More grading papers today. Purty much the whole day. While the class was discussing the constitution, why we needed a constitution, why the articles of confederation didn't work out. That sort of thing.
Two things I want to talk about in this entry:
First is that it seems as though giving one of these kids 5-10 minutes of undivided attention, it's sometimes enough to make them think that you're they're friend/advocate/whatever. It's kind of like my cat. I can use my existing talents to befriend the following types of students:
Nerdy kids
Angry teenage leftists
Kids who do too many drugs
Hipster trash
Various other 'artsy' kids
Hopefully I figure out how to deal with other kinds of kids eventually. Overachieving kids are easy because a lot of them do their best to befriend you on their own. I've been able to get the respect of some of the jocks by mentioning that I can't come to their game Friday because I'm going to my friends party (PARRRRTY). Lyn has informed me that the grace period of students liking you because you're young only lasts a few years. Better come up with another strategy soon.
Second point is that I question my professional ethics in teaching this government class. I mean srsly. My purpose here is to deliberately dumb down, misrepresent, and otherwise mangle my subject matter so that these kids will pass their tests. The content we're supposed to be teaching is overly simplistic and slanted narrowly toward a rose-tinted vision of how the United States operates in the world and at home. And there is so little room to operate in. Even if I defied the administration and the kids' parents and taught my ideal US government course, what then? I would still have to prepare the kids for the HSAs. I have to think about this more. But questions, I guess:
How do I present my kids with a model of civic engagement that is dynamic and engaged, and not based entirely around passive and atomized activities (i.e. voting, reading the news)? How do I present this when I myself am passive, atomized and cynical?
How do I provide a wider perspective on global affairs than the one offered in the curriculum and in mainstream media while still meeting constraints of time/varying ability levels?
How do I do both of these things without pissing off parents, administrators and still get my kids to pass the HSAs?
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