A Day In The Journey

Fifth and sixth grade kids are wonderful. A little silly, yes; but nevertheless, wonderful. We made it through the first week--really three days and a half. Getting used to the schedule and the difference in teaching was more demanding than I expected. I think maybe I'm still reading/talking too much and not conversing enough. Sigh. I am definitely also a learner here.

Today we had a discussion--brief--about Van Gogh (to be continued later) that included a look at his self-portrait. We ended with the following basic ideas: that not selling any of your paintings would indeed be very depressing. That Impressionism was kind of strange. That Van Gogh looks like a hairy wolf-man in the painting. That if he hadn't been so worried and depressed he would have been a nice-looking man. That he was probably kind. We even discussed schitzophrenia (which I have probably spelled wrong) and other mental ailments briefly. It was interesting. It is amazing how much thought really goes on in the minds of 10 and 11 year-olds! I haven't managed to get such interesting discussions going in Literature and History--but we have had a few. We have decided that Columbus was determined, but arrogant and greedy. But that he was brave to lead men into the unknown. And that the Monroe Doctrine (which we decided was similar to putting masking tape across the backseat on road trips) was pretty smart. And that there are times when it must be compromised (WWI and WWII).

I have decided that I prefer the conversational method of teaching--that I learn almost as much from hearing their perspectives as they learn from hearing me teach. Plus, I don't have to read boring textbook stuff to them! Though there is reading that must be done in History (to contextualize and expand the basic date/event info they must memorize), it is much more enjoyable to read it from non-textbook books. For some reason, textbook writers have decided that kids should hate history and have made history books dry and boring enough to cause that response. Something I greatly love about the classical approach to learning is that it tends more toward a literary approach to history. I think students are much more drawn in by such an approach--and I like it better as a teacher.

I haven't had to send anyone to detention, yet. I feel it coming though. I have two. . .well, three... students who have trouble containing themselves. So they tend to randomly blurt things out and then have trouble stopping the speech when they need to. And I hate to send them to detention for that, but it is disruptive to the classroom atmosphere--like an overzealous player who can't contain himself to his area in the field, but tries to help everybody else when they don't need it. You have to commend his passion, but his lack of restraint cause conflict. Sigh. My colleage in the 3rd/4th room has already sent three children to detention and feels like the evil teacher. I suppose I will catch up to her by the end of the week--we'll see. Yuck. As much as I understand how discipline is needed, I despise administering it. I suppose that is a healthy attitude to have. If I relished punishing kids, I would worry about my heart health.

Friday was our day to be involved in "Logic Boot Camp." Logic boot camp is for the Dialectic and Rhetoric kids to get a crash-course review in the principles of Logic. This year they also learned the basic principles of teaching and prepared lessons for the 3rd/4th and 5th/6th grades. They divided into two teams and presented lessons to the classes in the morning and organized logic oriented games in the afternoon. That was really neat. I was so excited to see actual principles of logic being taught (one of my pet-peeves is the stupidity of debate nowadays with logical fallacies flying left and right and people swallowing them whole). And it was a fun time for my kids to spend with the upper school kids.

In all, the first week was eye-opening for me as a teacher--I have more adjusting to do than I thought--and a joy. My kids are great and we are having a fun time. And so far, I haven't heard any complaints from parents, so I guess I'm doing all right. :)

Posted by Renee at 03:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This was a new thing for our school. Instead of a regular first day of school, we had a half-day for parents to come (rather like an open house) and get a taste of what school would be like this year and what to expect. Whew. A little nerve racking worrying about making a good impression and all, but a good experience.

My classroom will be a baseball team this year. I love baseball. Adore baseball. But more importantly, there is much to be learned from the game. Of course, baseball has never been and is certainly not now an always idyllic representation fo the ideal, but even in a day of sports egos and paycheck frenzy, the principle that I have transferred to my class are still very much present and necessary.

Principle one: 100% individual effort + 100% team effort = good playing. In other words, both of these ingredients are equally necessary to have a competitive team. A baseball team is a single entity made up of at least 9 individuals. If one person on the team skimps on effort, it could cost the team the game. Every player must come to every game ready to contribute to the team. Equally so, the 9+ individuals must be ready to play as a team. If the shortstop is doing a great job catching ground balls and covering the space between 2nd and 3rd, but fails to communicate with the team or cover the 2nd and 3rd basemen, the team will probably lose. And his teammates won't be to friendly after. :) The point is one phenominal player can't carry a team, and a team can't function with selfish players.
In the classroom, the principle is applied easily, expecially in a classical setting. Classical learning employs the socratic method (mainly on the upper levels, but grammar children use it as well) of questioning. Thus, if a student comes to class unwilling to participate, the rest of the class suffers. The discussion is hobbled because one student hasn't come with 100% effort that day. Equally, if the class refuses to work as a team, discussion is hobbled. Selfishness impairs the class as whole in the learning and succeeding process.

