Several days after Michael Torres visited Big Walnut, students approached me to ask if it was true: Did a man play his saxophone, making it sound like a blender? Yes, he did, and he also imitated or rendered his ownRead more…
Poems from a Jar
Raoul Peck, in the introduction of the companion text to his documentary I Am Not Your Negro, said that receiving James Baldwin’s unfinished manuscript was like accepting “…a large jar filled with unlabeled pieces of a precious mosaic.Read more…
Sharing Fear and Creative Writing
Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein–each year my students experience a love-hate relationship with this classic text, which translates to my own love-hate relationship when teaching it. The text is long, descriptive (overly so if you ask a 10th grader), and old.Read more…
A Note of Thanks to James Thurber and Bryan Moss
The arrival of Bryan Moss, an amazing resident artist with the PAGES Program, in my classroom made me think of an article I read years ago about James Thurber. Thurber, who became known for his humorous short stories, was rumoredRead more…
Finding Meaning through Drama
As teachers leading the charge, we prepare by laying out a clear path with a known destination for a selected reading. I set out in this comfortable way as I stepped into sonnets with my students. It is so easyRead more…
Blogging Challenge, Identity and Picassoheads
Task One: This week’s Edublog’s blogging challenge asks us to reflect on our online identity compared to our “real life” identity. On my blog site and on Twitter, I tend to keep it professional. I’m interested in education and technologyRead more…
Stand Up for Shakespeare through OSU
The PAGES program next year will feature for its performing arts experience I Malvolio, a re-imagination of Twelfth Night by Tim Crouch. The play is performed in modern English, but uses a minor character’s perspective creatively to reach a youngerRead more…
