It is Saturday morning which is the time I do what I want for fun. So is it strange that this teacher is searching for lessons on the internet? I don't say this to further the argument that we teachers, while getting great vacation time throughout the school years and summers off, work far more than the traditional 40 hour week. It's not about that here. It's about this teacher's preoccupation with whatever she is teaching. And right now I am trying to create a unit on world geography. Actually not world geography but rather more simply, where in the world we are, and where in the world we came from (more recently than not). So I have tried searching geography lesson and I have tried searching map lessons but I am not interested in teaching the 5 themes of geography right now and I am not interested in teaching longitude and latitude right now either. What I want to do is fairly simple. I want my 11 students from Haiti, Palestine, Yemen, Mexico and of course the U.S of A to know the globe and I suppose more specifically political boundaries, as they exist today on a 2013 map of the world. I want them to know WHERE. And I don't care a damn about any of this being connected to the Common Core. If by chance it is, well I will let it go. But I would like to know whatever happened to knowledge for knowledge's sake.
We are fond of candid interviews with usually young people on the street being asked, by a comedian or a talk show host, basic knowledge questions. Recently, Jimmy Kimmel made it big with his question, "which do you prefer Obamacare or The Affordable Care Act?" I was proud of my class of 11 for knowing that they are one in the same. I was proud of myself too for all the work I did prior to,
and during the government shut down, that helped them be allegedly more knowledgeable than the man or woman on the the street. Were those lessons tied to the common core? I don't know and I don't care. My students learned the facts because we went over them again and again and answered their questions along the way. Was "critical thinking" involved. Sure, I made them think about the difference between a right and a privilege when talking about various things including of course, healthcare. Some of them got that part, some didn't. Did I "differentiate" for every person in the room? Probably not. Did I try? Well yes, I always do try to, at the very least, help everyone to feel included. But did I plan 11 different lessons for 11 different learning styles and their 5 or so different languages? Well no, I didn't. Please don't tell the "reformers"!!! I am sorry to diverge. This was supposed to be about my geography/map/where unit.
The conclusion I have come to in my 30 something years of teaching is a quote which I am unable to remember who to attribute it to, something like "everything works and nothing works" and that has kept me going through this long haul. The billionaire boy profiteers (with some nasty female's supporting) have come out in the guise of fixing all of this. They purport that there is a way, an answer and that it is all about finding it. Their evidence is all the many billions they have made as marketers, business people, and entrepreneurs. They would like to graft on some formula to education while appearing like philanthropists so to further fill their already bulging pockets. They Have convinced themselves that they are good people searching for a formula that exists. They are sorely wrong. There is no formula and all the goals and objectives written on a lesson plan will not supersede this truth. People learn all kinds of intentional and unintentional things while sitting in a classroom and starting that process with facts isn't a bad idea at all. So here I am wasting my time with this rant while I could be forming that factual lesson. What are the seven continents of the world? Identify than on a blank map. Memorize them. What are the 5 oceans? Memorize them. In what country were you born? Identify it on a map. In what country were your parents, grandparents born? What are the neighboring countries? Identify them on a map. In what continent are those countries? Where do you live now? What are the neighboring countries? In what continent are they ?And for a bit of fun, what country would you like to visit? Then we could do a little travel project. How would I get there and how much would it cost. . .just for fun. Oops we've forgotten all about fun! I wonder if it's in the Common Core.
We are fond of candid interviews with usually young people on the street being asked, by a comedian or a talk show host, basic knowledge questions. Recently, Jimmy Kimmel made it big with his question, "which do you prefer Obamacare or The Affordable Care Act?" I was proud of my class of 11 for knowing that they are one in the same. I was proud of myself too for all the work I did prior to,
and during the government shut down, that helped them be allegedly more knowledgeable than the man or woman on the the street. Were those lessons tied to the common core? I don't know and I don't care. My students learned the facts because we went over them again and again and answered their questions along the way. Was "critical thinking" involved. Sure, I made them think about the difference between a right and a privilege when talking about various things including of course, healthcare. Some of them got that part, some didn't. Did I "differentiate" for every person in the room? Probably not. Did I try? Well yes, I always do try to, at the very least, help everyone to feel included. But did I plan 11 different lessons for 11 different learning styles and their 5 or so different languages? Well no, I didn't. Please don't tell the "reformers"!!! I am sorry to diverge. This was supposed to be about my geography/map/where unit.
The conclusion I have come to in my 30 something years of teaching is a quote which I am unable to remember who to attribute it to, something like "everything works and nothing works" and that has kept me going through this long haul. The billionaire boy profiteers (with some nasty female's supporting) have come out in the guise of fixing all of this. They purport that there is a way, an answer and that it is all about finding it. Their evidence is all the many billions they have made as marketers, business people, and entrepreneurs. They would like to graft on some formula to education while appearing like philanthropists so to further fill their already bulging pockets. They Have convinced themselves that they are good people searching for a formula that exists. They are sorely wrong. There is no formula and all the goals and objectives written on a lesson plan will not supersede this truth. People learn all kinds of intentional and unintentional things while sitting in a classroom and starting that process with facts isn't a bad idea at all. So here I am wasting my time with this rant while I could be forming that factual lesson. What are the seven continents of the world? Identify than on a blank map. Memorize them. What are the 5 oceans? Memorize them. In what country were you born? Identify it on a map. In what country were your parents, grandparents born? What are the neighboring countries? Identify them on a map. In what continent are those countries? Where do you live now? What are the neighboring countries? In what continent are they ?And for a bit of fun, what country would you like to visit? Then we could do a little travel project. How would I get there and how much would it cost. . .just for fun. Oops we've forgotten all about fun! I wonder if it's in the Common Core.
