Forgive my silence these past few weeks. I have been presented a challenge that I am excited to take on this summer: to teach high school seniors how to write personal statements and explore social justice issues as part of a five-week program.
Challenge accepted.
Now the hard work begins. I have lesson plans due in two weeks and I have but a small idea of how to tackle the theme and the expected results of the five-week class. I’ve been buried in research, brainstorming a possible weekly structure that incorporates writing and discussion of social issues. Right now the balance leans heavier on social justice, but I can’t forget that at the end of the five weeks, they have to be prepared to write their personal statements. I’ll have to teach basic composition, which according to Kim Brooks, is a grueling task (and I agree). As much as I want to talk about the news, social movements, and literature, I have to make sure they know how to fix sentence fragments, write a strong thesis statement, and properly use a comma.
I’m happy to do the work, but I find myself torn between two needs: to engage students and to teach them how to write in a formal setting. As I look at this summer program’s theme, I can’t help but ask myself: In light of all these important social issues, what does a misplaced comma or an occasional sentence fragment matter? I tell my Saturday Academy students that to write well is to think clearly (as David McCollough is quoted to have said), and thinking clearly and critically makes a big difference in how we view the world, how we interpret it, and how we share it.
I know these students have opinions, I’ve read them in one of my anonymous journal entry exercises. I know that there’s somewhere in there, in those teenage Twi-nerd hearts, that wants to effect change and take on the issues of their generation. How do I do it? How do I ferry these souls through the river of tedium that is composition?
Ideas?
P.S. I don’t really know if they like Twilight. That really shouldn’t matter, but just for clarity’s sake.
