Confessions

A confession without apology.

And a promise to all my students.

I. Am. Not. an English Teacher. I admit it. I am not ashamed. I teach language arts. The art of communication, self exploration, voice. The art of self expression, imagination, action.

I don't care about dangling participles (there I said it), and I won't waste your time talking about them. If you want to learn that and that is how you think best, there is English Grammar 101 and it has it's place. But someone else will be teaching you.

Because I want to teach you to feel so deeply you are moved to think, moved to empathy, moved to anger, moved to action.

I want to teach you to put voice and words to your thoughts that you might connect with another human being, sway the world in your direction, stand up for injustices, declare love and joy, and understand yourself better.

Language arts is about thinking critically, reading the world, and jumping into imagination with both hands waving in the air. It is grounding yourself in reality and seeing a host of possibilities. Then finding the right words, putting them in the right order, and presenting them to the best audience.

Knowing a gerund will not change the world. You must know genre, audience, and purpose. You must put voice to idea. You must risk thinking and feeling and doing.

You must risk losing yourself in a novel: weeping in front of strangers when the protagonist dies in the arms of his lover, squealing out loud when antagonist narrowly escapes the car crash or staying up all night to see how the fantasy world plays out.

Language arts is reading non-fiction to learn what you don't know, going deeper than the surface and questioning what you read, the status quo, authority.

Language arts is putting it all on the line: heart, mind, and knowledge.

Do you want to be ready for a test or do you want to be ready for life?

Schools fear it.

Students crave it.

The Millar Experience.

There is nothing common about it!