Materials on the Way for Pliny Outside the New AP Latin Curriculum

I recently posted an article on the revised AP Latin curriculum including some letters of Pliny the Younger in lieu of lengthy passages of the Julius Caesar's Commentarii de Bello Gallico.

I have long been a fan of Pliny and count him as my favorite writer of Latin prose. As I recounted in my earlier post, I had planned to create and distribute some handouts for teachers, only to discover that excellent and worthy materials were already available from Geoffrey Steadman.

https://apcentral.collegeboard.org/media/pdf/ap-latin-revised-framework-preview.pdf

Instead of giving up on my project completely, I decided that I would redirect my efforts to offer suggestions and materials for the "Teacher's Choice Prose" section (see image above). I agree with most of the choices that the College Board has made for Pliny, but also feel that they left out some interesting and iconic letters (the titles are my own):

• I.1: Publishing My Letters - A good lead-in to Pliny's epistles as he writes about how he collected his works and made them available for publication. I have always liked reading about what authors have to say about their own work and other authors (see III.21 below).
• I.6: Making the Most of the Hunt - A fun letter in which Pliny makes the most out of his hunting trip and uses it as an opportunity to get all sorts of work done.
• III.21: Lamenting the Death of Martial - Pliny's letter recalling his friend Martial and his character, and it seems Martial was quite the character.
• IV.19: She Really Loves Me! - A touching letter in which Pliny describes the relationship with his wife and how much she cares for him and loves him.
• X.96: What Do I Do about the Christians? - A truly iconic letter in which Pliny, as governor of the province of Bithynia, writes to the Emperor Trajan and asks for the proper procedure for handling those who have been accused of being Christians.
• X.97: Handling the Christians - Trajan's thoughtful and straightforward response to Pliny.

My plans are to create texts, notes, and materials in pdfs (and possibly even ppt) and make them available for teachers, hopefully by January or February 2025.

Ave atque Vale, Magistra!

Yesterday I attended the memorial service for Jane Hall: an outstanding teacher, amazing woman, and force of nature. This remarkable celebration of life, in the classically-inspired rotunda of James Farmer Hall on the campus of the University of Mary Washington, was well-attended, with numerous friends, colleagues, and former students sharing their memories and anecdotes of one who worked so hard to lift up the learning and teaching of Latin for so many. Please read below Jane's obituary:

Jane Harriman Hall, age 93, of White Stone, VA, formerly of Alexandria, VA, passed away peacefully on Sunday, February 25, 2024. Jane was preceded in death by her beloved husband of 69 years, David Alan Hall and her parents, Roswell Hitchcock and Ruth Damman Harriman. She is survived by her daughter, Dianne Harriman Thomas (Stephen B.Thomas), two grandchildren Amanda Thomas Kaeser (Kyle C. Kaeser) and Stephen B. Thomas, Jr., and one great grandchild Riley Brooke Kaeser.

Jane earned her B.A. from Mount Holyoke College in 1952, and her M.A. from the University of Maryland in 1969. Jane's extraordinary teaching career spanned 59 years. She taught every grade, with the majority of her teaching years at Fort Hunt High School in Fairfax County, VA, where she taught Latin, Ancient Greek and Russian. She finished her stellar career as an adjunct professor at the University of Mary Washington. Throughout her lifetime, Jane received numerous well-deserved awards and honors for her many accomplishments. Some of her awards include: Jane was chosen for the 1966 edition of Outstanding Young Women of America; being selected as Virginia’s Foreign Language Teacher of the Year in 1984; also in 1984, Jane was honored by the Classical Association of the Middle West and South. In 1996, she was awarded the John F. Latimer Award from the Washington Classical Society, and in 2001, she received a Merita Award from the American Classical League. Jane was the first Director of the Virginia Governor’s Academy.

She also developed the Forum Romanum video series in order to provide a visual tool for teachers throughout the country. This series documented historic moments in Roman history with live characters speaking only Latin. These videos helped students’ ability to use Latin orally. Finding innovative ways to encourage students’ learning was one of Jane’s greatest strengths. She took students on numerous educational trips to foreign countries including Italy and Greece. She held toga parties and Latin banquets. She gave out awards in the classroom for academic achievements. She headed clubs, including the Latin Club and the Latin Honor Society.

In 1978, Jane founded The National Latin Exam on a card table in her family room. The annual exam rewards students for excelling in their study of Latin. She devoted 34 years of leadership and expertise to the National Latin Exam, before retiring in 2011. By the time she retired, nearly 3 million students had participated in taking the National Latin Exam. In addition, more than one million dollars in scholarships had been awarded. The National Latin Exam still thrives today, and the numbers have increased significantly. This year’s Exam boasts over 114,000 participants, including 26 countries, and $131,000 to be awarded in Scholarships. The NLE lives on as her legacy to the American Classical League and to the recognition of thousands of students, teachers, and schools around the world.

