We're B-B-A-A-C-C-K-K!!!!!

Just when I was getting used to sleeping in, it's time to get up at 5:30 again.

School started this week. I have some really nice classes; we've been working on grammar and it seems like MOST students have the basics nailed. I'm giving a quiz tomorrow, so we'll see if they REALLY know it.

After the four-day weekend, we get into the real fun stuff. I handed out books on Monday, and I told the students to start reading on their own. I expect them to have read the whole book by a certain date; then we'll go back and do CLOSE reading for language and style. This is different for a lot of kids - but it's necessary to get ready for 12th grade and college.

Just re-read Elizabeth Bishop's eponymous poem "Sestina." What a fun form! It will be fun to get into more cool poetry and prose as we get acclimated to the AP format. Also, we'll start talking about a remarkable novel by Toni Morrison - Beloved. The students were to have read this over the summer and be prepared to write about it. My Multicultural Lit kids start with a couple of essays and short stories, then we get into Frederick Douglass's biography. And the Literature of Peace and Conflict class starts with some excerpts from The Iliad, the Bible, Shakespeare, the Song of Roland, and a few other classic treatments of war (when it was glorious). Then we jump into The Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane's Civil War novel.

So, the party is started. Wish us well.