A Calvacade of History and Hollywood, Hand In Hand

Since I found myself before the big screen yesterday for the first time in a blue moon, let me say a word or two on the Golden Age of Hollywood as it relates to History.  

There aren't too many movies I use in teaching history, including documentaries.  (So much available on the web turns out to be blocked by the D.o.E.)  I also recognize that many old films had inherent biases while others paved the way to a new era by breaking stereotypes.  Leaving all this aside, teachers can't afford to show many movies given the pressing pace necessary for Regents prep.  

Still, I try to squeeze in a little here and there.  I will not part with some films.  When we examine the pros and cons of the Industrial Revolution, I bring in my DVD to illustrate "humanity crusading in the pursuit of happiness."  I choose a few key scenes.  As much as time advances, it seems we are fighting the same crusade today.  How many of us have been stuck in the VAM machinery for two or more years now!

             

When I was a new teacher and could bring in segments from VHS tapes, I used to do a lesson on how Hollywood portrayed the Middle Ages.  I used clips from The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Joan of Arc and The Adventures of Robin Hood.  If I had these films on DVD, I might do something similar today.  After all, "it's injustice I hate, not the Normans."

                  



   

This year I bought myself the DVD of Ben Hur.  I showed two scenes: the naval battle and the chariot race.  We examined technology.  We discussed similarities and differences between modern racing and ancient racing as well as possible historical inaccuracies.  The students thoroughly enjoyed every second of the chariot race.  And, so did I.  It's nice when the underdog wins for a change--even if it is Hollywood!

"The End" or Just the Beginning?

If I taught U.S. history, I would have to throw in a few snippets here and there.  There are the pick-me-up films of the Great Depression--which stand in such a sharp contrast to the largely drab and dull world outside the theater.  



Then, there are the rousing films as America marches off to war.  



As part of a lesson on the mindset of the atomic age, I would have to show my students the classic "Duck and Cover."  Where can students and teachers seek cover today?  That stick of dynamite reminds me more of Common-Core testing today than the atom bomb!




So, what film did the family view yesterday?  It was Night at the Museum 3.  We loved the first two films--although I wouldn't recommend using these "Museums" to teach history.  Just imagine some of the student essays which might turn up during Regents week. 

The third film brought back many memories, but it also left me intensely sad.  Whereas Larry Daly bid farewell on film to his museum friends, here the similarity between life on the screen and reality seemed too close.  The poignancy was so much the greater, realizing that we all have said goodbye to Robin Williams this year. 
So, in making sure that old acquaintance not be forgot, let me leave a reminder from Dead Poets Society for "reformers" in the New Year.  There are manifold purposes to education:

"We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for."

Let me fondly wish 2015 will be a Happy New Year for all, including the more important and underlying purposes of education!

Teaching With a Golden Thread

When teaching is in your blood, you probably find yourself doing "teacherly" things all year round.  My oldest received a Hello Kitty sewing machine for her birthday.  I taught her how to thread the bobbin and the needle.  I taught her the basics of sewing safety.  Now, she can sew a pillow and who knows what else down the road.  She no longer needs me unless there's a jam or she runs out of stuffing.

When you teach someone something, you open a door.  I watch her plan patterns, realizing that her sewing skill has yet to catch up with the breadth of her imagination.  She will scale down her projects for the time being, but as her skills grow, I know her imagination will run wild and ideas will become realities.  She will pave her room with her own patterns.  She will create wonderful things from little more than mere scraps and ideas.  

Then, there is my "middlest" daughter ever.  In addition to teaching her a little embroidery, I started to teach her how to play the recorder.  She has the patience to sit with Mom and practice.  We have a lot of fun.  More than teaching her the fingerings or how to cover the holes properly, I am happy to give her some of her first lessons on reading musical notes.  With that little knowledge, she will be able to play a million or more tunes on a whole range of instruments some day, if she chooses.  She'll basically be set for life.  It takes a load off of a mother's mind.

James Galway, Whose Flute is Altogether a Different Instrument From the Flute I Used to Play or Our Recorders!

