By Klorraine in , , , on 9:25 AM with No comments
I always loved English, it came naturally for me so class was naturally boring (pun intended). I don't think I ever got anything below a B on a paper until I reached my sophomore year of high school. I re-wrote that paper three times for that woman until she determined it good enough to warrant an A. Keep in mind, I didn't care about the A, she did. Those were the most in depth comments I ever got on an essay and ever would. So far, even the best of my writing has few comments. I wasn't sure was this is due to, laziness, time constrictions, or other issues either personal or professional, but I've learned the real value of thorough comments on an essay.

I've learned how to B.S. my way through many papers, so I know what it looks like. Working with middle school kids who are just learning how to write a thesis really rips away that veil. As a middle school teacher, you have to look past the grammar and the sentence structure to get to their ideas. They often have really great ideas, some of them really understand what they're supposed to do, but genius comes in simple sentences.

This challenged me to reassess my B.S.

As an aspiring English teacher, I write a lot of papers. This semester they have ranged from 2-15 pages in length and had varying levels of complexity. I have read over 1000 pages of material, skimmed probably another 500, and disregarded another 200. I have discovered the true meanings of the word "migraine" and the words "contemplative murder." I've had a few meltdowns and more than enough stress to kill coral.* But a few simple revelations alleviated most of that.

Write simply.

Over complication is what has killed my writing in the past. Take a concept, map it out, and write down your ideas and edit. The fancy language can come in later if at all.

I think the best part of being a teacher is learning all over again.

*Fun fact: If coral get too stressed, they die. What do coral get stressed about? I have no clue... OMG, they get stressed about currant events...

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