View Content #26240

From https://eidolon.pub/my-kind-of-circus-4729e9f8d5d7

Heather Galante has written a beautiful essay about her first four years of teaching middle school Latin following earning her PhD. She writes, "Although I may have initially felt that academia and middle school teaching were disparate and disconnected parts of my story, I now see that they are harmonious. On one end, the experience of teaching middle school has brought out the best Latinist in me. I am learning how to harness the excitement of middle school students and their willingness to explore, and for the first time in a long time, I find myself asking questions and taking risks. How can my teaching be more inclusive? What can I learn about the non-elite and how can I represent that in the classroom? How can I take this lesson out of the textbook/classroom/SMARTboard?

"...At the same time, the longer I teach, the more I am able to recognize and tap into the gifts of my PhD. Some are obvious, and others less so. When I want to give more context for the theme of a chapter in our textbook, I know how to go about doing the research. Much of the information out there for middle grades is watered down, and I have found that my students want the “real stuff,” whether that involves throwing up an adapted passage from Pliny to enlighten their study of ancient medicine or synthesizing a series of articles on wild animals and hunting. Many of my 8th graders, and a good number of 6th and 7th graders, reject oversimplified stories as “cute.” They know the world can be a tough place, and they are willing and ready to engage with the less savory aspects of Roman culture."

Read the full essay at https://eidolon.pub/my-kind-of-circus-4729e9f8d5d7