Rethinking Senior English

January 21, 2016

Day 206 as an Oklahoma Teacher

     There has been one question that I have pondered this year. Why aren't Comp I and Comp II classes offered at the high school level? I have at least twenty-five students who should have been in a college English class this year, but their schedules did not work out for them. I do have several students who take college classes at Cameron University, and ten students have taken both Comp I and Comp II. It's time to start rethinking the purpose of senior English. What are the reading and writing skills senior students should be able to do? What about the students who do not take the college path? What curriculum works best for them?
     I took a risk today; I sent an email to a couple of Cameron professors. I told them about my students who are missing out of the opportunities to take the Comp courses. I suggested that these courses should be offered at the high school. I even offered to teach these courses. I did receive a positive response from one of the professors. This idea has been discussed at Cameron. Offering these courses at the high school level is the direction we need to go for some of the students. If these courses are offered, this will open the door for other college classes to be offered.
     As I was thinking about this possibility, I came up with some issues that will have to be addressed, and plans will have to be made to make it work. How will these courses be offered? What are the problems with scheduling? Will there be block scheduling? Who will actually teach the course? What are the problems that could arise offering it at the high school? I hope this idea works out; I'll post updates when I know more information. 
     What about the students who are not college bound? I think a lot of repetition of reading and writing skills connected to career choices would be the best options. Vo-Tech students could write about what they are learning in their classes. Therefore, reading choices have to be connected to their career/work choices. Well, can you guess what I'll be working on this summer?