What?  Don't Tell Me You've Never Heard of Boomwhackers.  Science Meets Music in the Best Way

My youngest daughter now has a full set of boomwhackers (more than just the chromatic ones Santa made a mistake of giving her).  I will teach her how to knock out a few tunes.  In the meantime, she has taken it upon herself to teach herself the words to her favorite Mommy-tested-and-approved songs from "up at the school."  She sits at the computer and freezes all the video frames.  She writes down each and every word.  She's not only learning a tune, she's improving her notoriously poor handwriting skills.  It's amazing how learning one thing spills inadvertently into learning so many other things.   She takes great pride as she writes each word so very neatly.  And if she makes a mistake, she turns the mistake into a picture.  I cheer her on, one beautiful, reusable song at a time!

I'm guessing even if I wasn't born to teach, I would do the same things over the vacation.  It's nice though that the same nurturing skills that keep things balanced at home can be the foundation of a career.  It's extra nice to carry that same spirit of learning through sharing which filters through our household into the classroom.  

And for those who would close schools and destroy century-old communities, stuffing handsome salaries into their pockets as they do so, I wonder if they would do the same to their own family.   Schools are families.  If they run like businesses, society will surely crumble.  If testing saps the joy from learning, we do ourselves a great disservice.  If schools, however, are built upon caring and compassion, social cohesiveness will only strengthen.  We will have a golden thread and a needle so fine.

Testing Kills Current Events

If you can just find the right hook, you can capture students' interests.  Standardized tests are not that hook, especially ones designed to mow down even studious, school-loving  kids.  Test prep only increases anxiety and saps students' joie de vivre. 

I've noted over the years, most students greatly enjoy current events.  Students show familiarity with the issues.  They learn about them outside of school and form opinions.  They are ready to learn more and debate others, sometimes quite vocally.  In discussing current events, students exercise many skills which will ultimately prove more valuable to them in life than bubbling in standardized answers. 

You know what?  You'd be hard pressed to find any current events on the Regents.  The exam is written long in advance of the date given.  Check out some of the more recent exams.  See how many of the events you would label as "current."  Students certainly do not recognize them as such.  They can hardly relate to them.  These events seem remote in many of their young lives.  

In a world-history class, we incorporate current events as much as time permits.  It is not nearly enough.  When I assign current events for homework, I ask students to choose international issues, given that we are a global class.  I let them know, however, that if there is a national event of overwhelming interest or importance to them, they can stray.  Sadly, the Regents does not allow anyone to stray his focus primarily to the U.S.--despite the interwoven nature of our world. 

When we hit May and the bird chirps, and the mysterious hawk who haunts our building soars, you might think we can finally revel in the twenty-first century and begin to look in-depth at current events.  Not by a long shot!  Instead, we are directed by our superiors to prep for dear life.  Forty percent of our evaluation depends upon student test scores.  Students, teachers and the school as a whole could suffer if scores drop.  How sad!  At a time when students should take their knowledge and run with it (or, perhaps, more apropos, soar like that hawk), they are constrained by fifty multiple-choice questions, two essays and incredibly high stakes that seem to have very little to do with today.  

On Being Out of Tune With the "Tuning Protocol"

We were asked by our A.P. to attend a special P.D. session in the week before break.  One of our colleagues wanted  feedback on a class assignment.  We sat in one of the only rooms available in our overcrowded school to observe some examples of the power points made by her students.

I really didn't mind looking at the projects and offering suggestions.  I do this kind of thing all the time.  What I did mind was the fact we were asked to operate within the framework of something called a "tuning protocol."  Are people paid money to come up with such stuff?  Is there too much time on some people's hands?  Why do we need to operate with a formalized structure to offer simple feedback?

We were asked to view samples of projects and then respond, using categories of "warm" and "cool" feedback.  Perhaps you think I am getting too old for this, but I would have had the same reaction twenty years ago.  Life is too short for such nonsense.  We are adults.  We are capable of a normal conversation.  I trust my students enough to carry on a normal conversation.  Our comments do not need to be guided into artificial categories.  We can discuss and digest issues in polite, scholarly terms. 

I asked what was on my mind, "Why can't we just have a normal conversation?  Why do we have to use artificial terms to shape our discussion?"  We all respect one another.  I hate to be the bearer of dissonance, but I found this format disrespectful of our professionalism--although I know it was not intended as such.  Do you sense by now that I am fully out of tune with this "protocol"?

