I am going to use this opportunity to share with Mr. Dwyer my
experiences of Ms. Mckenna and Mr. Good. The yaa’s and the naa’s, the do and the don’ts, what did and did not work may help him interpret an even balance and spur a new productivity among us. First I will begin with my walk down McKenna Hall of Fame. This woman inspired me by pushing me to my full potential. When I handed something in that I slacked on and just did enough to get by, she would know. She knew what was sub par; she would turn around and put it right back into my hands and sometimes not say a word or sometimes tell me, “you know what to fix.” Of course, she was always right. I did know what to fix. I knew I could do better, and so did she. In this sense, she drove me. She pushed me. Even when I put my soul into something, she just slightly poked me to reach out beyond the cliff. Her bag of props, lines of books, poetry flying across the room, and new opportunities were always enough to get me moving. We would not just write on our own, she would present writing exercises to get us moving. For example, we would pick a prop out of a bag and create a story from that item. But, by far my favorite was when she handed me an envelope, just a plain white envelope. The mystery was enclosed inside, but was mainly in the mind. It was an envelope filled with random words, which we used to create a poem. This poem was one of my all time favorite pieces. I preferred creating “The Ego,” the JDHS school magazine, instead of blogging. It meant more to our school, our community, and ourselves. We got to publish our work for others to read and it became a community read magazine. No one goes on the Internet and reads our blogs. Writing is so much more meaningful when we can share it with others. Also, the “trash n’ fashion show” must be reincarnated. Just because she is gone does not mean the traditions must disappear. Enough ranting on Mrs. Mckenna, I am going to move on to what Mr. Good brought to the classroom. He brought spirit, stories, and fun. He brought desire and motivation, and fast writes. This is how class should begin. We spend the first half hour either writing or reading on our own. It is based on quality vs. quantity. If we are on task and working we keep our participation points. If we are goofing off then we loose them, and we get rid of the dreaded point system. I am very opposed to the point system because to me it takes away meaning. It takes away the joy of writing and the love of just doing it for the literature and for self. Having these excessive amounts of points lingering over my head took away from my emotional experience and instead created a sense of urgency. Everything was about how many points were going to come out of it, or what I had to do to bring my grade up instead of just being about writing. My favorite part of creative writing has always been the fact that it wasn’t about grades or points. It was about interpreting human life, creating soul, and learning to better ourselves. This is what I miss from the McKenna grading system, the push that school is not all about grades. It is about engaging ourselves and learning. Grades are just a torture device that we created to make ourselves look better on paper. They do not measure true knowledge or success. It is all about how much we grow from point A to point B and what our true potential is. Did we catch up with it? I hope someday I will push that potential right out the window.
