P and I rushed Papa (my father-in-law) to the NKI late this afternoon. He had just come from the dialysis center when Mommy called us up, telling us that Papa was having bad ab pains and was having body spasms. It turned out his potassium level has shot up and the doctors are suspecting dyspepsia. They were also concerned about his heart and his blood pressure was really high, too. Papa has had triple heart bypass years ago.
I wish I could be there with him at the hospital tonight...
***
I am so disappointed with my eleventh graders. Well, at least with the girls. I gave them a pre-test on The Grapes of Wrath today and all the girls DID NOT finish reading it because 1) they found it boring and dragging, and 2) they were just not interested in it. One of my best students who also happens to be a literature major in the making and a very good writer does not even have her own copy of the book!
It is not an easy read but I think it's one of the best American novels I've ever read. Nakakainis sila. How can I make them see its beauty? A part of me is challenged to really work hard and make them love it but another part of me, the tired and drained part, just wants to give up and give them boring lectures to just get it over and done with. Bad trip.
Same case with my ninth graders. One boy did not read To Kill A Mockingbird at all and was so shameless about it. Well, this book isn't really my favorite but I still think it suits the class not to mention it's in the curriculum.
These kids think that they always have to like what they read. If it's any consolation, I haven't had this problem with my classes before. Waldorf kids, at least my students that is, are readers. This time, though, they were just brats...
I have all sorts of creative lesson plans (this is Waldorf so everything should really be done creatively and not in the traditional, dead way) and activities for them. I just hope that they'd be able to see that literature doesnt always have to be "enjoyable". That's actually something that I always tell my students, that they can take literature apart and put it back together; to see our lives in it. Oh well, I hope something better comes up. This is a time when I badly need their enthusiasm or I'd just give up...
I wish I could be there with him at the hospital tonight...
***
I am so disappointed with my eleventh graders. Well, at least with the girls. I gave them a pre-test on The Grapes of Wrath today and all the girls DID NOT finish reading it because 1) they found it boring and dragging, and 2) they were just not interested in it. One of my best students who also happens to be a literature major in the making and a very good writer does not even have her own copy of the book!
It is not an easy read but I think it's one of the best American novels I've ever read. Nakakainis sila. How can I make them see its beauty? A part of me is challenged to really work hard and make them love it but another part of me, the tired and drained part, just wants to give up and give them boring lectures to just get it over and done with. Bad trip.
Same case with my ninth graders. One boy did not read To Kill A Mockingbird at all and was so shameless about it. Well, this book isn't really my favorite but I still think it suits the class not to mention it's in the curriculum.
These kids think that they always have to like what they read. If it's any consolation, I haven't had this problem with my classes before. Waldorf kids, at least my students that is, are readers. This time, though, they were just brats...
I have all sorts of creative lesson plans (this is Waldorf so everything should really be done creatively and not in the traditional, dead way) and activities for them. I just hope that they'd be able to see that literature doesnt always have to be "enjoyable". That's actually something that I always tell my students, that they can take literature apart and put it back together; to see our lives in it. Oh well, I hope something better comes up. This is a time when I badly need their enthusiasm or I'd just give up...
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