My colleague on the left pointed out that my feedback was "cool."  And I had to laugh.  He was right--except given that as parents we both live in the world of Disney, it might better have been called Frozen--minus the literal bolts of ice.



The discussion continued and I contributed feedback at several points, as I am trained to do as a teacher, and as I might do as any caring and sentient human being.  I will offer anyone who asks, any suggestions I might think helpful, but I refuse to be boxed in by the latest gimmicks of ed. reform.  If you choose to label this post or my comments as cool/cold feedback, please do so, but don't forget to put on your muffs! 

The 1956 World-History Regents Meets Students of Today: How Many Test Takers Are Rebels Without a Cause?

How many test takers are rebels without a cause?

On the last day before the holiday break, I gave my tenth-graders a glimpse into an era long, long ago.  Given that their school year is capped by the New York State Regents, I gave them a sample from years past.  We looked at the Regents from June 1956.

Overall, the 1956 multiple-choice questions seem to require more recall than higher-level skills.  The exam begins with vocabulary.  Doubtless, a bane for many of the foreign born.  Question number nine seems easy for any time, but number twelve is more challenging.  Most current NYC students will know little to nothing about Frederick the Great of Prussia.  He is less than Great, if the past twenty years of Regents questions is used as a measure .  Peter, Catherine, Maria Theresa and Joseph are given far more attention for their enlightened ideas.   

I liked question seventeen.  When I teach Bismarck and German unification, I typically spend a day on the creation of the modern welfare state in Germany.  We look at some of the landmark social legislation developed to pull the rug from underneath the feet of the Socialist Party.  Strange how some of the most meaningful reform comes in the name of preserving aspects of the old system.

The 1956 test seems far more conscious of time than many of our tests today.  There are some questions that draw on knowledge of relatively current events for 1956.  Look at number twenty one on Cyprus.  Then, there is a timeline for questions 25-30.  My students would not have much of a prayer here.  Although we attempt to teach students how one set of events grows out of a preceding set, there is too much confusion in covering the whole world from region to region across centuries.  Students sometimes get sadly lost between time and place.    

 The writing section seems far more challenging than the Regents today.  Currently, students are asked to complete one thematic essay.  They are given the latitude to write about any topics (leaving aside those focused primarily upon the United States) which speak to the theme and the question asked.  There is also a DBQ-essay.  Students are given documents to examine as evidence.  They are additionally asked to pull in some prior information to respond coherently to the question(s) posed.  

In the 1956 test, the writing section more than makes up for the largely recall-based multiple choice.  Students are asked to choose seven of nine questions.  Two questions incorporate some multiple-choice, but notice they also incorporate a letter b which asks for more significant information.  Question 3 looks a lot like a question I gave my students this year.  I would hope most students would be able to explain at least five persons in question 4.  They won't know enough about Benjamin Disraeli though.  I like the last three questions, but I suspect my students' answers would stray from the realm of the desirable.

A few of my students said they preferred the 1956 exam to the current Regents.  I am guessing, however, that if the 1956 exam was a reality, hanging over their heads, as will be the Common Core for students in June 2016, they would quickly change their tune.  

Today, we want and we expect more students than ever to graduate.  Yet, the Common-Core tests will be designed to fail more students than ever.  They will also drive more students than ever away from school.  The 1950s had its "rebels without a cause."  No wonder in this Common-Core aligned world, it seems our rebels have more cause than ever!

And for those who would like to check any of the multiple-choice answers, feel free to look below.  Just remember, come what may, it is FOR TEACHERS ONLY:

On the Modern-Day Relevance of Jumbucks and Billabongs

On the Tuesday before break, my ninth-grade students and I put together a lesson on Australia.  The idea originated about three weeks ago when a student asked, "how come we never learn about Australia?"  It seemed like a perfectly good question to me.  I set about to remedy it.  Of course, in the interim, regretfully, we all heard about Australia through an act of terrorism.  

I supplied the students with a great overview of Australia, as provided to me via e-mail from my distant and remarkable Aussie cousin.  My students brought in Lamingtons and Tim Tams.  They also used volunteers to teach the class through simulation how to play Gorri and Rugby.  Additionally, we learned what creatures Down Under we can be happy are not Up Top.