In 1970, Jane and Dave built a home on the Corrotoman River and began life part-time in the Northern Neck. Their love for this area grew over the years, until 2003, when they moved full-time to White Stone. Jane was an active resident of the Northern Neck and Tabbs Creek community. She volunteered at the Steamboat Museum, Meals on Wheels, the Animal Welfare League, the Lancaster Community Library, as well as various other community events and benefits. She enjoyed life on the creek, as she and David were seen most evenings taking a cruise on her beloved Duffy, the Festina Lente. She enjoyed the New York Times crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, opera, bridge, tennis, swimming, boating, entertaining, and especially traveling. Jane lived life to the fullest in every way, and she was known by her friends to be the life of any gathering. Jane and Dave were members of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Kilmarnock, VA.

Memorial donations may be made in Jane’s honor to the National Latin Exam, University of Mary Washington, Fredericksburg, VA.

Otium cum dignitate

Retirement came easily, more easily than I had expected or ever planned. When I began my teaching career in 1987, retirement was far from my thoughts, as it should have been. The end was far too final and much too far away to be considered. In subsequent years, when retirement was mentioned or experienced by colleagues, I replied that this was not in the realm of possibility for me, and, besides, what would I do? How would I spend my time? How could I ever afford it? I would often say that I would teach as long as I could and they would have to drag me out of the classroom.

 

Fast forward to 2021. The world was different, and I had changed, too, having grown older, wiser, and more experienced, but frustrations, disillusionment, and the constant grind was wearing me down. Teaching and learning and life were nothing like they were back in the '80s. Sometimes I thought that those issues which distracted from my ability to make a positive difference came from my failure to completely grow and adapt to the world changing around me. Other times I thought the opposite, that I was doing the right thing in the best way, and the world was failing to conform to me. I guess this statement says a lot about the accuracy of my thoughts.

Beginning around 2015, teaching started to become more difficult for me, socially, physically, emotionally, and practically. Demands from students, parents, and administrators continued to increase. There were increasingly more distractions, more discouraging criticism from local, state, and national politics, leading to less accountability for real growth by students, resulting in much less satisfaction and enjoyment.

My final day in the classroom was Thursday, March 12, 2020. The reports of the spread of COVID-19 were becoming more dire and frightening. My school division closed all its schools for that Friday (yes, the 13th) before spring break scheduled for the next week. They would soon add an extra week to spring break in an attempt to give the spread of this disease time to level off and begin to decline. The pandemic was upon us. We would not return to school for the rest of the school year. Attempts were made to provide work and enrichment, but very few students participated. We all know the stories.

For the 2020-2021 school year, a year like no other for teachers, students, and parents, I spent the first semester teaching online from home. Because of health concerns exacerbated by some medical conditions, I opted to isolate myself from possible exposure to the coronavirus. Teaching remotely was not an easy task. I had some students (some physically attending school and just as many tuning in from home) at my high school and, due to declining enrollment, others at a neighboring middle school. This teaching assignment with two schools give rise to different class schedules, nine different preparations, different online platforms, and wholly different expectations. To be sure, it became tedious, overwhelming, and wholly unsustainable.

For the second semester I was among the lucky few who, with a letter from my physician, were granted the extension to continue teaching from home. I continued to press forward through a heavily-adapted curriculum, trying to remain upbeat and positive, and even offering after-school activities for those few students who wanted to keep the Latin Club alive. But I knew that I could not continue like this, then things started to happy quickly. At an annual meeting with our financial advisor, I commented, half-jokingly, that I would like to retire, an idea I didn't think possible because of the financial uncertainties. He crunched the numbers and said confidently, "Yeah, you can do that. We can make that work." I was surprised and even relieved, but I did not hesitate. My reply was, "Great! Let's make it happen!" I contacted our school system's Human Resources Department and got started on the paperwork, which was a more complicated task that I had anticipated, but it really didn't matter. I had made my decision to bring my teaching career to a close and working through the bureaucracy was going to be well worth it.

Almost a year to the day of that last time in my classroom, during the second spring break of teaching during the pandemic, I returned to school with my wife and son. I entered my room, which had now been reassigned to an English teacher, and packed up my belongings which had been moved to the side and the back. We hauled off my books, posters, toys, and other personal items from there and from storage, and then I snapped the last photograph, locked the door, and left the building, without seeing or speaking to anyone. I wanted to leave quietly.

I finished out this last semester, struggling to keep the students moving forward. I didn't make any formal announcement about not coming coming back the next year until word got out, as it it typically does. I can still remember that last day in late May as vividly as my very first one 34 years earlier. There are certain things you can never forget. I finished that last day, trying to impart some final words of wisdom to my students, but not really meeting with success. The "final bell" rang, the students signed out, and I shut down Google Classroom. I turned off my computer. I was done.

