Looking Back at the Last Two Years...

Happy Summer! It’s time to relax! I cannot wait to blog again; I have missed you!!

For those of you that are new here (and a big welcome to you!), my name is Lori Doerneman. I graduated from college a million years ago with a middle school education degree; I taught for five years at a fabulous little Catholic school in St. Louis, which I loved. 

When I had my first child I tried to keep teaching, but it became obvious that my heart was no longer in the classroom. 

I loved being a stay-at-home mom, but as we added more and more children, I was mystified by how difficult it was; no one pulled me aside and told me just how little sleep I’d get and how my precious babies would become screaming-at-everything-and-nothing toddlers. 

During that time frame I began to reach out to other moms through a letter writing ministry, sharing my what the heck is this thing called motherhood and how can I do it better? with them. As my family grew, I kept writing, which, to be honest, was how I processed the crazy and the chaos. It was also how I made peace with my own crazy and chaos, realizing that it was through all of the late nights and constant giving that God was growing me. (I love love love growth. I love getting better, don't you?)

Throughout the years, I kept writing to moms, sharing stories with them, like the time I found a frisbee on top of a tall dresser, full of urine. That particular bedroom was about eight steps away from the bathroom. Why would one of my sons decide to pee in a frisbee? And did he stand on the bed and gently urinate into that round receptacle (is gently urinating even possible?) or did he hold the frisbee down low, somehow pee with one hand and then lift the frisbee up onto the dresser without spilling? Or did he spill it everywhere?
Another time one of my sons didn’t like his church shoes, so instead of telling me about that, he peed in them. (Five sons = lots of urine stories.) Writing about those odd moments made me see the humor. And sharing kept me sane. In turn, I got letters back from moms, letters like the one I received from Anne, telling me how she walked in on her children throwing mini marshmallows up in the air and stomping on them with their snow boots (into the carpet) because they just wanted to make snow.

The Letter Writing Ministry was eventually replaced with blogging. To be honest, I thought I would just stay in that lane, writing to moms, helping us make sense of our changing lives. I never EVER thought I would go back into the classroom.

However, two years ago my husband and I wanted to make some serious changes to our home. We got the bid for the remodel and we had to face reality. We would have to wait. The next day—almost miraculously—I was asked to teach middle school English/Language Arts at our parish school for one year. At first I said NO WAY, I CANNOT TEACH, I DON’T WANT TO TEACH, but then I paused. Maybe I could do it for one year.

So. I went back into the classroom, and our contractor began working on our house, taking down a wall, closing up a door, and adding a sliding glass door. We also painted, added a new floor, bought some furniture. 

I have always loved my home, but it's now much more useable as a place to host our growing family. (We have grandchildren #4 and 5 coming soon!) 

Now, here’s the crazy part. I am going back next fall for a third year. Why? What would make me WANT to spend my days on purpose in a classroom with a bunch of middle school students? 

Well, for starters, Holy Spirit Catholic School in Goddard, KS, is small; there are only 30+ students in the entire middle school! Next, we have an amazing principal, Mr. Brandon Relph, and fantastic priest, Fr. Joe Eckberg. They understand me and my strengths/weaknesses. We work well together as a team. Plus the parents are extremely supportive and kind. I know many of them from my years as a parent with kids in the school, which is awesome. Parent Teacher Conferences are fun. 

Even with that amazing support, I was still petrified when I began teaching in August of 2022. I wondered if I would remember how to teach English. You can read more about that in this post, where I reflected on the first quarter.

However, as the months went by, I fell back in love with teaching. Think about this: I get to share books and my love of reading with middle schoolers. Some of my best moments happened when a non-reader became a reader, experiencing the wonder of being transported into a story. I am grateful that my principal has the vision to truly understand that if students have a place to read, a time to read and good books to read, then they will read.  

There is another reason that I love helping students fall in love with reading: as they immerse themselves in well-written sentences, they see/experience the craft of writing. The big goal—and perhaps the real reason I am staying in the classroom—is to help them become strong writers.  

I love writing. I love teaching writing. I love seeing the growth in their writing. It's the best thing ever.   