To introduce the lesson, I gave students a copy of the lyrics for "Waltzing Matilda."  (Sadly, in my attempts to play it via the Smartboard, as usual, I found sites blocked by the D.o.E.)  Students were asked to read the lyrics and retell the story of the jolly swagman in their own words.  It was a nice way to introduce the students to Aussie slang.  

Most importantly, although the lyrics seemed hard to comprehend, the underlying themes seem too real for today.  The swagman is caught by the troopers after stealing a sheep.  He refuses to face arrest.  Instead of going peaceably, he resists, in this instance, by committing suicide.  He drowns himself in the billabong. 


Once a jolly swagman camped by a billabong
Under the shade of a coolibah tree,
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled:
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?"

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me
And he sang as he watched and waited till his billy boiled:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Down came a jumbuck to drink at that billabong.
Up jumped the swagman and grabbed him with glee.
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me",
And he sang as he shoved that jumbuck in his tucker bag:
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Up rode the squatter, mounted on his thoroughbred.
Down came the troopers, one, two, and three.
"Whose is that jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me",
"Whose is that jumbuck you've got in your tucker bag?
You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me."

Up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong.
"You'll never take me alive!" said he
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong:
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?"

Waltzing Matilda, waltzing Matilda
"You'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me",
And his ghost may be heard as you pass by that billabong:
"Who'll come a-waltzing Matilda, with me?"

Teachers, "It's the Law"!

The American Magazine ran a series entitled "It's the Law" from 1934 through 1956, created by Dick Hyman and cartoonist Otto Soglow.  I pored over them in the summer of 1991.  I made a number of photocopies.  Some provide insight into times past.  Some shed light on the lingering nature of archaic laws.  Some make you wonder at times how there was ever any sense to or need for such laws. 

The imagination could run wild, speculating why anyone would take the time to create and pass some of these laws.  Some crack me up.  Some are probably still on the books somewhere.  Surely every country has its share of seemingly strange ordinances; here are a few examples from The American Magazine: 

              

                     December 1936                                                                 April 1946

                                                                              May 1950

Here are two cartoons that I dug up from my archives depicting

teacher-related laws.  The first is from December 1942.  The second is from September 1944.

     

 

These laws seem to stand in stark contrast with current trends of educational deformity, blaming teachers and treating them as scapegoats.  In the spirit of Race to the Top, I feel we need "It's the Law" cartoons more than ever today.  Such cartoons could point to the faulty principles upon which our current national education laws are founded, including an increasing emphasis on high-stakes standardized assessments, the evaluation of teachers and schools based upon the same and the creation of intrusive data systems.  It's a pity that "It's the Law."

 

Edgar Guest, "At Christmas"

Here's a Christmas poem from a man popular in his day, but, doubtless, non grata among English critics and academics of today.   Most likely not Common-Core aligned!  One of the joys I find in the study of history is unearthing such gems.  And, if any of the more erudite think Guest is better left buried by time, it only goes to show that I really "Don't know much about history"!  Very Merry To All!




               At Christmas
               By Edgar Guest

A man is at his finest
     towards the finish of the year;
He is almost what he should be
     when the Christmas season is here;
Then he's thinking more of others
     than he's thought the months before,
And the laughter of his children
     is a joy worth toiling for.
He is less a selfish creature than
     at any other time;
When the Christmas spirit rules him
     he comes close to the sublime.
When it's Christmas man is bigger
     and is better in his part;
He is keener for the service
     that is prompted by the heart.
All the petty thoughts and narrow
     seem to vanish for awhile
And the true reward he's seeking
     is the glory of a smile.
Then for others he is toiling and
     somehow it seems to me
That at Christmas he is almost
     what God wanted him to be.
If I had to paint a picture of a man
     I think I'd wait
Till he'd fought his selfish battles
     and had put aside his hate.
I'd not catch him at his labors
     when his thoughts are all of pelf,
On the long days and the dreary
     when he's striving for himself.
I'd not take him when he's sneering,
     when he's scornful or depressed,
But I'd look for him at Christmas
     when he's shining at his best.
Man is ever in a struggle
     and he's oft misunderstood;
There are days the worst that's in him
     is the master of the good,
But at Christmas kindness rules him
     and he puts himself aside
And his petty hates are vanquished
     and his heart is opened wide.
Oh, I don't know how to say it,
     but somehow it seems to me
That at Christmas man is almost
     what God sent him here to be."
from Collected Verse of Edgar Guest 

Correction: You Were in Bedford Falls

On this Christmas Eve, let me draw some seasonal analogies.  Let us remember the promise of public education and compare that with the plans of some self-anointed "reformers."  

