I just got a job. Not only do I finally feel legitimated as an adult and a teacher, but I also finally feel like things are turning around a bit for me and my darling hubband. He got a job too (which is very thrilling) and we're finally getting set up in our new life. I know it wasn't really that long (it's not even our three month anniversary yet) but boy did it feel like forever. I hate being unemployed and every day felt like a year.
More than that, I am so very stoked to do what my job actually entails: teaching 5th grade English. Ohmygoodness there's just so much exciting stuff that goes into it! We're going to be reading and writing and working with technical literature and grammar and regular literature and poetry and creativity and growing our minds and exploring our world! Could you ask for anything more?
Currently, I am asking some more of myself. I made up a reading list for my kiddos just yesterday (so long ago, I know). Now, I've read about half the books on that list, but I feel that I really should know the material before I ask them to read it. My challenge, then, is to read the rest of the books before school starts! First up, The Wind in the Willows! And next up, Bud, Not Buddy. It's nice, too, because some of these I'm looking at and thinking "How the hell have I never read this book before?" Like, for example, Number the Stars. How on earth did I not read that?
I. Love. These. Books. I always have. When I was in upper elementary school, I read A TON. I know, shocking. I was even in Battle of the Books so that I could read extra. Some of my all-time favorite books are from there and from this age-range: There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom, Bridge to Terabithia, The View from Saturday, Phoenix Rising, Gregor the Overlander. . .the list goes on and on. One of the best parts about this job is now I get to TEACH these books! How awesome is that! And I have close to 100 kids (or more) all a captive audience for me to gush about Gregor. I know, it's a bit of abuse of power, but WHATEVER. It's a fantastic book and I want them to know about it.
But all of these are fantastic books, and I am going to read every last one of them so that I can tell them, with 100% certainty, that they are awesome. Plus, I need to know if there's violence or nudity or profanity or something else questionable for the age level that we need to be aware of. There's nothing worse than leading a sensitive young student into a graphically violent novel where they get super grossed out. That was definitely me and Hatchet. I so do not want to try to read it again, but at the same time I feel compelled to do so. Ugh. Oh well, hip hip hooray for books!
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