Asking the Tough Questions

Happy New Year!

As a tenth year teacher, I often reflect on my role in my students’ lives.  Ultimately I strive to empower my students to find their voice – whether it be in writing and/or speaking.  The primary means I am able to do this is through the essential questions which guide our text selections and classroom discussions.

For the last two card-marking periods, we have asked two tough questions:

• What compromises of my integrity will I make in order to be accepted?
• When is loyalty to oneself more important than loyalty to a friend/family member?

Breaking these questions down has allowed our students to really examine what they prioritize in their lives.  Dissecting ideas like compromise, integrity, loyalty, and acceptance are a vital part of character development, especially at this stage in our students’ lives.

Next week, students will be asked to write on the argumentative prompt: Should teenagers have the right to make their own medical decisions?  In anticipation of this prompt, this week’s article, borrowed from The New York Times, provides various types of evidence for students to draw from. The film adaptation of Jodi Picoult’s bestselling novel My Sister’s Keeper offers students another lens through which to examine the themes of this unit. For the argumentative prompt, students will be asked to cite evidence from both the AOW and the film to support their claim.

After that, we will review for the final exam by practicing SAT-style questions through Khan Academy.  And that will wrap up Semester One. During semester two, students will shift to delving deeper into examining author’s craft, specifically by beginning to learn how to write a rhetorical analysis.

It is my philosophy that with education, it’s like Bill Cordes says, “You only get out what you put in.”  I have high expectations for all my students – and strive, daily, to help them maintain those high expectations for themselves as well.  Every day students are in a position to make decisions, positive or negative, which impact their learning.  It is my aim to help make their time in my classroom one in which they can see the value in what we are learning and in the skills we are building.  But, ultimately, the choice is theirs, and it is my sincere hope that they choose wisely.

Yours in education,

Ms. Sabbagh