Well, Gail means “joyful,” and the origin is Hebrew (King David’s wife was named Abigail). Zdilla translates from Slovakian into English as “clay soup bowl,” so I am a joyful soup bowl. :)
If you haven’t figured it out already, I’m pretty tired and a bit punchy after this first week of the spring semester. Curious about why I’m so exhausted? No? Too bad, I’m going to tell you about my life anyway…
Currently, I’m teaching EDCI 309 Reading in Middle and Secondary Schools at Purdue University. The one section of the course meets for four hours twice a week for six weeks (you do the math), and the other section meets the entire semester on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3-4:15 p.m. While I do spend quite a bit of time preparing lessons/activities for my classes and giving my students feedback, I truly have a lot of fun with this course and really enjoy helping prepare future teachers. Just a side note—I am eternally indebted to my mentor, Jeanne, who trained me in the ways of the literacy masters.
Before moving to Indiana, I taught tenth grade college prep. English and journalism (to 10th, 11th and 12th graders) at Hillsborough High School in central New Jersey. During this time, I enjoyed advising the school newspaper (and being a member of the faculty dance team, but that’s a story for another time). Some of my former students are now editing the school newspapers for Penn State and New York University. It’s truly incredible to see what impact you can have as an educator!
Onto another topic…I’m pulling one of my YA lit. books blindly off my bookshelf as I type. Okay, here we go. I have read this one, Speak (by Laurie Halse Anderson), but it’s been awhile. If I remember correctly, Speak is about a ninth grade girl who feels like an outcast. Her friends have abandoned her, and a traumatic experience that occurred over the summer causes her to basically turn inward and lose the ability to “speak” to anyone. I like how this was written as a first-person narration—really drew me into this girl’s pain. Didn’t like the plot twist at the end though—too contrived for me.
I enjoyed reconnecting with some of you on Tuesday and meeting others!
Until next week,
Gail
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