When I walked into my classroom for the very time, I didn't know or care what my last day teaching would be like, but I know neither I nor anyone else would have anticipated how teaching would work during a global pandemic. Indeed, these circumstances hastened my exit and made it a much more logical decision to make. It provided an easy and logical end to my career.

Calling for a Culling

Hello! My name is Mark, and I am hoarder of classroom materials.

I finished the annual task of packing up and cleaning out my classroom today. For the very first time I chose to leave the posters on the walls, if for no other reason than I did not want to spend the extra time to take them down.

Everything but the furniture must be hauled out by the teachers so that the floors can be cleaned, stripped, and waxed. Fortunately the custodians handle the task of moving the desks, shelves, filing cabinet, and closet on (wheels). All of this is accomplished by a couple weeks before the start of school, and then we haul everything back in and set things back in order.

After I moved my last cart of books and boxes, I noticed that I have much more than a small amount of stuff squirreled away. Take a look:

Yes. Count them. Six cubbies, three cabinets, and spillage out into the floor. All filled with boxes of books, files, desk accessories, decor, toys, arts and crafts supplies, etc. Looking closer will reveal sets and backgrounds from at least two homecoming floats. All of this useful and important in its own time and place, but a pain to pack and move when the building is dark and silent.

I had planned to spend a part of this year to set it all out and then to find it a better home or send it into the trashcan. The goal was reduce my stash to fewer cubbies... but it somehow grew to more! I now admit that I do have a problem. I had set out a special shelf this year marked with a sign reading GRATIS. The idea was place items free for the taking by any student, visitor, or teacher. This process began with good intentions, but as the work and activities grew, the environment withdrew into the background. Sometimes there were piles and stacks to navigate, but never did it stand in the way of our missions.

Something's gotta give, though. I will make it a priority to sift through all these items and keep only which contributes directly to the teaching of six Latin classes or the running of an active Latin Club. After all, having too much stuff can stand in the way of effective use of fewer, higher-quality items. It is time to sift, cull, trash, and give away things that are no longer making the cut. I have gather these items for 31 years. It is time to apply the notion that less is more.

Greener Grasses

I just returned home from a farewell dinner for two Latin colleagues leaving our school system at the end of the week. Each one is departing for pastures expected to have greener grass, albeit decidedly different flavors.

My first colleague will be leaving her high school program after fourteen years. She taught all levels of Latin, including Advanced Placement and International Baccalaureate, an occasional middle school class, and a fairly active Latin Club and certamen teams. She became department chair and the odd combination of classes and duties began to compound and overwhelm her. She has a husband and two young children. She has opted to leave these burdens behind and will replace them with what will surely be a two-hour commute each way. She will have a lighter teaching load and enjoy higher pay.

My second colleague will be leaving behind his middle school position after only three years of teaching, admittedly not even enough time to get really get his teaching chops established. He has wrangled middle-schoolers in Latin I, Latin IA, Latin IB, Latin II, and Introduction to World Languages. These combinations of classes, including the nature of these young students, has also worn on him. He will be leaving teaching behind for new and different opportunities. He looks forward to greater freedom, less grief, and more chances to explore and grow.

To lose a fourteen-year veteran is a real loss... loss of experience, continuity, and institutional memory; yet losing a three-year beginning is just as frustrating. The departure of new teachers is a very real problem and threatens our profession. Good Latin teacher are difficult to find in the first place, but then to lose them too soon compounds the problem. Each one has made his and her own decision, and I do not begrudge them their choices at all. Indeed, there may even be a little bit of envy.

As I mentioned in my last post, this has not been a good year for me. Besides missing four weeks of teaching due to medical leave and recovery this spring, as well as time out for conferences and the graduations of both my daughter from graduate school and son from college, there were some classes where my personality and that of my students did not match up well, and some students even rejected any enthusiastic attempt to learn and grow. I hope to pursue these dynamics in later posts. I am just about to complete my thirty-first year of teaching. At one point the notion of retirement surfaced and I rejected it because I could not stand the idea of leaving in a negative note, and indeed I had unfinished business. As the year began to wind down and the frustrations that come with formalized testing, certification, and administrative demands, I began to seriously consider retirement at the end of next year. Thirty-two years in any profession is respectable, is it not? I signed my electronic contract thinking that I might wrap things up on my own terms and leave at the end of the 2018-2019 school year. After all, my certification will be due, our curriculum is changing with a requisite alteration of teaching philosophy, and we are getting new textbooks. Sounds like a good time to depart, does it not? Then I made the fateful move... out of curiosity I checked the pay scale, just to see what my final paychecks would look like. I was floored! In only eight more years, my pay was scheduled to increase by more than $18,000! How tempting! How exciting! In order to keep seasoned, experienced teachers, the pay increases significantly up until it freezes at 40 years of service. This put the breaks on any thoughts of retirement for the moment, but I am a bit disappointed in myself because suddenly I am choosing to stay not just because I want to teach, but that I am reaching for the money.

