Where did my fire go? Thinking about NLTRW....

I'm updating NLTRW materials, lots of them, a lot more than I remember.  Man, I used to be prolific with this stuff.  Most of it's pretty good material to use.  Some of it I had already forgotten that I had written.  I suppose that reflects the level of stress in my life, but let's not go there.

I've updated most everything at www.promotelatin.org/nltrw.htm.  Everything except what will become the scrapbook page.  I've decided to cut myself some slack and move onto other things.  But first I'm testing links to various flyers and such.

Some items didn't need updating like "Some Top Reasons to Teach Latin at the Pre-Collegiate Level" http://www.promotelatin.org/TopReasons2004.pdf and "Secondary Considerations: PhDs on Teaching at the Secondary Level":   http://www.promotelatin.org/PhDtestimonials.pdf.  Both are handy.

I've updated "So You Want to Be a Latin Teacher?" http://www.promotelatin.org/futureteacher2009.pdf.  This is a handy little flyer with  information on pedagogy and such that isn't gathered anywhere else.  It now includes the gem _When Dead Tongues Speak_. 

I had forgotten that I had linked "Principles of Learning in a Middle School Classroom" http://www.promotelatin.org/PrinciplesOfLearningInTheMSLatinClassroom.pdf.  I wrote that in reaction to this whiny article that appeared in CJ (Classical Journal) which complained that middle school teachers do too much fluff--too much games and nonsense.  I wrote it because I was so tired of defending that what I did was important at the middle school level, not trivial.  That I was a legitimate Latin teacher even if I weren't teaching Cicero.    But now I teach high school and often miss middle school.  I've hardly had time to breathe let alone ponder the importance of teaching at all levels.  Anyway.  It's not a bad article about serious teaching at the middle school level.

The last thing I've read is T"each Prep: New Ideas, New Approach" at http://www.promotelatin.org/TeacherPrepNewIdeasNewApproach.pdf.  When I wrote it, I really thought I'd get more of a reaction out of it.  But I didn't.  Perhaps I lost my fire after that and began to wonder whether it was worth all the effort.  Or maybe I'm just waiting for someone to listen.  I suppose this is why I still go to CAMWS conferences and such... because one day someone will listen.  Until then we'll be turning out teachers who still aren't quite ready for what's ahead of them.  And many of them will be like me, leave after one year.  And how many will come back after a dozen years like I did? 

There have been days--not many lately--when I've thought I had a vision for how to solve problems.  Then there have been other days when I was sure I was arrogant and totally full of it.  Perhaps I lost my fire that last year at Porter MS, when the principal shot me down right and left, was pissed at my regional and national connections, etc.  There was the constant reminded that it didn't matter what I did outside of school, it was what I did within the school that mattered.  Did I do double morning duties since I wasn't around in the afternoons because I was part-time?  Did I...  oh nevermind.  I shouldn't go there.  Let's just say I was reminded then that I was just a middle school teacher.  And then I was without a job or school, and then with a full program 30 miles away with not time left for vision and creativity.

Anyway.  I have to put NLTRW aside for a while and get some other work done.  Lately my most creative thinking has been on the smaller classroom problems of how to make Latin 2 and Latin 3 better so students won't struggle as much in Latin 4.  Just focusing on the smaller picture, not the big picture.  But the big picture is so important, because if something happens and I have to leave teaching for personal reasons (NOT that I have any intention of doing so in the near future, but I'm also more aware of the fragility of the human condition), I really want to believe that someone will be able to take over my program and not kill it or leave it wounded and slowly dying. 

<sigh>