Day One: To tell the story

At the end of To Kill a Mockingbird, Scout stands on Boo's porch and looks all around the neighborhood. She can finally see everything from his perspective. I've read that scene more times than I could even count, usually to a room of hard-to-impress eighth graders who didn't expect to like To Kill a Mockingbird in the first place. And what I've found from all of those readings and wandering around the room through desks and chairs and messed up hair and Ugg boots is that most kids actually like To Kill a Mockingbird even though it's an old book that they didn't expect to enjoy. And another thing I've found is that as we read the book, we start to feel like family even in the tough classes. Harper Lee did that somehow (and I don't believe the conspiracy that Truman Capote deserves the credit). To Kill a Mockingbird is Harper's. Her words. Her stories. Her characters. Our friends.

The first time I taught To Kill a Mockingbird, I was a teacher in a town that had a few things in common with Maycomb--Briggsdale, Colorado. I'm thinking mostly of the town's size and the way everyone knew everyone else. My focus on the teaching was to get us through the book. I loved the book, but I wasn't really trying to get students to love the book. I was trying to get students to know the book. It went ok, but my students didn't really see the beauty of the book. Not most of them anyway.

The second time I taught To Kill a Mockingbird, I was teaching sophomores in Kennewick, WA. I regret this time the most. I had a class that I had a really hard time connecting with, and I didn't really care if they loved the book. I was surviving in that class every day, and I was just trying to win, to hold these kids accountable for something. They really couldn't have cared less about the book. I'm pretty sure most of them probably couldn't even give a decent summary of what happened.

I taught the book again in Greeley, Colorado, and I learned something pretty big--love the book, and show the kids you love them through the book. It's not something that requires a teacher's certificate, and I'm pretty sure Common Core doesn't give a rip about it, but that's what I did. And I made headway. I remember shining character names up on the whiteboard I used as my projector screen before we read chapter 10 (the chapter where Atticus shoots the dog). Then, I handed out a dart gun and had kids shoot the screen to get their reading parts for the day. As I excitedly ripped the plastic off the dart gun, a few students eyed me with extreme shock, "Hoffert, you can't get a gun out in school!! Kids have gotten expelled for as much." I hadn't even thought of that. I was just thinking of Atticus. I was kind of ashamed about my decision to pass out a gun, but I was also kind of proud because I really believed that I had at least given them one thing to remember.

Then, I went on to Milliken, Colorado to teach middle school, and that's when I finally brought my A-game to teaching To Kill a Mockingbird. I just decided to tell stories and explain context and get excited about the miracle that is that book, and you know what?! It worked. I believe that most of my students cared about To Kill a Mockingbird, and not just a little. They let Harper Lee tug at their hearts. They saw that everyone had a story, even the small characters that seemed insignificant to the story. And I think that through her masterful design of characters, Harper Lee showed my eighth graders that each student in the classroom also had a story.

As I look ahead to this writing challenge, that's my goal. I would like to create something that helps readers see those around them more completely. I want to write true characters and true experiences, and I want the message that we're all more the same than we are different to come roaring through the pages, and I don't care if it sounds pie-in-the-sky or cliche. It's what I think. One of the jobs of literature is to open our minds and hearts. I'd like to figure out how I can write something that does that.