There is nothing like being told that your Wednesday English class is now on Sunday at 10:00 Saturday night. I did have a plan. The plan called for a newspaper. It is not possible to get an English newspaper at 10 pm on this Yishuv.
I have to come up with something quick and my brain feels as if it has had the plug pulled from it and all ideas are quickly draining away.
(sigh)
This isn't a class I'm going to be holding on to for a long time anyway. A friend is likely taking over all the 8th grade English classes (both my class and the main teachers class) come February. (She is a certified teacher. No acrimony at all on my part, I'm glad she will be stepping in. Here in Israel there are something called Bagruts, which are similar to the regents. You don't do well you don't get into college.) Still, in the few weeks I have to teach I want to teach them well. I don't like going in unprepared. I will have to put something together between now and 11 am tomorrow.
So why am I blogging about it? In the hopes that something will spark in my brain when I'm not paying attention to it; you know, like the kid who wants to pretend he isn't doing what you just asked him to do so you have to pretend you don't know that they are in the bathroom brushing their teeth or already dressed, even though you can hear the water running and the sound of brush against teeth, or see their shoes from beneath the covers. Then you act all surprised and happy and fooled and say things like "You little monster! You tricked me! And here I thought you were still sleeping!"
Ideas, I think, are like children. They want to run things themselves and sometimes you just have to give them the chance. But you also have to let them know you are there and available to them if they need you.
And that does give me an idea. Maybe after we decide on a name for our newspaper, and make other final decisions we can talk about how we find ideas for stories in the first place, and how to overcome writers block and other writers tricks.
Hope you enjoyed my little stream of consciousness there.
Posted by Rachel Ann at December 18, 2004 08:48 PM