Epiphany in Baltimore

2002-09-05

Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com

Day two went well, much better than the first, which didn't go that bad, just boringly.

It wasn't boring yesterday. Or at least I wasn't bored. We started with the "Four Truths, Two Lies" homework that I had assigned. I'm going to spend the first few minutes of class every day for the next few days drawing out five or six of them and reading them, and let the class all figure out who it could be.

I did my own list, and put them into the class' piles. My two lies were, "Out of high school, I drafted by the Montreal Expos and played outfield in the minors for a month, hitting a pair of homeruns before a knee injury ended my playing career. I decided to go to college thereafter" and "In college, I was kicked off the MSU cheerleading squad for getting in a nationally-televized fight with the mascot for the Minnesota Badgers." Fun stuff. Not everyone picked those two lies out as the real lies, which I guess makes them pretty decent lies.

My truths were as follows: "I've lost over 100 pounds in the last two years" (one class guessed this as a lie), "I love music; I own over 1200 CDs and host concerts in my living room" (two classes thought this to be a lie), "I haven't eaten meat in seven years" (no classes figured this to be a lie), and "My picture was on the front cover of The Baltimore Sun this summer" (again, no one felt this to be a lie).

I like this way to start out class better than the one I've used in the other few semesters I've taught, because it's a bit more funny and interactive than writing ten sentences about yourself. Some of the kids got pretty creative as well. The worst moment of yesterday occurred when a tall, skinny kid wrote, "I am short and fat," and someone guessed that the paper was written by, yup, the short and fat kid I have in class. I didn't quite know how to deal with it, as getting angry or chastizing the student who guessed it would be confirming that I thought the said student was short and fat, and I didn't want to do that. So I acted like it was any other incorrect guess. I'm not sure if it was the correct decision.

We are starting out the curriculum by discussing the American Dream, and I'm starting that discussion by talking about dominant American Values. So far, so good. Yesterday, I had about twenty different cards with sayings on them like, "You've come to America to get an education, and then return to your home country" or "You have decided to start your own business," and students are supposed to explain which values that person would find most important if they were in his or her shoes. It's seguing into this discussion of the American Dream and Of Mice and Men that I hope goes well.

I still struggle with how to tell kids they're wrong in the way they're thinking about literature. Yesterday, their freewrite was, "In America, as long as you work hard enough, you can accomplish your dreams." Students had to agree or disagree with the statement and explain why. Yadda yadda yadda, it worked pretty well. About half the class agreed, half the class disagreed, and we were able to talk about it. Then, I said, "Okay, now I want you to think about this question. Put yourself in John Steinbeck's shoes. Based on what happened in Of Mice and Men, how do you think he'd feel about the statement?" (Note: In Of Mice and Men, basically all the characters have dreams and none of them come true, for various reasons - one's mentally retarded, one is African-American, one is old and handicapped, one is a woman, it's the Great Depression, etc.) I had many students argue that Steinbeck would agree that if you work hard enough, your dreams will come true, despite the fact that all these characters worked had and none of the characters reached their dreams. I was even getting a little frustrated, until finally one kid saved me with a response that seemed to flow the kids in the right direction before I said something rude.

My new supervisor, who has been a breath of fresh air in a building in which management and teachers are always battling, came in on the first day, and left me a note yesterday saying, "Thank you for having me yesterday. Your classroom is a model of engagement on the subject that I hope other new folks get a chance to see." She was only in there about four minutes, so that felt good. I'm not even minding that she called me one of the "new folks," because at least she's not making me do the stuff other new folks are having to do (weekly 1-on-1's, etc). I hope the positivity continues in the department this year, because things are feeling good right now.

Today will be another good day. I can feel it. Gotta shower.