Genius Freak

My Teaching Manifesto Regardless of the specific endeavors of any particular class, in room 235, I hope that what my students walk away with every day is another addition to their understanding of the extraordinary range of what it is to be human.  As I see it, all education, formal and informal, is about making sense of the world and our place in it.  Each thing we learn adds some depth or breadth or nuance to our understanding of how the world works, and how we can work our way through it.  If we can strengthen ourselves as readers and writers and thinkers, we strengthen the tools we have to do that work. What I hope to do every time I enter the classroom is to provide students with opportunities to see themselves in the world around them.  I want them to know that when we study the humanities, we study ourselves.  I want them to see their stories in the stories we read; I want them to see their world in the literary archetypes we discover; I want them ...

Lots of people, from the time I was in high school till now, just call me Mueller.  I prefer that to Dr. Mueller to tell you the truth.  And it fits.  I am a mull-er - as in one who mulls. I spend a lot of time inside my head, thinking and rethinking.  Turning things around, looking at all the angles I can find.  I don’t think it’s obsessive. I just ponder. A lot. About 10 years ago, a showtune-loving friend of mine introduced me to the soundtrack of a musical called Tick Tick….Boom! It’s about a guy who is getting older and wondering if he is making the right choices in his life.  My favorite song in this show is called “Louder than Words.”  The refrain captures the central idea of the song, and the show (and many of my recent ponderings, and this essay): Cages or wings? Which do you prefer? Ask the birds. Fear or love, baby? Don’t say the answer. Actions speak louder than words. Fear or love? That question is one that I...

Tomorrow will be my 29th first day of school as a teacher, and I am nervous. You would think that anything you've done 28 times before would be almost automatic. It isn't. Not for me, at least. When I was young and cocky, I wouldn't even bother making much of a plan for the first day.  I knew that I was going to go over rules, and my course overview. Maybe I would give out textbooks and talk about expectations. And maybe, if time allowed, do a little artificial getting to know you activity of some sort. Tomorrow, I won't be doing any of that. Tomorrow will be the first of the short 180 days that I will have with my students this year. Tomorrow will mark the beginning of every students' one experience with eleventh grade, or twelfth. Tomorrow is my one chance to create the first impression I want them to have of the year they can expect. Going over rules doesn't do that.  (In fact, I think going over rules says "I expect you to be bad, and her...

The Teachers Write assignment for Monday was to write 12 lines of verse with a particular rhyme scheme. I am going to forego the disclaimers I forbid my students from making, the two main ones being "This sucks," and "I'm not good at poetry." I usually think those things when I write poetry, but I won't say them. These lines are inspired by powerful conversation I recently had with a best friend of mine. In the safety of her kindness, I was able to visit places in my heart that I have gone to in years. I was undecided about posting them. But her great bravery has inspired smaller braveries in me. No title yet The trunk of memory is dusted off Unlocked by trust, the lid held open wide. His ghost, unscarred and beautiful, in peace Asks for attention, not to be denied. For decades packed away where light is scarce; The darkness, sanctuary from the pain. To break it open seemed to much to bear, But in the hands of love, I can...

I came across a blog posting about a virtual writing summer camp for teachers. It's called Teachers Write.  My interest was piqued, but so was my fear of failure.  I wanted to give it a shot.  But two things were holding me back: my perpetual inability to dedicate time to doing the writing I want to do, and my fear that everything I write sucks. (Looking at that sentence now, clearly one of those things in the parent of the other.) I have recently made a very good friend whose daily braveries inspired me to sign up for Teachers Write, despite my own dearth of bravery in the writing arena. She also inspired me to take the extra step of posting some of the writing I do here.  Because if my aim is to be brave, I have to take some chances. The first task was a short introductory post with some background and goals for the program, and something we have noticed about our students as writers. Another first week task was to make a list of things I wonder about. Her...

NJWA presentation

As a teacher of  high school juniors and seniors, I often find myself engaged in conversations about their futures.  Some of them are very sure of what they want to do with their lives.  But more commonly their voices are infused with confusion, sometimes bordering on panic, when they say, "How can I know what I want to do?  I'm only 17?"  Even though I knew in high school that I wanted to be a teacher, I understand the question.  They are exposed to relatively few real world experiences in high school.  They want to know "What will I use this for?"  As their English teacher, I want them to know that they will use reading and writing everywhere, no matter their career path.   I also want them to see that their English teacher doesn't just teach them about other people's writing, and make them write essays galore just for the joy of grading them. I want them to know I write, and I struggle with the same things about it they do.  Th...