As I finally feel as close to 100% as can be expected for the first time since early February, I'm now left with the monumental task of grading a ton of assignments that are backlogged while also attempting to get my own homework done for the Master's degree I hope to earn by the end of May. Come June, my brain will probably ooze out of my ear due to over exhaustion.
Wednesday and Thursday were spent presenting scenes from Act IV. This is a project that I revived this year, and I'm really glad that I did. In the last few years, the ninth grade classes I had couldn't handle the self-governing nature associated with group work, and the end-result culminating from it would often be disappointing and subpar from a majority of the groups. That was not the case this year. A very clear majority of the students had original ideas for their interpretations of Act IV's scenes, and even if the final product did not come out as squeaky clean and perfect as they intended (due to varying factors), I was still very much impressed with what I saw. There are some tweaks I'd like to make for next year, but I think it's a tremendous moment as a teacher to see a project come to fruition and then to get excited about the possibilities of how to improve the assignment for the future.
Seniors
We're heavy into existentialism at this point and hopefully you're almost through with part one of The Stranger, if not well into part two. The Sisyphus essay by Camus will make you think, and each paragraph in it allows for the possibility of a whole period's worth of discussion. I really hope you start to make connections to the philosophical ideas we've been discussing, looking at how existentialism and the finite time available in life, applies not just to The Stranger but also to what we look at next. Reread it a few times, too, because I guarantee you'll find something different to think about with each fresh look.
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