My two colleagues and I have noticed the greener grasses growing in other pastures or even in our own field. Is it really greener though? Does it taste any different or nourish our bodies or souls any better? At the moment, only time will tell.

More about retirement later. 

All Things Considered

As exam week rolls into view, I find it necessary to take stock of this year which, I must admit, has not been a good one, either for me or for some of my students. I am returning to Marginalia as a means of reviewing, organizing, and analyzing what went right and what went wrong in my classroom and inside my head. I am being purposely vague at the moment; just laying out a general road map of personal discussion. Welcome back to me!

P.S. I will also be editing this blog: making updates, deleting nonsense, and adding commentary. I was surprised to find that I started this twelve years ago, and it has been dormant for much of that time. Perhaps it is time to erupt.

And away we go...

I have sat down this Saturday afternoon after our first five-day school week of the year. To put it succinctly, I am exhausted. It always takes a few days to get back into the routine of a busy, teaching schedule, but this year, things are piling up more quickly than in the past. Going into school early and staying late is seeming to do little to alleviate the burden and adds to feeling drained, but I press on. Is it a function of age? Maybe. Is it a function of fitness? Probably. It is a problem, though? No. I will spend most of my weekend wrapping up things from last week and getting things ready for the next.

From time to time I reflect upon what I am doing and decide that I like it, it all still makes sense, and I convince myself that I am still making a difference; I think I matter in my school. I assume that I matter in my professional community; but I know I still matter in my classroom. That space in which I spend eight, ten, or sometimes more hours of my day is still a fun and interesting place for me. My students seem to like the lessons, they learn and grow, and some even choose to come back for more fun and learning after school. So I continue.

This weekend I will spend a large portion of my time on the necessary academic matters: planning lessons, grading papers, and producing materials. I will also spend a good portion of my time on extra-curricular activities: an active Latin Club, with its activities, fund raisers, convention, and certamen teams. Reluctantly though, I find myself spending more and more of my time trying to meet the requirements of the school, district, and state administrations in trying to prove that I am an effective teacher and that my students are actually progressing. This proof comes in the form of specified assessments, now moving into the realm of common and shared tests and exams, the collection of data in each child in a variety of modes, and the creation of artifacts to illustrated quickly and easily to all who care to look the meaning of it all. This is what makes me tired. All else I do out of love and because I have to meet my own expectations.

Fratres Sororesque

Last night orientation for freshmen and other new students was held at my school. This is always a positive, warm and fuzzy evening where everyone meets and greets full of anticipation for new experiences. The new students are excited, and more than a little nervous, about coming to a new school, in this, the "big high school."

I was surprised at the number of siblings of current and former students I will be teaching this year. For a couple of families, I will be teaching three of their children, and in three of those classes I will have siblings in the same room! I can only imagine the conversations around the dinner table on some nights: "Mr. Keith, blah blah blah, and then he blah blah blahed! We all blah blah blahed and rolled our eyes!"

In my 26 year career, I have, of course, taught numerous siblings and, indeed, whole families. This past year marked the end of a family of five! A mom of a graduated senior from last year remarked last night, "And now you've got me for eight more years!" Her daughter was entering into Latin II and her youngest was waiting in the back of the room. Bring 'em on!

For those families where I teach multiple children, it becomes a source of confirmation that I must be doing something right if they continue to loan me their children for the school year and their entire high school careers.

Good Endings Come from Good Beginnings

We had our first meeting of Latin Club officers yesterday, a full week before the start of school on September 3. We met at the local Starbucks after the first teacher workday. All members were present and more than enthusiastic for the beginning of another school year!

While we had already done some pre-planning in the spring, yesterday's meeting provided an opportunity to review the schedule of activities through the end of September and to begin to flesh out some details. We plan to hit the ground running, so to speak, at Freshman Orientation tomorrow night and embark on a busy and fun combination of academic, entertaining, and social events.

So why is this important? Why did seven Latin students come to meet with their Latin teacher when summer is still calling their name (and summer assignments linger over their heads)? The answer is simple. The enthusiasm and commitment shown by these student leaders transfer to the classroom. Experiences in Latin Club add to experiences in Latin. Not only is Latin Club an outlet for fun and social interaction, but it provides well-rounded opportunity for students to grow and interact. The camaraderie alone is invaluable!

Organizing and supervising an active Latin Club is one of the best investments of time and attention a teacher can make for the promotion of the study of Latin. Students take a look a what we do, and how much fun and success we have while doing it, and say, "Hey! I want to be a part of that!"

It looks like it's going to be a great year!

