LESSON THIRTEEN: THEY GREW UP PLAYING VIDEO GAMES

23 January 2014: Day 13

LESSON THIRTEEN: THEY GREW UP PLAYING VIDEO GAMES

The sixth grade students continued working on their essays today. Many completed them—and were justifiably proud of themselves and their accomplishment. They had written a well-organized, six-paragraph essay with plenty of facts that was between one and two pages long.

To be honest, I felt a bit proud myself—the method I had taught them worked, and they had seen the benefits. My first multi-day lesson had taught them about the four primary forms of government in ancient Greece, but also a method for organizing their thoughts quickly and efficiently into an essay. The first lesson (in my opinion) is fascinating and of some value in understanding the political processes around the world. The second will help them for years to come with a wide variety of scholastic and non-scholastic tasks.

The Eighth Graders

Allison and I wanted to build on our successes of the day before, such as they were. We also wanted to get back into curriculum materials more directly. Allison pointed out that if we tried to begin the lesson with a group activity, it would likely disintegrate into their unique form of chaos and we would never get them back. So we opted instead for me to go through a PowerPoint™ I had prepared of some of the next points in the textbook chapter.

Allison managed to get all of them seated and the volume down enough to hear ourselves. I put up the PowerPoint™ and began by telling them a little about Davy Crockett: getting his first rifle at age 8, fighting Seminole Indians in the swamps of Florida, his ability to stick an axe in a tree from 40 yards away, and then split a bullet on the axe’s blade with his trusty long rifle, Betsy. I discussed the “comic books” of the time that portrayed him as a sort of superhero. I told them how he hunted bears with a knife and was famous all over the country as a hunter, trapper, Indian fighter, marksman, and colorful character.

In 1826 he was elected to the House of Representatives. Legend has it he made a speech to Congress that included the following:

"I'm that same David Crockett, fresh from the backwoods, half-horse, half-alligator, a little touched with the snapping turtle; can wade the Mississippi, leap the Ohio, ride upon a streak of lightning, and slip without a scratch down a honey locust…

"Mr. Speaker: Who-Who-Whoop — Bow-Wow-Wow-Yough. I say, Mr. Speaker; I've had a speech in soak this six months, and it has swelled me like a drowned horse; if I don’t deliver it I shall burst and smash the windows…In one word I’m a screamer, and have got the roughest racking horse, the prettiest sister, the surest rifle and the ugliest dog in the district…My father can whip any man in Kentucky, and I can lick my father. I can out-speak any man on this floor, and give him two hours start. I can run faster, dive deeper, stay longer under, and come out drier, than any chap this side the big Swamp. I can outlook a panther and out-stare a flash of lightning, tote a steamboat on my back and play at rough and tumble with a lion, and an occasional kick from a zebra.

"To sum up all in one word I’m a horse. Goliah was a pretty hard colt but I could choke him. I can take the rag off-frighten the old folks-astonish the natives-and beat the Dutch all to smash-make nothing of sleeping under a blanket of snow and don’t mind being frozen more than a rotten apple.

"For bitters I can suck away at a noggin of aquafortis, sweetened with brimstone, stirred with a lightning rod, and skimmed with a hurricane. I’ve soaked my head and shoulders in Salt River, so much that I’m always corned. I can walk like an ox, run like a fox, swim like an eel, yell like an Indian, fight like a devil, spout like an earthquake, make love like a mad bull, and swallow a Mexican whole without choking if you butter his head and pin his ears back."

Not exactly how we picture our congressmen. But the students liked it. Among all the other reasons the story is fun, perhaps it resonates with how young people view most politicians today: patently offensive, self-serving liars.

I then introduced Washington Irving and we showed them the trailer for the 1999 movie The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I had them make some notes about what details they could glean from the trailer about life in the early 1800s. They liked the trailer—Johnny Depp, Christina Ricci, a headless horseman, and scary music—what’s not to like?

