Photo by David Holifield on Unsplash My father served in the European Theater during WWII. His plane went down during a mission, but he successfully bailed out of his doomed B17 Flying Fortress. He survived, but he was captured and held as a prisoner of war until the war in Europe ended. My mother worked in a factory […]
As an experienced AP Literature Reader, I have seen my share of hand turkeys. Some students are not prepared to write essays on the day of the exam, so instead of sleeping, some turn to art. The beloved hand turkey stands tall against some of weaker artistic efforts illustrating certain male body parts, but by […]
The death of Toni Morrison saddened my heart deeply. She entered my life as a college student and formed the heart of my master’s thesis. Morrison allowed this white man to see and feel the depths of her characters’ experiences, and thereby, the depth of African-Americans’ actual experiences living through the brutalities of slavery, […]
Photo by Victor Garcia on Unsplash The AP Literature and Composition Reading was held in Salt Lake City, Utah this year. Let me get the most important items off the table first: the food was amazing, Salt Lake City was beautiful, and the food was so amazing. Once again I found myself assigned […]
Photo by Renee Fisher on Unsplash Now that’s a headline! What I didn’t include in my sensational headline is that I first gained 30 pounds teaching AP English Literature. My sad tale of weight gain started during my second year of teaching high school English. I managed to stay fairly slim and trim my first year because I […]
Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash In teacher years, I am well past my prime (some might suggest). I am a 63-year-old teacher of AP and Dual Credit English. Many of my friends are either retired or ready to slide into the blissful years of sleeping in, walking around the mall, and going to the bathroom whenever the […]
“Through her manipulations , Mrs. Danvers exploits the weariness of the protagonist, showing the reader that Mrs. Danvers’s subtle yet persistent cruelty reveals to the reader how lowly the main character thinks of herself and the cruelty which she inflicts upon herself, resulting in behaviors and actions which otherwise would not have been possible.” Student […]
By Roy F. Smith Light, camera, action! “Okay kids, I want you to engage in a self-directed intellectual conversation about Chaucer’s “The Wife of Bath,” and by the way, I want you to film your conversation and upload it to YouTube.” Did my kids jump up and down and scream “O’boy Mr. Smith! Can we […]
By Roy F. Smith My students are full of loosely connected brilliant ideas, but they often have trouble expressing those ideas, so I refined this activity (that I lovingly named “Noodle Nudgers”) from the many ideas I’ve gleaned over the years from my peers and readings. My goal is to help my students find their […]
Any corporation that is serious about its long-term success has a mission statement. Companies need a guiding vision to keep focused during challenging times as well as the good times. Most schools also have mission statements. Administrators and teachers spend long hours honing each word for appropriateness and precision. Schools set lofty goals guaranteeing results […]
Roy F. Smith 