''The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.'' -- Nietzsche
''I have no country to fight for. My country is the earth, and I am a citizen of the world.'' -- Eugene V. Debs
Making A Statement
Feb. 13, 2007
Teenagers
Teenagers are just hard to teach. Either that, or I'm just not interesting enough. I don't know. For my WWII class yesterday, I brought in popular music from the WWII era and we talked about each song, what it meant, why it appealed to the people of the time. One of the boys in the class is a chronic complainer, so of course he said I was "torturing" him with the 1940s music (just like I was "torturing" him by giving a handout on unmasculine pink paper, and "torturing" him by having the group sit on the floor in a circle). I have to bear in mind that he's mildly autistic and I don't know enough about autism to make any judgements about this poor kid's personality. He is a sweet, funny kid most of the time, but when it comes to class, well, as much as I love the guy, he can be kind of a jerk. He's great with Jake though, and the way he interacts with his little brother (who is Jake's age) is just phenomenal. I have a hard time getting most of the kids to talk during class because I think a lot of them are shy. I finally got a good answer out of one of the boys after I played "Don't Sit Under The Apple Tree". I said, "What is this song about?" and the boy said, "It means 'don't cheat on me, or I'll kill you!'" Of course I laughed. I have a little surprise for the boy I "torture" - I printed out the entire lesson in magenta. It's really only because I'm out of black ink, but I chose magenta over blue, green, or red.
Jake's class was like normal. Just a bunch of toddlers running around wreaking havoc. I'm not worried about Jake's class...the really challenging one is the one for the older kids I have to teach.
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I believe in homeschooling from birth on. From the day my son was born, I've done everything I can to teach him about how the world works. Life is school. Learning is life.