Still, it is a Wonderful Life!  Merry Christmas to any and all who celebrate--with special thanks going out to all the George Baileys of the world!  (Aside:  "George Bailey, I'll love you 'til the day I die...")

My Favorite Teacher Cartoon Ever!

My oldest brother once gave me a copy of the following cartoon.  It went missing for several years, but it turned up last night like a little Christmas miracle.  Coincidence, I ask you, or shelf elf?

Here is its beauty:

Now rotate the image in your mind a full 180 degrees.  Voila:

I'm not sure a week and a half will accomplish the same, but here's hoping everyone has a joyous and refreshing holiday and a happy, healthy New Year!  

Warning Teachers: It's Open Season on Scapegoats!

Have you seen the Daily News cartoon?  If kids fail common-core aligned tests, it must be the teachers' fault.  It can't be the screwy test.  It can't be high incidences of English language deficiency, poverty, special needs or changing societal values.  It can't be over-sized, underfunded classrooms.  Blame the teachers!

Welcome to the twenty-first century of Ed. Deform.  Teachers are the modern SCAPEGOATS.  When was the last time you remember such a sustained effort to target one group of people as scapegoats, the cause of so many of society's ills?  You would think the cartoonist would either be more saavy or at the very least shamed, but he's probably self-satisfied and smug.  It may be time to blame at least this cartoonist!

My One and Only Homework Assignment...

This holiday season, I fondly remember a homework assignment left to me almost ten years ago by a student named Nanditha.  Somehow, the assignment, rolled up like a diploma and tied by a red ribbon, found its way to me despite the fact I was home with a five-month old.  I'm happy to say this is one homework assignment I will always cherish, perhaps more so given this current climate of ed. deformity.

Test It Was, And What a Test It Was...

Once there was a test...  It's one of the few scores I care to remember.  You might think it was my S.A.T. score.  You might think I studied hardest for that high-stakes test to help unlock the doors to colleges.  You'd be wrong.  It wasn't even an A.P. test in my junior year to make my transcript shine that much brighter in some college-admissions office somewhere.  It was a test I took in May of my senior year--when I had already been accepted to colleges.  The score could make absolutely no difference to me for either college entrance or G.P.A.  It was my Economics IB score.  

So, why did I take Economics IB and why did I burn the midnight oil to do so well?  Was it because I realized the great importance of economics?  No.  Was it because I had a natural interest in economics?  Most decidedly, no!  Was it because I thought such knowledge might make me monetarily richer in life.  No, again.

The simple fact is I signed up for Economics IB because it was taught by my former history teacher.  I had developed a special connection with history in eleventh grade and I will never forget that it was through my teacher.  Despite, twenty-five years of teaching or so, it would be this teacher's first year with advanced economics.  So, I said, if he was going to have a go at it, I would, too.  I just wanted to try my best.  I purchased a second-hand copy of Samuelson and read it cover to cover.    

When it came time to sign up for the exam, I had to make a choice.  Would I opt for the higher or lower level?  I opted for the higher level.  On a warm May day I took that test.  In the springtime of my life, I baked my brains.  Some seniors really couldn't be bothered.  Some hardly tried; many left early.  I stayed to the bitter end.  I pumped out every last bit left in me.  I don't remember how I felt when I left the room.  I just remember when this test was over (and my other APs), I went home and slept through the afternoon.      

A couple months later I received my score.  It was a 7.  The highest score on the higher level of this international exam.  I was among the best of the best--at least on this test.  But my greatest gratification came from knowing I built myself a goal.  My motivations were somewhat unusual.  It was driven by something David Coleman could probably never grasp, not "giving a shit" how people feel.  But I reached my goal.  And, if anything, my teacher could assess his first year with Economics IB at least knowing he taught one kid to be among the best students (at least on a standardized exam) of economics in the world.  It's the only test score I care to remember.  Test it was and what a test it was, it was...