For the past month, I’ve been teaching creative writing one morning each week at the Bishop Allen Academy, a Catholic high school in Toronto’s west end. Thanks to this pilot program, which pairs up local writers with students, I get to work with a Grade 9 and a Grade 11 class for twelve weeks.

It’s my first experience working with teens over a longer period and I’m tackling things like how to make the mandated curriculum fun (unbelievably, the core texts haven’t changed since I was in high school) and how to keep a room filled with 30+ kids from dissolving into chaos.

Ms. Caravaggio, the teacher who invited me in, is really impressive. I’m pretty lucky. I’ve been learning a lot from her in terms of being authoritative and keeping the students interested… maybe even more than the kids are learning from me.

Any readers out there who’ve worked in classrooms? I’d love to hear about your experiences.