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I am struggling with wanting to post work from my students. I truly think it is profound or it made me think differently or is just really "neat," as my friend Nora would say. I don't know how I feel about it ethically but whatever...as long as I leave it anonymous and try not to give clues as to who it is...does that make it any better???? Anyways, I had to post this because I am making my approximately 60 students write in journals twice a week. They have to write at least a half a page two times and they can write anything they want--an autobiography (they tend to be popular here for some reason), a response to an article or tv show, an opinion, a description, free-writing, a poem, a recipe, a letter to me, a love letter to somebody else. It is hard to read and respond to everyone but I have been doing it for over a month now and I have gotten such a wonderful response I can't stop now. Students are purging long silent feelings about their families, talking about homesickness and stress, revealing secret crushes, telling me about their hardships, and their accomplishments. Each student really has a fascinating story to tell. I just can't believe what I am reading half the time. It is so fabulous. And ALL IN ENGLISH!!!! It was one of my goals after I came here to show the students that English is not just a distant language that lives in a book, it is a living breathing organism that you can use to better yourself, heal your soul, get yourself out of trouble, or just have fun with. I am so proud of them for sticking it out and trying. In my class they know that I respect their learning process and will allow it to take place over time. I am very blessed that I can give them that time too. I make the assessments and I am in charge of giving them their final grade. I don't have any standards to follow or rubric with which I must evaluate them. I thank God everyday that I have this rare opportunity as a teacher to work in such a free environment and let my students experience my idea of real-life learning.
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