Say "Yes" to Your Future

"You have got to want to succeed as badly as you want to breathe."

Inspirational Video

A New Twist on an Old Tale

movie trailer

Thank You, Veterans

Thank a Veteran

Ode on a Grecian Urn

At the conclusion of our study of Keats and his "Ode on a Grecian Urn," I asked my students to do what legendary Mr. John Keating of Dead Poets Society asked of his students: “We must constantly look at things in  different ways…Strive to find your own voice…Break out before you lose it.” I instructed my students to look at the poem's themes in different perspectives, to see what is "heard" and especially what is "unheard," and to know that "beauty is truth, truth beauty." This assignment came in the form of an activity that I call "The Poet's Eye." I will be sharing my product with my students tomorrow, and I cannot wait to see what they will produce in turn! 
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Moby Dick, for a Whale of an Adventure!

Truly, can a literature teacher be more excited? First Macbeth, then In the Heart of the Sea, and, eventually, Frankenstein? Get me a fan! I'm feeling faint...

In The Heart of the Sea Movie Trailer

A Perfect Analogy

Epitaphs

My students and I are studying Thomas Gray's "An Elegy in a Country Churchyard." Upon first glance, it seems like a morbid poem, yet once you read the masterpiece and dig down to its roots, you will see that the poem gives the reader some great advice: Live the life that you want others to remember you by. In an effort to encourage my students, who think they are invincible, to think about the legacy they will want to leave behind when their times come, I had them write their own epitaphs. At first, they, understandably, thought that I had lost my mind! Once I explained to them that writing your epitaph is an excellent way to plan your future, they got on board. I have seen them create some amazing epitaphs--some were clever, others hilarious, several were tear-jerkers--which I will share in a blog soon. This exercise helps me remember what kind of life I need to live today so that I know I will be able to leave the legacy that I desire tomorrow.