Pushing the Season 8-7-09
July was not even over yet when the comment started. It is the comment that I despise: the comment that makes the hair on the back of my neck rise up in protest and inspires in me feelings of resentment and even malice. People in stores and restaurants start saying the same dreaded thing – Gee Diane, isn’t it about time to think about going back to school?
NO!
It’s not time to start thinking about going back to school, I reply warmly with a wry smile on my lips. Would you tell a farmer to start thinking about plowing and planting in January? Would you tell a Santa Claus to think about Christmas in August? Well PLEASE do not suggest that I need to “think about” going back to school in July.
Besides, we go back late this year and who knows what we will do with the mandatory furlough days and I am still working my summer job and the state fair is still in full swing and the children haven’t annoyed their parents enough and I haven’t seen the new Harry Potter yet and my summer reading pile of books is still formidable and the college kids are in the restaurants right now toiling away for tips and the Jolly Trolley is running full speed and between Cape May and Lewes the ferries chug along and the tomatoes and basil just started coming round and the ocean just warmed up and there are beautiful sunsets at the Cape and King’s Ice Cream is so packed with people and the beach chairs and umbrellas are almost rented out completely and there is so much boardwalk to walk and concerts in the Milton and Lewes parks and crabs to pick and friends to see.
The corn is not that high yet, is it? The cantaloupes are just coming in along with the Silver Queen corn that tastes just like sweetness personified. The crape myrtle just started to blossom out. The weather just got humid and soupy and summery sweat urges me to commit my body to the reckless act of plunging quickly into the bay.
The pictures that I took on my woods walk are waiting for me to copy to use as a story starter and wouldn’t it be great if I could somehow use the new book I am reading about a boy soldier in Sierra Leone as a passage that I can read to my students to get them to reconsider the value of their own reading experience. What if the Harry Potter movie turns out to be so valuable that I can use it as a device to explain the terms of literature and the process of narration? Then there is the technology that I am experimenting with: blogs, wikis and RSS feeds. It had occurred to me that there is such value in it because my students are so naturally tech savvy and ready to embrace so much more content using tools they already know.
Yes, I know that this column is filled with run-on sentences, for heaven’s sake, I am an English teacher but lately I am evaluating the role of structure and grammar as it relates to today’s world and today’s students. What will I do? How will I proceed?
Time to start thinking about school? When did I ever stop?