Principle two: Mutual respect. Granted, in our day there is less of this than there used to be (a societal ill, unfortunately), however it is still indispensable to the team effort. If A-rod doesn't respect the ability of Derek Jeter, he will waste time and effort trying to take over for him. And in the process, cause errors that will lose the game. Players must have respect for the other teammembers in order to trust them with the ball. And they must have respect for the manager and coaches in order to improve. Of course, the manager must respect the ability of the players or he won't be able to teach and encourage them the way he needs in order to create a winning team. Mutual respect is required in order to have a well-functioning team.
In the classroom, obviously, the students must respect the teacher or they can't learn a thing. But they must also respect each other in order to have the right environment for learning. If Johnny doesn't respect Suzie, then there will be cruelty and rudeness--and Suzie will stop interacting with Johnny and Johnny's friends, etc. To coin a verse, a class divided can't succeed.

For fun, I used baseball terms to quantify consequences and priviledges--errors, assists, strikes, automatic outs, etc. Maybe I'm carrying my love of baseball too far, but at least it's fun. My parents are all very supportive. My kids all very excited. And tomorrow begins our yearlong adventure. Go Team!!

Posted by Renee at 01:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, another day of meetings is done. I have much less to say today. . .I think. The main focus of today was the ideal spirit of the school--kind of the philosophical main points that were applied yesterday. (yes, a little backwards, but it couldn't be helped.) At any rate, the headmaster made two points today: that we strive for/to instill a spirit of honour/biblical fear (for God, for authority, for each other as teachers) and that we strive for/to instill a spirit of ownership (for "our world," recognizing that our actions, our words and our attitudes are our responsibility). That we are to expect and to strive for the ideal in these--that Christ is the ideal example and the paradigm for which we aim. That if we expect such from our students (rewarding the victories and correcting the failures), they wil strive to become better people. The final points were made by the facilities supervisor: that this spirit of honour and ownership applies to even the mundanities of keeping the buildings clean. That in requiring students to aid in cleanliness and orderliness we are teaching them to honour others and their property, and own responsibility for their actions and their school. And interesting thought--that the starting points of being a better person extend to a part of life we don't usually view as character-filled. Hmmm. Sometimes I feel as though I am learning less about teaching than about merely living in a better way. But I suppose that's the point, really. If I am learning to live better, I can lead my students that way, also.

Posted by Renee at 11:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today was the first day of orientation meetings for all teachers. Yesterday was new teacher meeting day with the headmaster. Mainly a review of school philosophy and an opportunity to cover what we will say to parents on the first day about expectations, etc. Today was a benchmark for the school as a whole, really--a refocusing of the teachers and parents on what really are the foundational goals and principles of the school. The reason for the refocusing was a feeling that the school was slipping into "academic" mode. "But what is wrong with academics?" you might ask. Priority. You see, the focus of BRCCS is not necessarily high test scores, or mounds of factoids pounded into malleable heads--it is to graduate better people. In nurturing better people, you will of a necessity create excellent students, but it is a matter of what is the foundation. It comes down to what type of atmosphere the school should have--what are the non-negotiables of the "world" of the school. Today there were many answers: community, knowledge, wisdom, honesty, justice, mercy, excellence, respect, standards of behavior, courtesy, a nurturing environment, etc. In order to create and maintain this type of "world," however, the world must have the right foundation. Is that foundatiion academics? Probably not. In fact, no. The right foundation to support this world is. . .discipline. I know, I know: the image/thought in your mind is probably a negative one. Discipline=correction of wrongdoing. But that is only half of discipline. Discipline is also reward. Discipline is creating a a set of guidelines that contribute to the type of nurturing you wish children/students to receive.The type of nurturing that will, God-graciously, produce the type of people you wish to see. Thus, in order to create an environment full of excellence, nurturing and virtue you must create and enforce the rules that produce such an environment. (Enforcement being both consequences for missing the mark and rewards/priviledge for excelling.) An example of such a rule is Girls Go First. A new school policy is that the only reason a boy should be rushing ahead of girls in line, etc., is to open and hold the door for them. Think of the ramifications of this policy, the creation of respect for women it imparts in boys. And the response of "Thank you" from the girls imparts gratefulness for that respect.

By imposing such guidelines, the school creates a world in which better people are formed. By creating a foundation of discipline/nurturing (for it is truly nurturing), the school more easily facilitates the imparting of knowledge, wisdom and understanding--the trinity of true learning. By imparting knowledge, wisdom and understanding; the school creates not only good students who value learning, but also people to whom virtue, morality and character matters. And in reality, if a the goal of a Christian classical school is anything other than creating better, more Christ-like people, then it has missed that mark. Academics, as such, serves a purpose, but only in its place. To place it above and outside of discipline and the learning trinity is to create people with many factoids and no compass for life-application--the unfortunate product of many modern schools, even Christian ones, sadly. At any rate, I appreciated the paradigm/ perspective shift. It fits impeccably with both classical philosophy that fits learning and living together and Christian philosophy that puts spirituality and life together. And certainly fits with my philosophy that education is inseparable from creating thoughtful people who know who to feed their trinity of being. And without discipline all that is merely a pipe dream.

