Pondering Story Ideas

By teacherayala · Apr 27, 2011 · 369 · 5
  1. Today my mind kept drifting to potential story ideas.

    I thought about a young pre-teen girl who was forced to do various therapies with her psychologist mother during her growing up years. I imagined a dialogue in which she was using her puppet to try and explain to her mom exactly why she doesn't wish to have a conversation with her about her feelings over her growing breasts and her new training bra.

    Then my struggling student from the previous post skipped my class today, worrying the crap out of me. Turned out she was supposedly in the nurse's office which the nurse couldn't fully confirm her presence for the entire hour and a half of my class. Obsessed for a bit, wondering if she's avoiding me. Then felt guilty because I had to tell the counselors and the principal, who subjected her to a bit of an interrogation, however gently done. Thought about writing a story about a teacher who knows about a student issue that leads to a suicide eventually.
    Imagined some good dialogue based on research I'd done.

    Then I went back to the story that I'm working on--the story that is STILL at a standstill because I can't find anyone who knows about political campaigns enough to answer my questions about it so that I can write in a way that makes sense!! I'm really determined not to let this one go. There must be someone out there of my acquaintance who has another friend who has another acquaintance who can messenger me on Facebook one day and stay in touch for brief messages and ideas as I write in the details.

    Then I taught Julius Caesar and wondered whatever happened to the daughter of the crazed barbarian Gaul that he supposedly captured after killing her father and mother. Did he take her all to Rome? Was she as crazy, war-bred as her father? Thought it would make a great romance novel. Except that Julius Caesar is destined for a stabbing at the Senate on the Ides of March. Other than that.

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  1. LaGs
    It's weird but it never really occurred to me how teachers get involved in the lives of students in this way, and worry and think about them during the day. If you don't mind my asking would you be like this with a lot of your students, or is the girl you are referring to a kind of exception? I always thought of a teacher as kind of detached from student's lives, worrying only about what goes on in the confines of the school day. Not only is it reassuring, but I'm actually kind of intrigued seeing the views of a teacher put down in this way!
    LaGs, Apr 27, 2011
  2. teacherayala
    There's only a certain level of involvement I'm allowed to have on a professional level--and depending on the school, it's important to have boundaries. But I like a school in which I can develop some kind of relationship with my students. I love finding out that maybe the kid who really struggles with writing in my class ends up being a total Ju-Jitsu expert! Crazy stuff! I love knowing little nuggets like that. I don't delve into their personal lives in an intrusive way. Some things are none of my business. I don't add students to my Facebook; that's just asking for trouble. But I do try to convey to them that I see them as a whole person--not just judge them based on their grades in my English class.

    Maybe I worry about students a little more than most. If I am, I try not to single kids out who are struggling and just insert myself into situations on purpose, trying to get all into their business. Instead, I try to ask them about things I'm seeing and wait for them to get to the point where they're willing to talk to me about it. I try not to judge, and most things don't shock me. There are some thing, by law, that I have to report to a counselor, but I try to make sure the student always knows when I'm doing so. I do my best not to betray the trust of my students. However, I don't sit there and have conversations with them about sex and whether or not they should go for it or stuff like that. I wouldn't go partying with my students or get involved in a way that's unprofessional.

    The girl has been on my mind because of her special situation lately, but if I even have a student who has been getting some really bad grades, or a student who is depressed because I edited their creative writing, I worry about them. If I'm really concerned about something, I'll take them aside and talk to them about it. Today, for example, one of my best students was planning on leaving our school to attend elsewhere. I wanted to pull him aside and encourage him to get a portfolio together and told him that I'd write him a recommendation because he needs to pursue an Honors course for his junior and senior years, either AP or IB or something equivalent. I had been thinking about how I needed to pull him aside to tell him that for a while now...

    Anyhoo, my point is that you may have teachers like me who think/thought about you all the time but just never expressed it every minute, not wanting to freak you out. lol!
    teacherayala, Apr 27, 2011
  3. mugen shiyo
    wow...you would be surprised how much handling kids is like handling adults. in fact, you could say they are almost exactly the same- only aware of the fact that they are indeed older and shouldn't be treated as kids

    for the first comment, that is an awesome idea. the best writers and journalists keep a ring of contacts around them to keep them up to date with information and behind-the-scenes things to give their stories the depth and grit of reality. Tom Clancy is a famous one for that. Hid had things in his books that were so real-to-life (not to mention debatable confidential info) that people had to do an investigation on him. though now that i mention it out loud, i'm not sure if that was true or mere marketing hype :p

    the political process. i think it comes down to asking the right questions, though. asking google, to be more precise :) you can find anything on the web, and paying attention to live politics and historical ones will give you a pretty clear idea of the modern ones.

    i always wondered how a teacher handles 30 different students. i mean a good teacher. i once had done some voluntary tutoring and when you have just two kids having a problem in the classroom, its a load on you because you have to zip back and forth between them and the more time you spend on one, the less time you spend with the other, less mind the rest of the class. after that, i had a deeper respect for teachers. and from what i read, your part teacher, part psychiatrist, which must take a little toll on you. i can't imagine a better relief for all that then getting it all out in writing.
    mugen shiyo, Apr 27, 2011
  4. teacherayala
    @Mugen:
    so you think the first story scenario makes sense?
    I've done some google searching and learned a bit more about the organization of a campaign. However, I had some more specific questions and details that I think I'd need to talk to a live person about.

    As for teaching, it's an imperfect art. Or science. Or both. hehe! I don't think the majority of people realize how much work takes place behind the scenes in order to make sure that what takes place in the classroom actually works. The first year is always hell for every teacher coming out of college, and as to how much of a toll teaching takes on you, it depends on how much experience, planning, organization, creativity you have as well as the particular group of students you're working with. :)
    teacherayala, Apr 27, 2011
  5. mugen shiyo
    as a story, yeah, but as pure dialogue, i'm not sure if they will know it's a sock-puppet that's doing the talking. i like the idea though. it sounds like a drama, but it also sounds like a comedy when i think about it. i think it's a great idea. can i have it :p

    yeah, a live person is always better. maybe you can find one on facebook :) people love to chat.

    no, they definitely don't respect teachers here. well, in one state at least. just recently, there was a whole stink about a governor trying to dissolve teachers unions in Wisconsin because he thought they were over-payed under-workers riding around the street in golden palanquins, then it became this big media thing. (rolls eyes) you could clog a toilet with the crap the give you...

    seems like you got the creativity part down, though. are you the fun teacher? the fun one's i can remember were the ones that always thought of cool stuff for us to do besides just...yuck...learning :p
    mugen shiyo, Apr 28, 2011
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