Tuesday, May 17, 2016

The best and the worst

Literature is the best.  It was always my favorite subject in school, and it is a joy and a delight to teach, read, and discuss with my students.  They have deep insights and perspectives.  In today's class I asked them to make up a metaphor for the sky.  With very little effort, Noah spouted out a perfectly beautiful example of a metaphor:  "The sky is a canvas for all the clouds to paint."  

Then there's history.  I always hated that class throughout my career as a student, and now I still hate it as a teacher.  It's so boring and irrelevant.  Who cares whose empire defeated whose in what battle thousands of years ago?  I knew I would struggle with history, so I spent a lot of time researching a good curriculum.  The one I bought came highly recommended.  It has its good moments, but overall, I dread teaching it every day.  I tried not to let my attitude affect the students and did my best to feign enthusiasm for the subject, but it was a constant battle to keep them engaged.  Finally I admitted that it's boring to me too, but sometimes we have to listen respectfully to things we're not interested in, so it's a good practice to learn.  Since I confessed the truth, their own attitudes have been better about it.  

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