Please allow me to introduce myself. . .
This is your teacher.
Excerpt of interview from Seriously Kidding Journal, Vol. 37, May 2016
Name: Seth Kay
Bachelors Degree: University of Michigan-Flint
Major: United States History
Minor: British Literature
Masters Degree: Western Michigan University, Creative Writing (Fiction)
In our extended interview series about ordinary Americans, we sit down with many people and today we sit down with high school teacher Seth Kay. When we catch up with him, he is sitting on the dock just down the steps from his family's cabin stringing fishing line. His two youngest children are trying to break into his tackle box. The one year old boy looks like he has been eating dirt. The two year old girl is smacking the box with a reed and yelling "Fishing! Fishing!" His two sons, six and nine, are fighting over an inflatable mattress. He is dressed in a swimsuit, a long sleeved linen shirt, and sunglasses. From the looks of his hair, he just rolled out of bed, though it is three in the afternoon. He appears to be enjoying his summer off.
Name: Seth Kay
Bachelors Degree: University of Michigan-Flint
Major: United States History
Minor: British Literature
Masters Degree: Western Michigan University, Creative Writing (Fiction)
SKJ: You look like you’re enjoying summer.
SK: I am. Summers are a nice perk to the job.
SKJ: A lot of people think that people who become teachers do it so they can sit around pools and be lazy all summer.
SK: A lot of people are idiots.
SKJ: So you do work?
SK: In the summer, yes. I work on school curriculum, read school books, and work on my own novel. And take care of these two. He points to his boys who are now arguing over a squirt gun. And those two. He points to the two smaller children who are trying to push each other off the dock and squealing.
SKJ: Decent pay being teacher?
SK: Hardly. If you do the math, a babysitter making five bucks an hour per kid makes more than I do. By far.
SKJ: How did you become a teacher?
SK: By accident, I suppose. There was probably a girl involved. It didn't work out. On the other hand, my mother, a teacher herself, tried to warn me away from it, but like any good teenager I didn't listen. At one point, I wanted to be a firefighter, at another, a lawyer, and for a long time I wanted to be an architect. Originally though, I wanted to be the Pope. I told my parents that when I was five.
SKJ: The Pope?
SK: Yes. I was very impressed by his hats.
SKJ: When did you know when you definitely headed into teaching?
SK: When I walked into my classroom at Battle Creek Central in 1997. I was assigned to teach Debate and some hybrid beast of geography, government, a geography.
SKJ: Now that you've been doing it for awhile, do you still like it?
SK: I like the teaching part of teaching.
SKJ: Is there another part?
SK: Any part that involves talking with other adults.
SKJ: You don't like adults?
SK: A few I guess, but I got into teaching because I could help kids. Adults are too far gone. There's nothing that can done for them.
SKJ: What would you say is your teaching philosophy?
SK: Empower students to live beyond themselves, even if that means challenging authority in a productive and peaceful way.
SJK: Not a big fan of authority?
SK: Absolutely. One should never become an authority, at least not intentionally.
SKJ: So how does one unintentionally become an authority?
SK: By doing good, being good, and seeing beauty.
SKJ: That doesn't sound very original.
SK: The road not taken isn't a road.
Bachelors Degree: University of Michigan-Flint
Major: United States History
Minor: British Literature
Masters Degree: Western Michigan University, Creative Writing (Fiction)
In our extended interview series about ordinary Americans, we sit down with many people and today we sit down with high school teacher Seth Kay. When we catch up with him, he is sitting on the dock just down the steps from his family's cabin stringing fishing line. His two youngest children are trying to break into his tackle box. The one year old boy looks like he has been eating dirt. The two year old girl is smacking the box with a reed and yelling "Fishing! Fishing!" His two sons, six and nine, are fighting over an inflatable mattress. He is dressed in a swimsuit, a long sleeved linen shirt, and sunglasses. From the looks of his hair, he just rolled out of bed, though it is three in the afternoon. He appears to be enjoying his summer off.
Name: Seth Kay
Bachelors Degree: University of Michigan-Flint
Major: United States History
Minor: British Literature
Masters Degree: Western Michigan University, Creative Writing (Fiction)
SKJ: You look like you’re enjoying summer.
SK: I am. Summers are a nice perk to the job.
SKJ: A lot of people think that people who become teachers do it so they can sit around pools and be lazy all summer.
SK: A lot of people are idiots.
SKJ: So you do work?
SK: In the summer, yes. I work on school curriculum, read school books, and work on my own novel. And take care of these two. He points to his boys who are now arguing over a squirt gun. And those two. He points to the two smaller children who are trying to push each other off the dock and squealing.
SKJ: Decent pay being teacher?
SK: Hardly. If you do the math, a babysitter making five bucks an hour per kid makes more than I do. By far.
SKJ: How did you become a teacher?
SK: By accident, I suppose. There was probably a girl involved. It didn't work out. On the other hand, my mother, a teacher herself, tried to warn me away from it, but like any good teenager I didn't listen. At one point, I wanted to be a firefighter, at another, a lawyer, and for a long time I wanted to be an architect. Originally though, I wanted to be the Pope. I told my parents that when I was five.
