About Your Facilitator: Jesse Masinter
My passion for literature began in high school and was developed in college seminar classes, where I found community with like-minded readers. Debating the lessons we had discovered in our reading and fiercely arguing our perspectives brought me great joy, and I missed being challenged by my peers – people who truly enjoyed being present in a literary space. As I pondered leaving classroom teaching behind, I realized that there were surely other adults like me: people who loved to read, but never found themselves reading the same book at the same time as their peers, and who wanted to be able to flex their critical thinking muscles by debating with and learning from people with a variety of diverse perspectives. Thus, Novel Exchanges was born.
After 6 years teaching high school and middle school ELA in the Baltimore City Public School System, I have proudly created spaces where students’ voices are encouraged and developed. My favorite part of teaching is facilitating discussions about the essential questions of life. I have developed the ability to ask critical questions that deepen students’ thinking, and through our conversations I always find myself reflecting on new ideas and perspectives. However, I found myself increasingly limited by the curricular demands, classroom sizes, state testing requirements, and the endless checklist of bureaucratic demands that prevented me from devoting time to my own personal development. It’s time to break free of the constraints that the educational system has put on learning and be part of a community of life-long learners. Join Novel Exchanges, and become part of that community, too!
