CLASSICS ON GRASS AND STONES

We only study classic, time-tested works of literature in my classes, but that doesn’t mean we always study them in the classic, traditional ways. There are times, yes, when we sit at our desks under the fluorescent lights, but there are also times when we’re outside resting on the grass, or sitting on the stones of the many old walls surrounding the school, or just strolling around the grounds with a good book in our hands. With some instruction on proper attentiveness outside amid the distractions, most kids can come to appreciate being free of the stuffy classroom and able to study great writers in the great outdoors. We sometimes walk among the trees on our campus, discussing the words in whatever book we’re reading, sharing ideas as easily as the breezes are blowing around us, thinking an occasional astounding thought. The students, not surprisingly, seem more at ease, more serene, less interested in resisting our studies of Shakespeare and Dickens when we’re out in the fresh air and perhaps finding fresh inspirations coming our way.