SKJ: The Pope?
SK: Yes. I was very impressed by his hats.
SKJ: When did you know when you definitely headed into teaching?
SK: When I walked into my classroom at Battle Creek Central in 1997. I was assigned to teach Debate and some hybrid beast of geography, government, a geography.
SKJ: Now that you've been doing it for awhile, do you still like it?
SK: I like the teaching part of teaching.
SKJ: Is there another part?
SK: Any part that involves talking with other adults.
SKJ: You don't like adults?
SK: A few I guess, but I got into teaching because I could help kids. Adults are too far gone. There's nothing that can done for them.
SKJ: What would you say is your teaching philosophy?
SK: Empower students to live beyond themselves, even if that means challenging authority in a productive and peaceful way.
SJK: Not a big fan of authority?
SK: Absolutely. One should never become an authority, at least not intentionally.
SKJ: So how does one unintentionally become an authority?
SK: By doing good, being good, and seeing beauty.
SKJ: That doesn't sound very original.
SK: The road not taken isn't a road.
News Article Link: BCC's Seth Kay Still Sees the Power in Literature
My Professional BookshelfWrite Like This by Kelley Gallagher
180 Days by Kelley Gallagher and Penny Kittle Mechanically Inclined by Jeff Anderson Literature as Exploration by Louise Rosenblatt Critical Encounters in High School English by Deborah Appleman |
My Personal BookShelfThe Road by Cormac McCarthy
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway |
Links for Human Beings and Teachers
Poetry Magazine - the original poetry magazine! Incredible archives!
Polyphony H.S. - a super high-quality online magazine for and by teenagers. A great opportunity for student to publish
Teen Ink - another good opportunity for students to publish their work both in print
and online
Dead Air Space - thought provoking page from rock-n-roll's chief deconstructionists
Three Books - NPR's series asking authors about books they enjoyed
Ning - an online tool for class discussions
Nicenet - another online tool for class discussions
Association of Writers and Writing Programs - great organization and GREAT
magazine
Poets and Writers Magazine - articles, interviews, lists of resources, awards,
and contests
Third Coast Poetry Magazine - Western Michigan Univeristy's exceptional
literary magazine
Kalamazoo Nature Center - because Thoreau is right
This I Believe - Long-running, wonderful way for students to express and publish a core belief
Secondary Worlds - Excellent source of ideas for tech-addicted teachers of English (and others
of course!
Literature Circles - Done properly, a great way to empower students in their literary investigtions
The Third Coast Writing Project - Tremendous summer program for those who love teaching and
writing and the teaching of writing
Polyphony H.S. - a super high-quality online magazine for and by teenagers. A great opportunity for student to publish
Teen Ink - another good opportunity for students to publish their work both in print
and online
Dead Air Space - thought provoking page from rock-n-roll's chief deconstructionists
Three Books - NPR's series asking authors about books they enjoyed
Ning - an online tool for class discussions
Nicenet - another online tool for class discussions
Association of Writers and Writing Programs - great organization and GREAT
magazine
Poets and Writers Magazine - articles, interviews, lists of resources, awards,
and contests
Third Coast Poetry Magazine - Western Michigan Univeristy's exceptional
literary magazine
Kalamazoo Nature Center - because Thoreau is right
This I Believe - Long-running, wonderful way for students to express and publish a core belief
Secondary Worlds - Excellent source of ideas for tech-addicted teachers of English (and others
of course!
Literature Circles - Done properly, a great way to empower students in their literary investigtions
The Third Coast Writing Project - Tremendous summer program for those who love teaching and
writing and the teaching of writing
Odds and Ends Found While Rummaging Through This Minefield
Books for Humans:The Modern Library Top 100 Novels List. Feel free to debate!
The Radcliffe Top 100 Novels List. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood Empire Falls by Richard Russo The Color Purple by Alice Walker A Clock Work Orange by Anthony Burgess Omeros by Derek Walcott Beloved by Toni Morrison For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie Hearts in Atlantis by Steven King |
Kay's Favs:1. The Road by Cormac McCarthy
2. The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien 3. Dune by Frank Herbert 4. The Risk Pool by Richard Russo 5. A Light in August by William Faulkner 6. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 7. East of Eden by John Steinbeck 8. Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut 9. Harry Potter Series by J.K. Rowling 10. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens |
Films for humans:Star Wars (whole series)
Casablanca Sense and Sensibility Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind Finding Neverland Cinderella Man Big Fish Rataouille Road to Peridition Lord of the Rings (whole series) Love Actually About a Boy The Dark Knight |
Into the Wild Chocolat Wonderboys American Beauty Toy Story (whole series) The King's Speech Jaws Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade American Beauty The Talented Mr. Ripley Brick |
Television for humans:
Band of Brothers House
M*A*S*H Game of Thrones
Foyle's War Boardwalk Empire
Modern Family True Detective
John Adams The Simpsons
Frasier Fargo
M*A*S*H Game of Thrones
Foyle's War Boardwalk Empire
Modern Family True Detective
John Adams The Simpsons
Frasier Fargo
grad_speech_2010.doc | |
File Size: | 34 kb |
File Type: | doc |