Some Random Thoughts from Part 1 of the Canestrari/Marlowe Book

"Teacher Man"

I enjoyed the list of teacher roles on page 3, and I’ve even found myself in the unlikely position of singer and dancer.  Likewise the list of student roles on page 4 really rings true.  I’ve met those kids along the way.  J

There have been plenty of times I've sent up desperate prayers for something I said in class.  "Oh no!  Me and my big mouth again! Please don’t let me get in trouble."  But how can you talk all day, day after day and not sometimes slip up?  I've tried to discipline myself not to use sarcasm, but sometimes the kids do or say things that are just unbelievable, like not bringing a writing utensil to an exam or expecting you to provide all the school supplies for their project. 

Calling him Teacher Man?  I guess they were being disrespectful, so it had to stop.  However, I’ve had kids call me “Teach” or “DH” in a sense of comfort and familiarity.  Not only did I not see it as a problem, but I liked it. 

McCourt, Frank. "Teacher Man." Educational Foundations: An
     Anthology of Critical Readings. Ed. Bruce A. Marlowe and Alan S.
     Canestrari. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Sage, 2010. 3-7. Print.

"The Green Monongahela"

These quotes really resonated with me. 

p. 10 "It bothered me more that the work I was doing seemed to have very little importance--even to the people who were paying for it"

p. 11 “I needed something to do that wasn't absurd more than I needed another party or a new abstract number in my bankbook.”

p. 12 Milagros' problem "had shown me how I could find my own significance in teaching just as those strong men in the riverboats and trains had found their own significance."

My college “Little Sis” bought me a coffee cup that satirized the usual put down of “Those who can’t do, teach.”  The cup said, “Those who can, teach.  All others go into some less significant line of work.”

Gatto, John Taylor. "The Green Monongahela." Educational Foundations: An
     Anthology of Critical Readings. Ed. Bruce A. Marlowe and Alan S.
     Canestrari. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Sage, 2010. 8-14. Print.

"Death at an Early Age"

Stephen would be in his 50's now. Did he survive?  Did he overcome?  I hope so. 

The teachers in our art department would be surrounding Stephen with accolades for his originality and creativity.  Thank goodness times have changed a bit.

Why didn't the regular teacher defend Stephen to the art teacher?  Why didn’t he inform about the abuse?  Granted, there was no 1-800-Kids phone number back then, but still…

I found this essay very moving.  Poor Stephen felt so worthless that he crumpled and micro-folded his papers, like he didn’t exist.  His comment about how he couldn’t be a rat because he had no tail, reminded me of Kafka’s short story, “Metamorphosis,” in which the narrator is so alienated that he literally turns into a cockroach.

On p. 19 poor little Stephen would do anything just to get some attention and matter some way, some how.  It reminded me of a poem.  It’s old, though not “classic,” but its pain is obvious.

 “Matter” by Louis Untermeyer

When I was a live man

A long time ago,

For all I might say,

For all I might do,

I got no attention.

My life was so small,

The world didn't know

I was living at all.

Such stolid indifference

I could not allow.

I'd make myself matter,

Nevermind how.

But after a lifetime

Of hunger and prayer,

I broke my heart

Trying to make the world care.

And now as I lie here,

Feeding this tree,

I mean more to the world

Than it means to me.
(Once found in a book; memorized, unable to find again)

Kozol, Jonathan. "Death at an Early Age:  The Destruction of the Hearts and Minds

     of Negro Children in the Boston Public Schools." Educational Foundations: An
     Anthology of Critical Readings. Ed. Bruce A. Marlowe and Alan S. Canestrari.

      2nd ed. Los Angeles: Sage, 2010. 15-20. Print.

"Why Teach?"

p. 22 “I enjoy playing games and building things that have no particular purpose…”  I can’t even do that anymore.  Every moment is spent on work or something else purposeful.  I want to learn how to play again.

p. 22  “My self-justification is that the games I play and the things I explore all contribute to making a curriculum that will engage and interest my students.”   Wow, this was written in 1976.  I was going to say, how on earth does he get to make his own curriculum?  Everything’s all spelled out now.

p. 25 Second full paragraph:  a list of skills/things to know.  Having a broad repertoire of interests and skills enriches a person’s teaching. 

p. 26 Losing 15 pounds from running around with little kids.  Far different than the life of a high school English teacher.  Sit at the computer and put in grades.  Sit at the computer and email parents.  Sit at the computer and make materials for the lesson.  Sit and read for the lesson.  Sit and grade compositions.  Sometimes I read while exercising, but it’s not as efficient.  Sit doing college homework during the summer.  Unchain me from the computer!

p. 26 “Teachers who try to be kind often find themselves taken advantage of, while those who assume a strict stand are constantly tricked and mocked.  It takes time and experience to win the respect of young people and not be considered their enemy in the context of a traditional American school.”   The leniency/strictness thing is hard, perhaps the toughest place to find the right balance.  In the “olden days,” students responded in a Live and Let Live, Respond in Similar Fashion kind of way.  If I taught with humor and creativity, they almost always responded and rose to the occasion.  Not the case anymore.  Classroom management can be easy or really, really tough.  

Kohl, Herbert. "Why Teach?" Educational Foundations: An
     Anthology of Critical Readings. Ed. Bruce A. Marlowe and Alan S.
     Canestrari. 2nd ed. Los Angeles: Sage, 2010. 21-31. Print