Mr. Fredette - 6 Gold Language Arts

Every year, I tell my students that they are going to be shocked at how fast the 6th grade runs by.  Every year I am amazed that in a simple blink of an eye, May has arrived and here we are scrambling to tie up loose ends and get our work done.

I love the 6th grade.  I started teaching 8th grade and adults.  Adults - no thanks.  8th grade - I liked.  So when I was offered the job of teaching 6th graders, I really must admit that I had a completely misguided view of what 6th grade was.  All I knew is that I didn't want to hold hands and wipe noses.  Obviously, my ideas of 6th graders were slightly skewed ;)  It took me all of a month to realize that I was wrong and 6th grade was where I belonged.  It keeps me young, even though I now have former students coming back and subbing for me. 

Time has a tendency to pass us by if we aren't paying attention.  We like to lie to ourselves and say that's a good thing.  We tell ourselves that we're happy that something didn't last that long or Thank Goodness that was quick.  While I'm fine if my dentist appt. is fast or if the line at Home Depot chugs along, we all need reminders to slow down.  We may only get one life.  But for some reason, we want things to hurry up.  We spend the first years of our lives wanting to be older and the later parts of our lives wishing we were younger.  Take the time to stop, unplug for a while, look around, and be perfectly happy with where you are at that moment.  If you look too far in front of you...you're going to miss what's at your feet. 

So as we end this 6th grade year...I hope you enjoyed yourselves, LEARNED something, and remember to not wish your years away...save those wishes for more important things ........................................  like a new Justin Beiber poster ;)   

International Pay it Forward Day is today, Thursday.  On Saturday, the town of Holden will be participating in their own Pay it Forward Day.  When I think about the possibilities that this day holds, it excites me.  It is very Utopian (look that word up).  But what's wrong with that?  If we didn't have dreams and high aspirations, where would that leave us? 

The potential of this day is inspiring.  It inspires me to be a better person, a better father, and husband.  It inspires me to be a better teacher and to give to people.  While this is only one day of the year that we officially recognize the act of altruistic (look it up) giving, it's my hope that this day will spark bigger and better ideas for the future.  The ripple effect, butterfly effect, whatever you call it has amazing staying power and reach.  How we treat each other in Holden can have an effect on people in Rutland, on people in Boston, or even on people in different parts of the country and world.  Imagine the power of one good deed!

A boy helps an elderly woman pack her groceries - she feels good about that so she donates money to the local Boy Scouts - because of that they can afford to go to Costa Rica to build a bridge - because of that the local doctors are able to reach a remote village - because of that they are able to have access to a new species of plant that has medicinal powers - because of that, we now have the cure for cancer!  I know it sounds far-fetched, but it really isn't.  The smallest deed does not go unnoticed.  It can have great effects even if we don't see them personally.

So as we venture outside, let's try to venture outside ourselves.  Look around and see the beauty of the world and how great it would be with one more smile.  Hold the door for someone, buy them a soda, rake their yard, pay them a compliment, or simply offer up a smile, and ask them not to pay you back, but to pay it forward.  There are great deeds going on all around us.  Let's keep the ripple moving.

If you talk to the purists - those that extol the virtue of books and the written word or those who believe that the art of movie making is magical, they will tell you that they are separate entities.  You cannot simply compare a book to the movie that shares the same name.  While I agree that they are two different genres and visions, you cannot help but compare the two.  As I look forward to seeing The Hunger Games, I am reminded that there have been so many books that have been made into movies and I have been disappointed by almost all of them.  I will focus my attention on the young adult literature.

I have not read any of the Harry Potter books.  Yes, I know....but I loved the movies!  I couldn't wait for The Deathly Hallows II to come out and see how it all ended.  But when I saw Bridge to Terabithia, I was angry!  The movie destroyed the book and made it seem like something that it was not.  That got me to thinking.  If you are going to experience both - book and movie - does it make a difference whether you watch the movie first or read the book first?  I think it does.  If you watch the movie first, you inevitably get the filmmakers version and vision stuck in your head.  When you envision characters, you see the movie star.  But when you read the book first, you get to create the characters.  You get to create your own mental movie and cast whomever you want.  Jesse ad Leslie in Bridge to Terabithia had so many layers and their friendship was so much more than the movie portrayed.  There something that gets lost in the transition from print to film, something that film cannot create.  It lives in your imagination and in the worlds that you enhabit when you open a book.