A Calming Rattle

On August 23, 2011, at 1:51 p.m., a very rare thing happened. There was a rumble, a small rattle, and then the earth shook for what seemed like 30 seconds. A 5.8 magnitude earthquake, the strongest in Virginia since 1897, was felt from Georgia to Canada. This was such a thrilling, exciting, and frightening event because "we don't get earthquakes like this on the East Coast." The epicenter was located about thirty miles to the southwest near a very small town named Mineral in Louisa County. I understand that folks in California and elsewhere around the planet are laughing at us for our reactions, but we can deal with that.

It was the day before students were to report for school, and I was sitting at my desk and working on a Powerpoint presentation when things began to rumble. At first I (and others) thought that students were running down the hall, an activity that sometimes happens during inclement weather and the cross country team needs to practice (this didn't make sense since it was a bright, sunny day outside). When the rumble continued and worsened, I realized that this was actually an earthquake. Wow! So that's what one feels like! I counted it as an experience.

I poked my head out my classroom door and confirmed with others that what had just happened had been real. After making a few calls on my cell phone (Surprisingly I was able to get through to most of my destinations), I turned on the TV for news and sat back down to work. A short while later the principal came over the intercom and announced that school was to be closed and we had to leave the building. The structure needed to be checked for damages, so this move made sense.

The first day of school was canceled the next day because some buildings, including our own, had suffered light damage, mostly cosmetic, and needed to be reinspected and repaired. Teachers were allowed to report the next day, and since I still had work to do before the students arrived, I took advantage of this opportunity. The only disturbance to my classroom was a sun catcher nick-knack that had fallen out of the window and cracked. It IS a depiction of a Roman ruin after all, so just some character added to the image there. Some books that had been tilted to the right in my bookshelves were now leaning to the left. The most interesting devastation, though, shown in the photograph above, is the toppling of the Golden Bubo on the shelf next my desk. The trinket is the image of owl, the bird sacred to Athena, the goddess of wisdom. The Romans would probably consider this an omen. Imagine it! The representation of wisdom falling on its face the day before the start of school! What to do? How to react? After contemplation, I've decided to take matters into my own hands and stand the statuette back on its foundation. This is an easy enough task, to be sure, but I have noticed that the image of the owl is top-heavy, with a supporting base smaller than it could be. After some contemplation, though, I think this is appropriate. The foundation of wisdom may be small, but the embodiment of wisdom is full and well wrought. How fitting that we are called upon from time to time to pick up our wisdom, dust it off, and put it back into place!

What is the outcome of all this excitement at the beginning of the school year? The normal butterflies experienced by this teacher (who, by the way, is entering his 25th year and still gets opening-day jitters) flitted away. The shaking of the earth, causing a fright to millions on the Eastern seaboard, puts everything into perspective. The ground may move, but the school remains and is safe. Come inside, boys and girls, and let's dust off some of our wisdom.

Outfitting the Classroom

I went into school this morning and began work on recreating my classroom. At the end of every school year we are required to pack everything up and move it out. This is a good thing because it requires that I sort through the flotsam that accumulates during the year, and it allows the custodians to clean, wax the floors, and make any necessary repairs.

The first order of business is to find the proper placement for the teacher's desk, the large table in the room, the students' desks, the shelves, filing cabinet, etc. Every year I call upon my inner sense of feng shui and try to find an arrangement that works. I think I have come up with a workable plan... for the moment!

While unpacking, I came across those things I have found indispensable (to me!) for running an organized and effective classroom and I want to pass along my suggestions to any newbies and veterans (in no particular order):

