Return to Bohemia

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ This paper has been the hardest to start, and not just because itís Sunday evening of a productive and too-short weekend break.Ý What Iíve been mulling over for the last three weeks in my teaching as well as in my writing is tangled in the difference between what Iím doing and what I want to do; what Iíve been trained to do and what Iím doing; what my students have long liked to do (and I know it), and what they have to do. These thoughts flavor and are colored by the circumstances that brought me to Oregon and to Glide, the struggle to maintain my self-confidence and professionalism (and my license) in the face of these changes, and so on. Some questions seem dangerous to ask in this environment; others go moot.

One question that does persist is why does the state seem intent in taking the creativity out of teaching and learning? During the workshop, I have read about and participated in a wealth of activities that deal with bits and pieces of the writing picture; few, however, deal with the whole picture in student performance that the OSAT evaluatesóand that my job, as well as my professional reputation in my district, rests upon.Ý What Iíve found in my three years here is that to meet the goal of simply covering what my inherited curriculum states must be covered in the eighth grade year before the battery of tests begins, my kids become automated, monotone, knee-jerk worksheet machines.Ý Whatís worseóand probably very selfishóis that Iím boring myself to the point of recreational delusional fantasies.Ý Ye gods. Go Bohemian?Ý If I overtly go Bohemian (and I do plan to regress), district teachers who precede and who follow me in grade level will probably turn me in to the school board Tradition Police for a resounding reprimand and summer 2003 reprogramming.Ý (Donít worry, Nat, Iíll never reveal your identity. My practices will simply be seen as more of those weirdly warped Nebraska ways that only prove ìweíve gotta go with our own . . . damned furreners, anywaysî).Ý

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Once upon a time when I taught junior high, we played vocabulary games and laughed and wrote and shared and wrote and laughed and wroteóa lot.Ý And standardized nationally-normed test results were acceptable, and the tests took only two

days and they were over.Ý Then we went back to writing and laughing and sharing and writing a lot. Looking back, life wasnít always happy, but we were all certainly much more interested in it.

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ So.Ý What Iíve gained with the Oregon Writing Project (OWP) is certain knowledge that life in my writing classroom does not have to be what it has been for my last three years; that professional writers and teachers of writers have not only continued to embrace the process model but are developing more and more ways of making that model accessible to students and teachers; and that I will know where to find the writers and research to cite when it is time to justify the changes Iím about to make in a stultifyingly traditional curriculum.Ý I also know I do have the personal presence, confidence, and experience to carry off such changes in a way my students will find compelling and (even) fun. The activities of the past weeks in fable writing, poetry writing, mystery books, sentence combining, and vocabulary study have added specific arrows to my quiver; more than that, theyíve engendered a creative mindset for classroom activity and rekindled in me a bit of courage for trying something different. As I rewrite curriculum for 2002-2003, my trip back to the Bohemian way of teaching (see Book Report #2) may be as episodic and as full of life lessons as Odysseusí journey home.Ý Many, many things will be new in my classroom this year.Ý Hopefully, attitude will be the firstóand not just mine.

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ Then again, I may be looking to contact anyone who knows of high school English openings for 2003-2004 . . .

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ I come from a tradition of educators and writers, yet itís been too long since personal writing has been a priority (or even an activity) for me.Ý The revision/editing groups have been gratifying and productive time spentóyup, this is something I can still do, this writing; on the other hand, these groups are somewhat threatening places where people I donít know have carte blanche to criticize my creations.Ý Heyódo you suppose eighth graders have the same trepidations?Ý Forcing teachers to become students has important, and usually positive, ramifications for both groups.

ÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝÝ I appreciate the timely opportunity to participate in the 2002 OWP; I doubt the workshop could have been as useful or as relevant to me at any other point in my career.ÝThis is a group of highly skilled educators who have much to share, a personable yet professional outlook upon learning and teaching even in their summer hours here, and an admirable dedication to their professional futures. It is a healthy, worthwhile, collaborative environmentóone Iíve found works for healing, too.