Side note: I thank Lisa Coyne, a wonderful friend of mine and fellow ELA teacher at a neighboring school, for introducing me to Don Killgallon’s method of sentence composing using mentor sentences. Oh my stars. This has impacted the students’ writing in massive ways. And it has been super fun. Basically, for you English teachers, instead of ONLY looking at grammar, Don Killgallon uses sentences from highly regarded writers to demonstrate each writing tool.

For instance, instead of learning about adverbial clauses from a grammar book, we look at sentences with fantastic adverbial clauses. We study them. We take them apart. We put them back together. Finally, they learn to imitate them. Pretty soon the ability to use adverbial clauses is like second nature to the students. It’s just another tool in their tool box. 

I use Don Killgallon’s mentor sentences because I want the students to become language acrobats, bending, flipping, cartwheeling all over the place, making their writing exciting and VARIED. NO MATTER WHERE THEY ARE WHEN THEY START, they all become stronger writers using mentor sentences. ALL.

The other amazingly cool thing about teaching English in 2024: Google Classroom, which is this platform where I assign a paper and students turn that paper in, but WE CAN BOTH SEE IT AT THE SAME TIME. This is absolutely life-changing and to be honest, life-giving.

How is it life-giving? Well, when a student turns in a paper, even if it is poorly written, it LOOKS GOOD. And students always have a hard time understanding that it was poorly written. (It's sort of like telling a new mom that her baby is ugly. She wouldn't understand those words because she knows her baby is perhaps the most beautiful baby ever created.)

So, as I watched the students giving birth and attaching to their first drafts, I decided to use Nancie Atwell’s editing approach. What this looks like: I am the editor. They turn in their first draft into Google Classroom (double spaced). I print it out. They read through it and mark it up, finding errors, yes, but also adding and revising. 

They turn it into me, and I read it quickly, making suggestions. I show them where they need to add more details. I hand their paper back to them. They work on it, revising it with our edits. They turn it into me again on Google Classroom. I print it out once more and hand it to them. They read it aloud (there are always students mumbling to themselves in the hallway) and find errors. It's hilarious watching them read their papers. "Mrs. Doerneman! Look what I did! Isn't that crazy?" Yes. And I'm glad they had the eyes to see it. They hand their marked-up paper to me. I look it over and make more suggestions.

​We do this multiple times, which allows them to realize, TRULY REALIZE, that writing is actually revising. ​

Once they have their final draft, they make it single spaced and pretty. I print it out and then—the best part—we sit TOGETHER and go over their paper. We grade it while we talk about it. I found that technique in the book Creating Cultures of Thinking by Ron Ritchhart. I love that approach because it promotes connection between the student and me, plus they get real-time feedback. (Instead of me taking home a stack of papers and a red pen.) I love love love their writing. I love it. 

And I get paid to do this. It’s amazing. 

Okay, I apologize if that was too long of an explanation, but I wanted to let you know in detail where I’ve been for the last two years, and why I have fallen in love with teaching.
 
In the fall I tried getting back into blogging, thinking I could easily teach and blog at the same time. What I learned: my brain has two settings: on or off. Going “all in” with teaching meant my intentions, energy and focus were on planning and delivering content to those twelve, thirteen and fourteen-year old brains. Every single day thirty or so middle schoolers’ worlds blend into mine, creating its own little ecosystem.

Yes, there are parts of teaching that I do not enjoy, such as the fact that I have to actually get out of bed, get make-up on and dress professionally. I think my husband Russ, who is still working from home, has probably gotten tired of me saying, "This is just so odd. I am going to work and you are home." 

I do wonder how long I will stay in the classroom, especially with the additional fun of grandbabies. David, my youngest, will be a sophomore in high school. We will be empty nesters (finally) in three years. Was this teaching gig merely a way to get my house remodel done? Or was it a gift to me at this stage of my life?

• Am I to keep blogging?
• What about my courses?
• How should I spend my next ten years?  

Those are big questions, and I have been slowly turning them over, presenting them to God the Father, asking Him to show me my path. I am not frantic; for now, I will enjoy the summer. Now, your turn. What has been happening in your life in the last few months or so? Where has life taken you in the past two years?

​Writing helps us make sense of where we are and where we are going. 

I'd love to hear from you.  
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