• A Good English Language Dictionary with etymological information. Believe it or not, this is the very first thing I purchased for my classroom 23 years ago. I have often referred to my Webster's Collegiate Dictionary when questions of word meaning, origin, usage, or the correct plurals, have come up in class. I often refer students to this necessary reference and even show them how to use it correctly.
• A Class Set of English-Latin/Latin-English Dictionaries. I use Traupman's lexicon and these have held up admirably. Not only do they come in handy when we are working on translations (both directions), but they are also good for comparing vocabulary items, finding correct principal parts, and teaching the students how to use a dictionary effectively.
• A Good Latin Grammar. This goes without saying, doesn't it? Actually I have an ancient, tattered paperback version Allen & Greenough's New Latin Grammar that has become almost unusable. It is held together with several rubber bands and I believe some pages are missing. It is definitely time to find another one of these most important references.
• As Many Maps of the Ancient World/Whole World as you can stand, or have space for. I have a fairly new set of overlapping maps which are mounted on the wall and roll up like a movie screen -- these are often in the unrolled mode. I also have mounted on my walls at least two maps of Italy, three maps of the Roman Empire, and one of the city of Rome. I love maps; I teach maps; and I use maps almost everyday.
• A Full Change of Clothes. This is not something I use very often, but you never know when you will make a spill, tear or snag an item, break up a fight, or run into any countless situations.
• A Cozy Sweater or Sweatshirt. This is necessary for those chilly days (usually in the winter) when the air system just isn't up to speed... and this happens enough to make this a nice-to-have item.
• Paper Towels and Cleanser in a spray bottle. This is useful for general classroom cleaning, but more useful for the students' desks, tables, and floor for food, drinks, doodling, and dirt from a variety of sources. Don't be hesitant to direct the student to the closet so that he can take care of his graffito or latte!
• Tissues. There is no way to function without them! There are allergies in the fall and the spring and colds (and worse) in the winter. I have found that if I offer extra credit at the beginning of the year for new boxes of tissues decorated by the student in a classical manner, I have more than enough for the school year. Hint: Don't put the box of tissues on your desk -- that way, the students bring the germs right to your nest. Instead, put the box in the front of the room, somewhere near the pencil sharpener.
• An Extension Cord -- the longer, the better. There will always be that mobile projector, overhead projector, CD player, (insert electronic or electric item of your choice here), whose cord just doesn't reach the nearest plug.
• Band-Aids. Keeping a supply of these on hand makes for a quick and easy solution to minor problems which always arise, and also cuts down on those lengthy student trips to the nurse's office. In a pinch, tissues and tape will work, and they come with a smile, snicker, or eye-roll!
• Antiseptic Wipes/Wet Wipes. It is always handy to be able to clean up messes and face other issues such as, "I still have ketchup on my hands, arms, face, knees, etc. from lunch, can I go to the bathroom?"
• A Good Set of Speakers for the computer, i-pod, CD player. Too often I have found a neat presentation online, only to have the students strain to hear it.
• Pencils and Paper. I know that the students are supposed to have these items on hand, but it is so much easier to direct them to the store in the front of the room than to argue with a student who knows better but just isn't prepared, for whatever reason. I buy a new pack of pencils at the beginning of the year but add to the supply everyday as I walk down the rows of desks or down the hallway. Also, paper can be had for free when the lockers are cleaned out at the end of the year.
• Arts and Crafts Supplies. After 23 years, I have quite a collection. My supply of crayons, markers, scissors, glue, ribbon, string, paper, etc., etc., etc., began in what I called (from the hit, children's TV show) "The Barney Bag," which then grew into "The Barney Box," and now exists as "The Barney Cart." Roll it out and let the students get to work!

New for me this year will be one of those dust bins with a handle and a short broom. All too often there will be scraps from crafts, paper, trash, M & M's, etc. on the floor and it needs to be cleaned up. This type of garbage is not the responsibility of the custodian, particularly after a spirited Latin Club meeting or party. Don't get me wrong, though, I stress strongly to my students that it is their responsibility to clean up their messes, but there really is no way to run an active, busy classroom without generating some residue.
Most of the items mentioned on this list are my own possessions, gathered from teaching for over two decades. My suggestions to the rookies out there is to beg, borrow, or buy these (and other items) over time. Most are for convenience, many for effectiveness, and some are absolute necessities.

The Kalends of August: Time for Reinventing the Wheel

August has arrived, and, since this is so, I must turn my attention to things academic and scholastic. The first teacher work day is Wednesday, August 18th, and the students report on Tuesday, the 24th. Being an orderly and (at times) obsessive-compulsive person, these odd days for starting seem a bit inauspicious.

I want to take a good look at my syllabi (this plural also bothers me a bit... but "syllabuses" just doesn't work for me either) and make sure that what's on the page reflects what and how I want to teach. Many times in the past I have just updated the ones from the year before. It is very easy to just fall into a pattern and not make adjustments because it makes for more work. This bad habit brings to mind the image of an aged professor, being a fixture on campus, showing up for class with his yellowed and scribbled notes he cribbed together twenty-five years earlier. This class may have been interesting and effective a quarter-century before, but now it is old, tired, and a complete bear for the students to sit through. Teachers should/must make adjustments to their material, content, and delivery up to the moment of delivery and (often) moments afterwards.

The changes I will make will be based upon reflection and review of what worked and what didn't from the year before. I plan to take a look at final grades, the material we covered (and did not cover), and, at least for Latin III and above, the potential roster. I won't receive the actual lists until a day or two before the start of class, but I have an idea of who will be in those classes and what things they know and how they know them. Unfortunately, Latin I and, for the most part, Latin II are always unknown entities because most of the students are new. Moreover, I have found that I really can't get a feel for what type of language students I have for Latin I until later in October. Unfortunately, beginning students usually don't begin to show signs of floundering until that later date. I want to be able to catch signs of them struggling before then, though. This I must ponder.

Reading the English on the New AP Latin Exam

Since the recent announcement of the changes to the curriculum in the new AP Latin exam, I have been pondering the required readings. For Vergil we are returning to the old curriculum of selections from Books 1, 2, 4, and 6; gone are the tedious selections about the hand-to-hand combat between Aeneas and Turnus in Books 10 and 12. I never really liked those passages at the end, but that could be due more to the tiresome forced march through the previous 1,500 lines than the actual content.

