark) personally, and then made it the centerpiece of learning in my classroom. The approach really helped students get on the path to success. It made it fun, and educational.
oh my gosh, I always say that my favorite sound is that noise somewhere between a gasp and “ohhhhhh” that you hear when things finally click or someone catches the foreshadowing or whatever. The lack of that sound made eLearning almost impossible for me to teach.
I loved every about this post. I am not a teacher but I've always cared deeply about learning and what it takes to open a mind. The closest I've come to doing what you do is tutoring in a juvenile detention facility school. I worked with a teacher who, like Sister Something and you, believed that students would find their way if they were exposed to a range of stories and texts. One student would be reading Shakespeare, another would be reading The Outsiders, while yet another would be reading a Marvel comic. She knew if they found a spark they would keep feeding it and she was right there to help.
I’m smitten with Sister Something for her daring curriculum of non-canonical gospels. I would count Jason Reynolds’ elevator book right up there with anything else students are taking home to read. Long Way Down is a modern classic.
I’ve bought so many copies of “that elevator book” for my classroom 🥰🥰🥰
I’m presenting a talk at NCTE this fall called “What the Heart Wants” about the books I buy the most because they keep getting stol…. They keep walking away. ☺️
I always tell my students that I love putting books out in the world, so they can take a book and keep it, give it to someone or return it-it’s all okay 🥰
Luke-warm. lol
Have you read Christopher Moore’s LAMB? It’s my (very irreverent) favorite take on Jesus
Yes! Love it so much!
The best thing I've ever read on the Aha! moment is chapter one of Michael J. Bugela's book "The Art and Craft of Poetry." It changed the way I thought about writing and teaching poetry. He writes, "As a reader of poetry, I knew that the best works of great writers was not based on mere description or observation but on epiphany or peak experience." (The rest of the book is pretty awesome, too.)
As a non-Catholic person working at a Catholic school, this post resonated (a buzz word a college professor tried to grade out of me) with me. As most of my co-workers have figured out I'm not Catholic by how I struggle through the sign of the cross and stumble through forgiving our trespassers. It's the kids who give me the benefit of the doubt, there is one sweet first grader who when leaving my office will be in the hallway when he doubles back to tell me god bless. The kids are who encourage me to learn more about Catholicism in order to help them on their journeys even if it isn't mine.
Phenomenal piece, Carrie!