Actually teaching to change the world

I can't believe that I'm awake right now let alone that I'm starting a blog entry. I should have been asleep an hour ago--and prepping for my classes tomorrow if anything.

The past two days have been really great for so many reasons. The main two are that I did not have class after teaching (both today and yesterday I went to GG Park and did work and snoozed in the sun) and that I am actually teaching to change the world in a concrete, direct way in my 9th grade class these days.

We're reading Animal Farm, which is such a pleasure--and such a great thing from an activist perspective that that book is on so many school book lists. Today I had them do a free write about a quote from Britney Spears (I didn't tell them it was her until the end) that said something like, "I think we should just support the president and whatever he does because he's our president." Given the unquestioning acceptance of tyrany and corrupt leadership in Animal Farm, this was a fortuitous opportunity to challenge this belief. Their responses were great. We got into talking about why people might want to support leaders blindly like this, and that was a really great discussion. They talked about how dangerous it can be to just accept what a leader does without challenging it. We got to talking a little bit about Iraq, but more important to me was for them to get this idea--that it is important to question authority. (As an example, I asked them what they would do if I wrote on the agenda that their homework for tomorrow was to read chapter 8, and when they came into class tomorrow I announced that there was a test on chapters 8, 9, and 10. I added 9 and 10 to the 9 in the HW box, revising history the way Napoleon and his posse do. They totally got into this.)

Tomorrow we're going to be talking about propaganda, and I'm bringing in a copy of a video I have that challenges the mythical "happy cow" commercials by showing actual footage of dairy cows in California...wading through knee-deep piles of shit, udders hanging practically to the ground, limping, collapsed, being hauled with a crane to slaughter--not so happy. I am working a bit to make this exactly relevant, but, hey, it was pointed out to me by Melissa from our program that--now that our credential program is over--we are not actually teaching for course credit, and we're sure not teaching for $. We're volunteers. And the animals need my volunteer time at least as much as these students do. I know these students will be really into it. I've def talked about animal stuff before, and they ask a lot of questions. These kids are so great.

I need to do a blog about my 9th grade class in general. This is the class I was struggling with so much at the beginning of the semester. They absolutely looked at me like they thought I was some imposter doing a poor job impersonating a teacher. It's amazing what has happened. We have such chemistry now. I am joking around throughout the class, they poke fun at me and feel comfortable and safe and yet are totally respectful. Meanwhile, they totally do their work and are amazingly alert and on task in class. (Part of this success is that there are only 16 kids in the class. That changes everything. (There are 31 is my 10th grade class.)) Anyway, details on that class another time. I'm starting to get really sad that my time with them is ending....