Grades 10/12 Blogging at Schoolsville

Billy Collins, former U.S. poet laureate 

First of all, Schoolsville is the place where I'll post your "journal assignments." You must respond throughout the marking period as you are instructed "on the blog" at Schoolsville, but you MUST also turn in a printed copy of all of these journal assignments toward the end of each quarter for a major "grade." For each assignment, I strongly recommend that you type your response in a Word document and then copy and paste it into the blog response box. This keeps you organized and it protects you better in case your computer or the blog site crashes.

Also at Schoolsville, periodically I will give extra reading and homework assignments. Complete them as they are assigned. Make sure that before any test you read and remember the "READ ONLY" posts.

Does this all sound boring? I don't think so, and you won't, either, when you find yourself periodically checking in here for homework or to see if I'm "quizzing the chandelier" or "reprimanding the air."

You have to read Schoolsville (the poem) to understand those references. So do it this weekend. Follow this link to read the Billy Collins's poem, Schoolsville, the imaginary Poetry-town created by a retired teacher who finds it impossible to retire. This could be me in about 9 years (and counting).

Billy Collins is a former poet laureate of the United States. Once a title of great distinction (in countries like Great Britain), these days, a poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government to promote the genre of poetry. The poet laureate might be called upon to compose poems for state occasions and other government events, like the inauguration of a president.

Collins's poetry is on the humorous side. His fans call it realistic, clever, and accessible; his critics call it lightweight and shallow. Since I've chosen one of his poems to name my blog, I think you can guess on which side I stand.

Read on.