With that being said - I CANNOT WAIT to see The Hunger Games!  But I promise that it isn't because Josh Hutchinson is in both movies....purely coincidence.

I am not a snow person...never have been.  I have never been skiing and I have absolutely no plans to go.  So, inevitably, when I share this with people they ask why I live in New England then.  I think this question can only be asked by people who have A) never been to New England or B) are originally from another part of the country/world.  There are so many reasons why I love New England.  What do you like about New England?  What is your favorite part?  I will share mine in the responses.

A friend said to me the other day that we live in a society of contradictions.  We tell kids that they can't vote until they're 18.  They can't fight for their country until they are 18.  They can't drive until they are 16.  We constantly tell them to wait to grow up.  No you are not old enough to use a table saw or circular saw by yourself for fear that you'll lop off a finger or worse. 

But we'll hand you technology and tell you that you're old enough.  We will hand you the means to destroy your life and others around you if not properly supervised and taught.  Kids have implements of destruction in their hands and many parents are completely fine with it.  I saw a 6 year old with their own cell phone.  Are you kidding me?  What does a 6 year old need with a cell phone?  Who are they calling?  Where are they going without an adult that would necessitate a phone?  I understand parents desire to keep their children safe and give them a means of communication - good luck finding pay phones anymore - but how young is too young?  Kids emulate their parents and want to appear older than they are, but that doesn't mean we need to let them. 

Kids are growing up way too fast and are losing out on their childhood.  You only get one.  Once its gone, you aren't allowed to act like a kid anymore without people staring at you funny or giving you a hard time.  Kids spend their childhood wishing they were older and their parents spend their adulthood wishing they were younger.  It's a vicious cycle.  So how do we stop it? 

I don't know if we can.  But what we can do is make sure that during very summer rainstorm, we jump in every puddle.  During every spring and summer night, we sit outside and listen to the crickets and insects.  Every fall, we rake up the biggest pile of leaves and jump into it.  Every winter, have a snowball fight and make a snow angel.  Run, jump, skip, prance, play ball, swim, climb, ski, and just be. 

Your parents and grandparents look at you in wonder partially because of who you are and partially of what you are....a child.  They are envious of you.  There is plenty of time for adult issues later in life.  Right now, enjoy the fact that you don't pay taxes, mortgage, car payments, tuition, grocery bills, heat, electricity, insurance, day care, gas, etc.  Enjoy every moment because it won't last forever. 

I've been asked many times, "Who's your favorite literary character?"  I always say, "Whats-his-face and You-Know-Who."  I have too many!  There are just some classic characters that come to mind like Captain Ahab, Atticus Finch, Randall McMurphy, Pony-Boy, Billy Coleman, Huckleberry Finn, Holden Caulfield, Lenny, Sherlock Holmes...A great character can make a book.  You may not remember every event of the book or even the plot in some cases, but a good character resonates.  A good character sticks with you.  Perhaps you identify with them...maybe you root for them...maybe you feel sorry for them...or maybe, deep down inside you want to be them. - - Your life, in letters.

There are a lot of strong characters in today's fiction.  One that comes to mind is Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games trilogy.  She's a strong female lead in a world where the expected protagonist is normally a man.  I think that's part of the appeal.  She's thrust into a world where in many similar books - that character is a man.  Growing up when I did, there was a stigma attached to strong female characters, at least in teh books I read in middle school.  I shied away from them.  I wanted to read the Hardy Books, not Nancy Drew.  But as I got older, gender meant nothing to the pen of a great writer.  It's not that books with strong female leads did not exist until then - they did.  I just started to open my eyes to books like The Color Purple and My Antonia and realized that my biased robbed me of some great books.  Thankfully, I came to my senses  - - but it did take a good teacher for me to see that ;)

Who is your favorite character?  Why?