As to be expected, AP Literature is heavily focused on literary analysis. And by the end of the first semester, I had a hunch my students needed a breather. So where do you think I turned for inspiration?
To the ENGLISH tab of my 1992-93 high school binder, of course. Yes, I’ve held onto that handy resource, and it has helped me more than once.
This time around, I pulled out a memorable exercise and adapted it for FlipGrid. Students had to list three favorite “sensory details” for each of the five senses, plus a sixth category, an “all around good feeling.” I shared from my own 28-year-old list in a video and presented them with the challenge.
Wow. So delightfully refreshing. It filled me with good feelings for my students and reminded me what it’s like to be 17 or 18. One student described “the sound of opening a new can of tennis balls” and another held up her hands with crooked fingers to show the “all-around good feeling” she experiences when someone grabs onto a chain link fence.
Resurrecting my old list, complete with comments and a sticker from my teacher, put me in a sentimental mood. I wanted to tell her how much she meant to me. I majored in English and became a teacher in part because of her. I don’t so much remember the lessons and lectures and insights about novels that I learned as I remember how I felt in her class. Mrs. Baron treated us with respect. She wanted to know who we were and what we thought. She delighted in her students and supported our becoming young adults by giving us the space to express ourselves and make mistakes. She made me feel interesting and valued. I recall lots of laughter and bonding with my classmates. Her classroom was a special space during a transformative time.
I don’t know why it took me so long to tell her all of this. Perhaps that’s just part of the loveliness of being a self-involved teenager and young adult. And then I didn’t become a teacher for the first 20 years after college.
But the time seemed right over Christmas break, and thanks to the internet I found her. We Zoomed this morning (yay for Zoom!). Anticipation had me emotional for a week. Gratitude, sentimentality, a sense of coming full circle: to be teaching AP Lit now (with three of the same texts on the syllabus) … well, it’s simply a blessing beyond words.
Christine Baron is just as I remembered her. Just as other-centering and gracious. Just as supportive, spirited, and wonderful. She is the type of teacher I want to be. And lucky me, she has offered to stay in touch.
Perhaps with regular contact, I will be able to do more than replicate her assignments. I hope to channel Mrs. Baron’s love and delight. To not lose sight of the preciousness of each of the young people who come into my care on their way to adulthood.
Thanks for sharing Tiz. Awesome that you reconnected with your former teacher and are reimagining assignments for your students you had as a student. I remember one of the assignments in the picture (turning a book into a movie) because you gave that assignment to me and I used in one of my classes. Can't say that I have any papers from college, let alone high school like you though!
I think that is so unique that you were able to keep all of your assignments. I kept a few projects here and there, and also a whole notebook of math because it reminds me of the time I struggled in a math class and can empathize with my students. I unfortunately did not have a high school teacher that I felt so connected with. I did not get that experience until college. It is crazy to think that the connection I made with this professor has really shaped the teacher I have become. I still talk with this professor, she shares her curriculum with me and together we share our ideas. She has truly been such a role model to me. I did not get this experience until college so that's why I hope I am providing this for my students now.
This is amazing! I love that you kept this and were able to put yourself back in the shoes of being a teenage student. I've got to say that my 5th grade English teacher truly made an impact on my life and was one of the reasons I wanted to become a teacher as well. You've inspired me to try to find her on Facebook and reconnect. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Tiz, thank you so much for sharing this feel-good story and activity! I will definitely implement it in my AP French class when we discuss poetry!
OHHH what a beautiful connection to have made – true and authentic – it goes to show how love is transmitted in many forms and that energetic exchanges between students and teachers last lifetimes! I also like this – how you added the sixth category: “all around good feeling.” For someone like me it would have been easy to tap into those experiences.
Tiz,
First of all, props to class of '93! That's awesome that you saved all these things. As someone who is not very sentimental and likes to travel light through life, I admire the fact that you hold on to things like this. Also, I love the student examples of sensory details you included. I think my favorite high school English teacher had an impact on me becoming an English major, but unfortunately he died when I was in college. I have always wondered what he would have thought about me becoming an English teacher. It's great that you had an opportunity to reconnect with your influential teacher. Who knows, maybe years from now, you'll get a similar message from one of your students!