I am intrigued, though, with the inclusion of being responsible for the content in English for Books 8 and 12. I have long enjoyed they the episode where Aeneas arrives at Pallanteum and Evander tells him the stories associated with archaic Rome. The presentation and description of the shield are also fascinating and seems to fit nicely with the themes of history, values, leadership, and the relationship between the human and the divine. The content of Book 12 provides a good cap for the story as Aeneas reaches his goal which seemed so out of his reach at the beginning of the story.

I am a bit stumped, though, with the inclusion of Book 7 in English for Caesar's De Bello Gallico. While it is true that this book handles in large part the conflict between Caesar and Vercingetorix, it has been added to the curriculum for its content and contribution to the story in English and not for its Latinity.

What we, as teachers, need to know from the College Board is how much importance will be given to knowing the content of the works as literature instead of knowing how to read, translate, and understand the assigned Latin passages? Although knowing the stories in English has always been important for the AP Vergil exam, now that we have (again) a combination exam, why has importance been given to what the students will read in translation? Not only will we have to provide translations (for loan or for purchase) for the Aeneid, but now also for Caesar. Are there good translations out there? I will have to find out.

What About Facebook?

There's an interesting article on teachers, students, and their relationships on Facebook. All teachers should take a moment and read. As a rule, I do not "friend" students until graduation day. That way there is no notion of anything inappropriate. As teachers, just like Caesar's wife, we must be above reproach.

Digging Up A Vocabulary List

I was asked by my sister-in-law to provide a simple list of Latin words to help her young daughter learn vocabulary and reading. I thought such a list would be easy to find and I put the task off until the last minute. When I began my search in Google, I quickly discovered that there are any number of specialized lists, but there really isn't a generic list of basic vocabulary for someone who is not (at the moment) interested in learning Latin. I finally settled on the "First Latin Book Beginners Vocabulary" list from http://www.textkit.com/. There is a good mix of nouns, verbs, adjectives, and such with, most importantly, the English meanings. I printed out this hefty list (amounting to four pages) and felt that was a decent place to start.

My search did recall to my memory an outstanding book, The Usborne First Thousand Words in Latin, which I hope to find in the neighborhood bookstore when we visit. This would certainly be much more appropriate for my niece's purpose.

In any case, I do plan to warn my sister-in-law that learning lists of vocabulary words is not the same as learning the language. While the vocabulary words are the building blocks, one cannot merely stack them randomly and call it a wall. Further, forcing the memorization of lists of words no more constitutes the learning of language than does committing to memory the numbers zero through nine and calling it mathematics.

The New AP Latin Curriculum

The big news at this year's ACL Institute was the new AP Latin curriculum for the May 2013 exam. This summer's announcement brought some relief to those who were bewailing the Vergil-Caesar combination, particularly after some suggestions were given for teaching by theme.

The new requirements for Vergil's Aeneid (rather, the pared-down list) are:

• Book 1: lines 1-209, 418-440, 494-578
• Book 2: lines 40-56, 201-249, 268-297, 559-620
• Book 4: lines 160-218, 259-361, 659-705
• Book 6: lines 295-332, 384-425, 450-476, 847-899

The mention was made that this selection of lines was made with much soul-searching, tears, and regret. More regrettable, though, is the announcement that the student is required to read only Books 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 12. Why not the whole Aeneid? I may still require that the student read the entire work in order to completely appreciate this important piece of literature. I'm intrigued by the inclusion of Book 8.

The required lines for Caesar's Bellum Gallicum are:

• Book 1: chapters 1-7
• Book 4: chapters 24-35 and the first sentence of chapter 36
• Book 5: chapters 24-48
• Book 6: chapters 13-20

The required reading in English is the entirety of Books 1, 6, and 7.

I plan to take a much closer look at these lines later in the summer.

I am pleased, though, with the suggestion of themes for this new combination of authors. I was initially disappointed, maybe even let down, with the announcement of Caesar as the author who would be paired with the vates, but these suggestions are exciting:

• literary genre and style
• war and empire
• view of non-Romans
• history and memory
• Roman values
• leadership
• human beings and the divine

I am most interested in the last four items of the list, particularly Roman values and the relationship between humans and the gods. As I become more familiar with these lines, I will be able to make a better stab of their application.

I am hoping that there are good textbooks produced to make this combination of authors interesting and exciting. I'd write my own, bu there are other things to do.

"My Latin Teacher is a Scrooge!"

The last day of school before Winter Break was Friday, December 18. At the beginning of the last block of the day, I had a student, with contempt in her voice, ask very loudly, "How come we're the only foreign language class not watching a movie?" To be honest, the idea of a movie had not even entered my mind.

My plans for the class included a review and quiz on the comparison of adjectives, practice with participles, and then a group-effort translation on a neat story involving a werewolf. Werewolves are the "in" beastie right now!

