Earlier this school year, I introduced my eighth graders to “Victory”, a poem by Sherman Alexie. I asked six volunteers to read it aloud to the rest of the class (one student per quatrain), and then I asked them to read it to themselves while answering one question in their notebook: Why does the father weep? A large number of students thought that the father wept because he was ashamed of and disappointed in his son’s actions, whereas a smaller number of students were able to correctly recognize that the father wept out of shame for his own inability to provide the best for his son.
I then briefly lectured to my students about the concept of identity, which had been a topic of ongoing conversations in my classroom since we read The Outsiders. My students were first reminded that part of our identity is written without our say: who are parents and family are, how and where we are raised, and everything that comes with the ripple effect from those circumstances and decisions. None of us can alter the exposition of our lives.
But then I present the most encouraging news of all: the story of their lives is still largely unwritten. Just like Ponyboy Curtis and the boy from the poem, my 13 and 14-year-old students are realizing that the biggest part of their identities is going to be shaped by their own decisions going forward. No matter their beginnings, all of my students are now old enough and capable enough to make decisions that can put them in a position to be happy, maximize their talents, and achieve their own victories as they do their best to write the rest of their life story.
Further Reading:
My name is Nate Harris, and I am in my seventh year of teaching English Language Arts at the middle school level. I am excited and humbled to be a part of a collection of inspirational ideas. I have not had any social media since my senior year of college, but I can be reached at nharris@cbsd.org.
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