Skip to main content

Field Trip to Romeo and Juliet and SO much More

Ask my students if I am ever absent, and they will tell you no.  I hate missing school!  It's because I am selfish. I don't want anyone else to teach my lessons, and I don't like being away from my students.  I like to read stories with my voices, I like to greet them with music, and there is nothing I want to miss (okay, State Testing)!  However, on Friday my Creative Writing class, along with the drama teacher's class, had the opportunity to go see Romeo and Juliet at the Old Globe in San Diego. I have to admit that I wasn't excited about missing three of my classes, being sandwiched between 60 middle schoolers on a school bus, and sitting through a play. I know I am an English teacher and am supposed to love plays, but generally, I don't. I love watching my students perform but not strangers. 

 I arrived at school at my usual time to check in with the sub. I was worried she would not know how to work the computer/video. I'm so glad I did. Disaster was imminent.  I also knew it was one of my student's birthdays and that he was bringing donuts for the whole class. I wanted to wish him a happy birthday.  When he saw me, he wanted to make sure that I got the first choice of the donuts!  WHAT? I was so touched by his sweetness.  Then, he made sure the SUB got a donut!  WHAT? The rest of the clause was so appreciative and wished him a happy birthday and gave him a round of applause.  

Then, I met my students for the field trip.  Many of my students were dressed up for the event and looked so adorable. They were so well-mannered on the bus ride. I know the bus driver was blown away!  I was!  We had some special needs students with us, as well as their aide.  One of the students suffers from anxiety and must have asked twenty times "How many more minutes until we get there?"  She answered him kindly each and every time.  Her love for these students was evident the entire trip. I couldn't help but wonder if their parents know how lucky their kids are. I think our classified employees don't get the recognition they deserve. She was an angel.

 While walking from the bus to the theatre, I noticed a boy who seemed alone.  My heart immediately sank. I struck up a conversation with him, and he smiled. When we arrived at the courtyard to wait for the play, he sat down by himself.  Again, my heart sank.  I sat down with two girls, one of whom I have had as a student for two years now. She has a heart of gold and is one of the kindest students I've ever know. I pointed out this student to her and knew I could count on her to do the right thing. Five minutes later, she and her friend nonchalantly walked by him and asked if they could sit down.  They must have talked to him for a good ten minutes, and I saw him smile several times.

Our students were the only middle schoolers at the play, and I think they were a better audience than any of the high schoolers!  Although there were a few inappropriate parts (I found myself using my hand to cover a student's eyes), they handled it well and enjoyed the performance immensely!  At one point I heard what I thought was giggling behind me. It continued awhile, so I turned around to give the "teacher look". That's when I saw that the student was sobbing!  Yes, Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy!

 After the play, the students gathered in the courtyard to eat their lunches. The actors walked by and you would have thought they were Bruno Mars and Taylor Swift from the reactions of our students. Most of the actors waved and smiled and continued on. However, Romeo came over to talk to our students!  He was so sweet. He let the kids take pictures with him and everything.  Could the day be ANY more perfect?  I made a point to tell him how much I appreciated his kindness and that he had made my students' day!  
Days with my students always redeem my faith in humanity.  There is so much good in the world. Spend one day with middle schoolers, and you will agree.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TQE: Get students Engaged and Digging Deep

I've mentioned before how Twitter has helped me grow as an educator.  Edutwitter is a valuable resource for book recommendations, new teaching methods, lessons, and articles.  One of my favorite educators to follow is Marissa Thompson, a high school teacher at Carlsbad High. This summer I read about her TQE(thoughts, questions, epiphanies) method for discussing literature.  I'd always longed for having discussions like the ones I had in my college literature courses, but when I try fishbowl or Socratic seminar with my students, the discussions felt forced, flat, and awkward. That changed today when I tried TQE for the first time.  Sharing homework in small groups Students writing their TQEs on the board When I listened to Marissa's podcast on Cult of Pedagogy ( check it out here ), I was intimidated. After all, her students are in high school and have a rock star teacher.  I think I read the transcript twenty times before finally trying it....
6 comments
Read more

Writing an Essay...with a Partner

I love technology for collaboration! Teaching writing to middle school students is not easy.  All students come with different skills and knowledge.  With 35 students in a class, it's impossible to sit down one on one and assist students with the writing process.  Teaching students to write a literary analysis is particularly challenging because most seventh-graders have little, to no experience.  Students need to learn to  develop a thesis statement, find evidence from the text to support it, provide the context of the selected quotations , and write insightful commentary on the evidence they selected. Remember, these kiddos are twelve! Graphic organizers are particularly helpful to these young writers. The biggest challenge is providing feedback to students as they are writing, rather than after they turn their work in for a grade.  Students need to be able to use the feedback they receive and see the difference it makes in the final product.  I...
2 comments
Read more

Mock Trials-Periods 0 and 2

MY Ethan Couch (notice the shirt) Wow!  What a fantastic week it has been for me as a teacher!  My students have been working hard preparing for their assigned cases and getting ready to go to trial.  Each group was assigned a case based on an article we read in class.  One case was about a sixteen-year old  boy named Ethan Couch.  He had a blood alcohol level three times over the legal limit when the car he was driving hit a disabled vehicle and killed four innocent people.  He receive one year of rehabilitation in Malibu and ten years probabtion as his punishment. His attorneys blamed his behavior on what was called "affluenza."  Please ask your child about this word and how it was used to defend him in court! The other case involved for teens who threw an eight pound rock over an overpass and struck the passenger side of a vehicle.  The passenger was Sharon Budd, a middle-school English teacher and breast cancer survivor.  Sh...
27 comments
Read more