I do know for a fact that a couple of my colleagues were showing a Christmas-themed movie in the target language as an "extended listening exercise." They have that option and that resource. Good for them.

My thoughts were to bring closure to the regular comparison of adjectives and continue to recognize and translate participles in context. The translation of the story was a timely and interesting exercise and provided us with the opportunity to see both comparative and superlative adjectives and participles in context.

I had a plan and I carried it out. In my mind, the students had made an effort to be in school and come to class (the entire class was present!), and I wanted to make their time worthwhile. Oh yeah, my assignment over break was to place the textbook and the notebook in the locker and to enjoy the vacation. After all, it's a break, right?

Saxum Volvens: Keeping Up the Momentum

We return to school tomorrow after a five days away; before that we had only a two-day week. Needless to say, the students will not be their sharpest when they come into the classroom. What to do?

Keeping up momentum in the classroom is very important, if the teacher wishes to keep the students learning and the material flowing along. The best way to push that stone on which moss is beginning to grow is the catch their attention with something interesting and then ease into a review of the last subject covered. Then slip something new and tie the two together.

My plan? I found a couple interesting clips from YouTube/eClassics... we'll start there.

As a general rule, I do not give homework over breaks from school. I know from experience as a teacher and a parent that many other teachers don't feel this way and a five-day break from school is the perfect time to assign essays and reading and worksheets and... Guess what, most of it doesn't even make it out of the backpack until the evening before the big return. What kind of quality work does that promote? At that point, the notion of learning anything is gone and the need to complete the letter, but not the intent, of the assignments take center stage.

This time of year does create issues with momentum. Fall Break, i.e., Thanksgiving, is over and Winter Break, viz. Christmas and the Holidays, will soon be upon us. There will be many a distraction in the next three weeks, then a two-week break, then wintry weather, then exams, then wintry weather... I wonder if Sisyphus is looking for a replacement soon?

Missing the Mark

The first marking period has now come and gone. Report cards have been distributed, and students' abilities, interests, and efforts are now coming into focus for many parents. For those students who are new to high school, the sorting now begins.

I have some of the best averages ever for students in Latin I and Latin II. Their scores are solid and the results of their preparation is obvious. I even have one student whose work is practically impeccable. I didn't realize it until today, but she has scored a 100 (or better) on every single assignment. Wow! She makes me proud.

What is disturbing, though, are those students who receive a printout of their grades and they are surprised or upset that their averages are so low. When questioned as to why they received a 21 on the test or a 45 on the quiz, they readily admit that they did not study. More than once. Often. They don't write down their assignments. They don't take their books home. They don't study for their quizzes. They don't prepare their translations. Why, then, do they think that they should receive a higher grade? In what class are they receiving good grades for next to no effort?

After every marking period, I announce to my students, "If you're happy with your grade, keep on doing what you're doing. If you're not happy with your grade, you need to make some adjustments." Sometimes there are adjustments, and sometimes they continue to be shocked.

Vigilium

All Hallow's Eve has come and gone, and here I sit in the early morning. The time will fall back soon, so I will get an extra hour of sleep in there anyway. I have my playlist from iTunes running in the background (the latest album from Steve Perry) and I have been searching the various blogs related to classics, teaching, and other such things. I then remembered I had a blog...

My last post heralded my decision to teach Cicero's First Oration Against Catiline this year and I do not regret the decision. Reading, translating, and understanding Cicero requires much from a Latin student, and he has certainly provided that. Most students have responded well, and we are slogging our way through. I have had to jump through portions of the text, though, in order to keep it interesting and moving along. I have plans to stick with my tribute to Latin prose and teach some letters from Pliny the Younger next. He's always fun.

The class reading Cicero is moving quite slowly, though, because it is combined with AP Vergil... yeah, that's right, I'm teaching Cicero and Vergil in the same classroom at (roughly) the same time. Things are working fairly well, but this is, by no means, the best way to do things. My Vergil students are moving slowly, too, but the other alternative was for me to not teach them at all.

The way my class works is that it meets on the block during which the lunch shifts operate. I give my full attention to my Cicero students for the first half-hour while my Vergil students eat lunch. During the next hour both sets of students work on reviewing particular points of Latin grammar or syntax, sight translating, or similar cooperative work. When the Cicero students go to lunch, I teach the Vergil students for half an hour. Yeah, that means I don't eat lunch, but that is survivable.

My frustration is increasing lately because I am realizing that I cannot teach what I want to teach in the way I want to teach it because of my workload. I have five preparations spread through six classes which meet every other day. I am barely keeping my head above water and, occasionally, I do go under and claw my way back to the surface gasping and sputtering. I've always called this my grand juggling act -- I can almost keep all the balls in the air but don't expect me to do anything fancy with them. Sometimes I drop the some of the balls, but I pick them up and keep tossing.