We then showed them a series of videos to illustrate the popular music of the time—as well as the rampant racism: Jump Jim Crow, Old Folks at Home, Camptown Races, and Oh! Susanna performed in blackface, most of them by Al Jolson. I was a bit nervous about this since both Allison and I expected that after (or during) each video the class would disintegrate into their typical mayhem as they “discussed” what they had seen and try hard to impress the rest of the class with how clever they were.

But while there was conversation after the videos, the reactions were more sober than I could have hoped for. They were offended by the blackface performances (and a little creeped out), and recognized them as an example of popular culture and racism. Some of them even liked some of the songs a little—feet were tapping, heads bobbing, and shoulders rocking.

I then began taking them through a PowerPoint™ I had prepared about the Transcendentalists and the Hudson River School artists. I asked them to write their interpretation/application of the following quotes:

“Forever is composed of nows.” (Emily Dickinson)

“Do not go where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path, and leave a trail.” (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

“If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” (Henry David Thoreau)

They did. When I asked for a student to share their interpretation of the Dickinson quote, he said, “YOLO.” Nice. He not only understood, but could connect it with a modern philosophy with which he was familiar. After getting their thoughts on the final quote, I reminded them of our discussion from some days before.

“I told you earlier how impressed I was with the goals and hopes and dreams you have shared with me during my interviews. You have noble goals; you want to do things with your lives. You have castles you are building in the air. It is up to you to begin putting foundations under them and, as we discussed, that happens NOW. Your decisions right now matter. Your ability to focus, to use your time wisely, to delay gratification—these are what are required to build those foundations.”

The next slides showed them some of my favorite paintings from the Hudson River School, as well as some portraits by Gilbert Stuart. I have yet to have a group of students fail to be impressed and at least a little moved by Hudson River School art. As we went through the paintings I pointed out the common symbolisms: the broken tree, reflective water, approaching storms, miniscule people, graves…Very quickly the students cued into these symbols, so that when I put up the next slide, they would point: “I see the broken branch!” or something similar. We discussed the effects of the Industrial Revolution on the natural world, and new definitions of spirituality by the Transcendentalists.

When we had viewed several of the paintings, I asked them to record their overall impressions of the art: what feelings did it convey, what they noticed the most, what they liked. And they did. They got it.

Obviously, it didn’t go as smoothly as this summary might suggest—there were plenty of times when we had to shush them into some form of quiet. One of the worst offenders, though was missing today, and the difference in the class was palpable. Also, at one point I yelled—really yelled!—at another student who simply will not stop talking. It doesn’t matter if you are standing right in front of his desk and have just asked him to be quiet a dozen times—he will continue to talk right over you and ignore anything you do or say. So I yelled. I told him his behavior was ridiculous and that he was incredibly rude. He—and the rest of the class—quieted. His facial expression even changed from his permanent sneer—into something resembling sheepishness.

But, to me, the day was an unqualified success. Students learned, and they enjoyed it. More than that, they will remember some of what they learned, and will even connect it to their own lives.

LESSON THIRTEEN: THEY GREW UP PLAYING VIDEO GAMES

I could be completely wrong about this, but one of the reasons I think today worked better was our use of multimedia: slides, video, music AND our requirement that they regularly write responses to what they were learning. For some of you reading this, you might be thinking (eloquently): “Duh!” But when it is all you can do to get kids to sit in their seats, to stop yelling, to face forward, to stop throwing things, then some of the finer points of teaching tend to go out the window. And Allison had warned me that previous attempts to play historical songs to this class had not worked at all.

But today, perhaps, the classroom was a slightly more familiar place, providing the comfort of the glowing screen of moving images that connects them to the world outside their bedrooms. Perhaps I needed reminded about a basic rule of teaching: everyone learns differently, and the BEST way to address this is to teach as many ways as you can all at once. Provide auditory input, visual input, and opportunities to move (even if it’s just their fingers).

Maybe I’m wrong, and it was other factors that focused them today. But one thing I am sure about: tomorrow’s lesson will include pictures, sound, and video.