Irma Said:

What was gods biggest mistake?

We Answered:

Avacado pits are too big.

Nancy Said:

What/How can I prepare my non-existant classroom for the school year?

We Answered:

Perhaps you should relax a little bit....wait until you find a position, and then create lesson plans/figure out decorating. If you are forced to do this for your program, why not revise your old lesson plans? Every teacher uses the same lesson plans over and over, but in the beginning, they need constant revision. Change what worked and maybe come up with new ideas for activites to replace old ones that didn't work so well. Good luck!

Norman Said:

I need a recommendation of a book by a nonamerican author appropriate to teach high school students?

We Answered:

Hmm..interesting question. I do think that The Unbearable Lightness of Being has some inappropriate scenes. In face, I am 100% sure you do not want to pick this book. You should read it though... a great book, but not appropriate for high school kids.

As far as some of the other suggestions go, I would probably not recommend Russian authors. I personally really enjoy them, and Crime and Punishment is one of my all time favorite novels. If any of them, I would choose One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Solzhenitsyn because it is short, absorbing, and fairly easy to relate to. It is stark though, having been set in a Siberian concentration camp.

I saw a mention of Garcia Marquez...and I think that the magical realists might be a good option. 100 years of solitude is good, although fairly long. It might also be difficult teaching them about it. I know I would find it tough.

One of my favorite authors is the Japanese Haruki Murakami. His best novels (for me) were Kafka on the Shore, and The Wind-up Bird Chronicle. I don't recall if there were inappropriate scenes though. The would certainly enjoy reading his books if anything, which is the first step to success I think.

Franz Kafka's metamorphosis might be an interesting choice. Thomas Mann's Death in Venice and other stories (but make sure to get a good translation), are also wonderful, although there are some odd homosexual undertones that may not come across too well.

I don't think I'd go with any heavy classics like Madame Bovary, although Joseph Conrad might be an idea. They would probably quite enjoy Heart of Darkness. I find the fact that he wrote in his third language surprising. I think they would probably really enjoy Dumas who wrote The Count of Monte Christo, The Hunchback of Nottredam, and the Three Musketeers, but I can't imagine what you would teach them about the books.

Alright, enough rambling, as much as I enjoy it :P

Tom Said:

Can anyone think of some engaging HIGH SCHOOL level writing activities?

We Answered:

First teach a structure--
the hamburger, 5 paragraph, etc.

For a short assignment the hamburger is better. You can even give the a hamburger drawing to use for prewriting or even pick students to be top bun (*intro), meat and fixings (body and details), and bottom bun (conclusion).They can each play his/her role by saying what would go there.

Then find an engaging topic.

One my classes loved: "I used to think, but now I know..."

One student wrote about seeing old t.v. programs and movies in black and white and thinking the world was that way then! No color!
Another thought the two prices on books (CAN and US) meant that they can cost one price but for us the price is ___!

Give them maybe 3 topics to choose from. One size doesn't fit all.

You can also give them a quote or first line to use as a hook.

Leslie Said:

Information about being a high school teacher?

We Answered:

1 teaching is not an 8-3 job, like many people think. To become a teacher you have to be an education major, and in this case your focus will be on language arts.

The difficulty of lesson plans depends on what district you teach in because every school has their own policies on what has to be done. However there is more that goes into a 50 min. class period than one might think. Also grading is time consuming. In English you will have to grade essays and term papers, which is very time consuming.

If you think you want to be a teacher, remember your responsibilities and reasons that you got into teaching and keep them in mind the entire time, so you don't experience burn out and become a worthless teacher.

Best of luck to you.