Posted by Renee at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Thought for the day: teachers watching movies about teachers is an excellent example of poetic learing. (Poetic learning being learning by experience/intuition.) By watching these movies, one is able to slip into their experience--to walk in their shoes a little--and thus learn from them.

At any rate, I watched Stand and Deliver Tuesday. Outside of just the sheer beauty of the performances in this movie, there is much to dig out. This is the story of a teacher (Jaime Escalante played by Lou Diamond Philips) who believes in his students when no one else does. The faculty at the school are either just filling in time because they don't have anything else to do; or else they are burnt out, disillusioned and filled with an "us vs. them" attitude that cannot see potential anymore. Escalante comes in an stirs the pot. He believes something no longer popular in education circles: that "students will rise to the level of their expectations." Imagine that. So he teaches his basic math students Algebra. Then he decides that they can indeed master Calculus. So he offers summer school courses in Trig and Higher Math to prepare them for Calculus their senior year. No one really thinks these barrio kids can do it. But they do. All 18 pass the Calculus AP test. And because they've done something so unexpected, ETS thinks they cheated. Here we see another amazing quality of Escalante--his passion for his students. He believes in them enough to risk his career and stand up for them. In the end, the students must retake the AP test under the scrutiny of the ETS investigators. They all pass again.

I found this man's faith and passion inspiring--and so against this modern educational idea that if you can get "underpriveledged" kids just to read and pass through, that's all you can expect. Baloney. That is true discrimination. Students will rise to meet their expectations.

A small gem of the movie--Escalante gets his kids to memorize formulas in a simple, now considered "outdated" manner--class repetition. My confidence is renewed that I can get 6th graders (who are starting to feel too cool for grammar jingles) to stick with class repetition as a means to an end. Maybe we can even rap a little. :) At any rate, that is what I learned from this movie.

On an aside: I will probably post this on my main site also, but I wanted to say a brief thing that really has nothing and everything to do with Christian classical education. This morning I watched a movie called Pitch Black. I will give the brief disclaimer that it is rated "R" because the language is profuse and there is some gore. (However, anyone who has watche a Robert De Niro movie--language in this isn't nearly so bad.) That said, this was a great movie. But here is my point. As Christians, we should be able to see the hand of God everywhere and in all things. As a Christian classical educator, I especially want to be able not only to see His hand, but also to convey to my students that they should see His hand in all things. Even in secular works of art/film/fiction. This movie has such a heart-stopping Christ-figure moment. And I would never have expected it. Unfortunately, I do have to somewhat spoil the end to give it to you. But knowing the end doesn't really spoil the movie. And I'll try to be vague enough. . . . Riddick is about to make his getaway, leaving some people behind on this planet. He is stopped by one of the characters who has braved the incredible danger to follow him. There is a scuffle and this character ends up immoblized with Riddick's knife at his/her throat. He/she is refusing to leave the others behind and he asks "Are you willing to die for these people?"
"I'm willing to try."
"That isn't what I asked. I asked if you were willing to die for these people."
pause. "Yes."
"Interesting."
They return for the others. When they are almost to the ship, Riddick is stopped by two of the creatures. While the rescued ones get into the skiff, the character returns to help Riddick, finding him wounded by the creatures, but alive. He/she begins to help him back to the skiff encouraging him with "I said I would die for them, I didn't say I would die for you--now come on. Let's go!" Suddenly, as they struggle back you realize this character has been stabbed. For a moment, as the camera switches between their eyes (eyes being a huge theme in the film) you fall back on your ealier opinion of Riddick and wonder if he has stabbed he/she. Then he/she is ripped away--stabbed and grabbed by one of the creatures as Riddick cries "Not for me! Not for me!"
At the end, Riddick escapes with the others--free because he has "died" on the planet. I was stopped. I sat focused on the fact that this man--who admittedly believes in God yet hates Him--received mercy by the death of another. Even he felt himself unworthy of the sacrifice. Yet beyond that, the death was even more vicarious--because his identity was able to die in that instant. He did die on that planet--as someone else.
Admittedly, I don't think an unbeliever would rush to church over that one. But for me, the literary Christ figure was haunting. Another example of seeing God in even the most unlikely of places.

Posted by Renee at 01:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

This will be brief. I've made a simple, yet profound, discovery--and brought to light what I think will be my greatest challenge in entering the realm of classical education. I am a content teacher. My head is full of random facts and a passion for learning more. Yet, the grammar level is at least equally about methods as it is about content--if not more so in some subjects. Hmmm. Now I must address things from a slightly different corner of the ring. Although content is still an area that I must work on, I now need to focus some energy on becoming ever aware of methods in the classroom. Sigh. Just when I think I've got a handle on things. . . .So there it is. Soon to come--what I learned about teaching from Stand and Deliver.

Posted by Renee at 11:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)