[copied - and mildly abridged/added to - from an e-mail to my "old college buddies"]
the life of a carpetbagger is a jolly one. the boiled shrimp, the fried catfish, and things of that sort are good; the belles are nice to look at, but can't hold their salt in conversation [or haven't yet in my experience]. still singing to my cahoon for that one.
teaching algebra ii, and one section of calculus. content knowledge ranges from dismal to minimal - some motivated kids, but a lot of those for which the ideals and methods of our traditionall curricular outlook and environmental management are far from relevant. on the bright/humorous side, it seems that a lot have dropped (or - for the girls - never picked up) the rhetorical echo of "nba star" when prompted about career goals. this has been traded for an unbroken chain of "ceo" or "lawyer" or "obgyn," though not for much of a gain. a lot of kids who are at serious risk of gaining a high school diploma are confusing the finger pointed at the moon with the moon itself; then, when you try and open a dialogue abut the fact that there's a possibility that they (or anyone, for that matter) won't go to college - or graduate from it - some intrepret this as an affront to their natural and/or infinite ability- rather than a subtle wake-up call about the amount of actual ability that is at risk of being wasted. what jackson - and the south (probably the whole country) - needs is a strong black middle class [or, from a deracialized perspetive, a rehased projection structure for opportunity awareness], and it appears that a generation of kids haven't gotten past the i-want-to-be-an-astronaut stage of conceptualizing the future. granted, i'm not sure if whiteness (or even my experience of it) is constructed any differently, but there seems to be a grander absurdity of missing-the-point in a 99.9% afro-american public school system that is (a) systematically incompetent on a myriad of levels and (b) more or less numb - perhaps in an understandibly self-protective way - to the conditions of its de facto segratory status, and the malignment of civil liberties and opportunity actualization that seem to plague these neighborhoods as a result. the football games, however, are crazy.
in a more sitting-at-the-computer-in-my-boxers kind of news, i'm loving jackson. oxford, ms was a bit cooler - more amherstian, and better music; but jackson's a cool place with a lot of messed up things to observe and ponder. i kind of wish teaching involved less baby sitting and environment organizing, but i'm not surprized that this is the case. when you have kids sitting on stacked milk crates and overturned garbage cans because you've run out of desks, it's all you can do to stop them from eating each other. this, and many things like it, seem to stem from [matt] katz's point [in a previous e-mail] of incompetent administrators [he does tfa in st. louis]. it's very clear why teaching retention is so low. it's also very clear how quick-fix programs like TFA or the TeacherCorps seem to have questionable impact [agreably, TeacherCorps - which encourages/trains its members to stay in the educational field - is less "quick fix." however, there's only so much we-can-overcome that can get done behind the broken-record myth of "once i've closed the door in my classroom, i'm in control." honestly, it seems like the return on that control is so minimal, and while you'll get a certain gain in tear-jerking "this teaher changed my life" anecdotes, there's so many simple things that this level of civic missionary work is not approaching, like textbooks, desks, and safety - which are not impossible things to come by.] i've never fully bought into the whole changing the world one kid at a time thing, anyway. i would, however, like to change the world one useless system at a time. but i'm sure i'll get older and wiser.
oh, i'm also helping out with the cross country team. just running with the kids and stuff. they'd never done a workout in their lives before i ran them ragged for two 600 intervals last wednesday.
8.28.2005
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Mr. Amhearstian,
First of all, I don't know who taught you the English language, but you have abused it to no end. It just goes to show how relative content knowledge can be.
Second, how dare you ever tell a student that they might not go to college. It is our job as teachers to ENCOURAGE students, and never to discourage them. I have seen children in the Delta be contacted by Harvard. In the pantheon of academia, that trumps your exalted Amhearst education six ways to Sunday.
If you have such low opinions of your students that you feel that they have never had a decent run before you graced them with your presence, than I suggest you go home now. Mississippi is better off without you.
Thank you Anonymous! The children of Mississippi need teachers who have high expectations and who actually believe in them. We don't need young, inexperienced people, who are here so they have something to tell their college buddies. These kids deserve real teachers who understand their responsibilities. The people of the community where you teach should be the ones talking about righteous indignation.
I don't think Dave is discouraging students. I think he has identified a greater need...preparation. Are these kids preparared? Have they received proper prepatory courses to attack and understand harder subject matter? Will they be prepared and able to handle a college curriculum. He doesn't want them to fail. I think he wants them to succeed as a group. And be properly prepared to face the challenges they most certainly will face beyond the classroom.
Dear Amhearstian,
First off, what does six ways to Sunday even mean. Honestly, I only know one way... Saturday. Also, Dave, you may need to clarify to the rambling and thumpering Mississississipians that you did not have low opinions of your students, but of their education. And whose fault is this? Alas! The education system. D'oh. The teachers who cushioned them. And a note to the second anonymous, let's try to not make rash judgement. Dave is not in Mississipi to get a kick of things by writing back to his "college buddies" to tell them how ridiculous the education system is. If anything, Dave is far more away of his responsibilities than many of the teachers in the program. The truth hurts. Deal with it. Mississippi needs Dave. The children need Dave. You all have crab hands.
Post a Comment