Majored in economics at the University of Illinois so very many years ago. Can’t remember much about my economics courses but a lot of stuff from my humanities survey courses has somehow stuck. If today’s young men who are increasingly avoiding college could just take a few of those their lives would be enriched immensely.
Really, the development of feudal law in 506 CE. Is there a cliff notes on this? I am probably giving away that I am an engineer. I need a solution. I did relate to getting on stage. I was in Music Man and enjoyed being an extra my freshman year. I also enjoyed dancing with girls for the first time at the cast party. Above all your empathy for students comes through. Keep up the good work.
The one student, if he's motivated, will be fine. Grades are a mile post, as I'm sure you know, but they usually don't at their age. They don't really matter, but what does is how far they guy and what they do afterwards with their brains. Will they turn them on? Will they continue learning? Reading? Not just shovel in the slop they're given by the main stream? Not just imbibe the opinions of their friends, but challenge and raise up all those around them to be better people?
That's always the age old question, and the goal of teaching, as I'm sure you know.
I loved reading this. I don't know what STEM is, though. I have been thinking a LOT on what education used to be - including a liberal arts education, if one were lucky enough to attend college back then. I wasn't. But it was to make well rounded people who could think, speak, write, debate, get up on stage, act or sing in a play; study philosophy and ethics - things of value for a LIFE that help in many areas, rather than a 'career.' You cover all that here with your kids. I did art in the schools without college or a teaching degree; kept telling the kids art is all about problem solving and showing where opportunities lie when they make 'mistakes' or an 'accident' happens. That it's good to not always know where you're going. and to enjoy the journey.
YOU are that special teacher who reaches out to the individual person, and see the ones falling through the cracks and give some support or just see them. and meet them where they are - draw them in, or out of their shells. Nobody is stupid without being conditioned to be. These kids will remember you. Good teachers are the ones we always remember. The ones who want to know what you think.
The educational system is stupid today. It makes young children sit for hours and hours ; they are kinetic. They need to MOVE! We are not meant to be automatons. No one sat much in our art classes. They were noisy, lively affairs. There is nothing more exciting than seeing a child light up - it could be when they learn to read and know that whole worlds just opened up to them. Or when they stick with something and see it through and surprise themselves, or study philosophy and it helps them think in whole new ways. It's so exciting.
I love this "series". You're doing God's work with those kids.
Still, can't help but say that I'm somewhat torturing myself reading this. I can't simply just let go the envy I feel for the kids.
I never had teachers who could show me the beauty of humanities, while I was always a troubled kid with good grades otherwise. No teacher would really care about me, other than giving out warnings. I think they were too afraid to have those real talk with an asshole like me, because it might have revealed something about them they would rather not know. It didn't help that although I have both my father and mother but my father was mostly "just there". (I don't have kids, I don't know if I ever will, so I don't know how this works. But if you have a favorite kid, don't let them know. I knew too soon that I was not the favorite...)
You could say I was a lost kid in many aspects and I guess it would have helped me if someone made me sit down and tell me the "stuff". Instead I could listen to my teacher telling us, that we will never amount to anything. (Most likely yes, but you get your pay to give us a fighting chance...bitch.)
Instead I had to figure out myself many things. So many lost years, so many pointless suffering. It's funny, because I was always a STEM person but I loved history. I still slept through all my classes during my time in public education. I had absolutely no care for literature and nowadays I'm finding myself looking out for it. I was the atheist edgelord and now I'm going to church(when I can...a broken ankle hinders me a little right now).
BTW literature. To be fair, I can say two teachers who really gave me something. They were both literature teacher but one was the last year of elementary and the other was my last three months before university. They were the only ones who called me out on my bullshit and tried to connect with me. Despite the little time they had, they were the only ones that provided me with wisdom for life. It's weird how this works.
Part of why I'm writing it is so folks who maybe didn't get what they needed can get some of it now. At the end of the day, I'm not just figuring out what happened during the week in school but also how to talk to everyone in a similar way.
There is so much be done and time is short.
I'm glad you're enjoying this and learning. So am I. :)
I love it. It clearly shows that you really care for the kids (and enjoy it too).
I would love to think that I kinda figured out most of the things by now(I'm 30) but I bet they can always show you new things. It's true wholesome stuff. As I started to make peace with myself, I became more receptive for it.
I’ll pray for that young man. The ‘no schooler’ who will, definitely, be fine. The film club you mentioned sounds like a great idea to me. Engagement by any means necessary. And relevant. Well worth a try.
Mister, I take my hat off to you.
And as someone who has stopped messing about and committed to returning to faith, I’ll throw in a couple of prayers for you.
You are totally correct. It's part of the reason why I never found the corporate world satisfying. It took me longer than I'd like to admit to realize, but it's because I wasn't prepared for that life.
Yes, increasingly the pursuit of the humanities is a guerrilla activity.
that makes me grin big.
Majored in economics at the University of Illinois so very many years ago. Can’t remember much about my economics courses but a lot of stuff from my humanities survey courses has somehow stuck. If today’s young men who are increasingly avoiding college could just take a few of those their lives would be enriched immensely.
Great stuff! I was the kid who got steered by my teachers to keep going on my own in the library.
Keep up the good fight! You are making a huge impact even if you don’t see it immediately.
“The stars won’t wait forever.
So neither will you.” ❤️💯❤️
Sounds like you are the kind of teacher that can inspire curiosity about the world.
Someone once told me the brain is like a muscle, the more you excercise it the stronger it gets. Your kids are gonna be ripped.
What a wonderful reminder that our lives are a roaring success if we help just one person along the way.
nice!!!
Best. Series. Ever. Really inspiring once again, thank you.
Really, the development of feudal law in 506 CE. Is there a cliff notes on this? I am probably giving away that I am an engineer. I need a solution. I did relate to getting on stage. I was in Music Man and enjoyed being an extra my freshman year. I also enjoyed dancing with girls for the first time at the cast party. Above all your empathy for students comes through. Keep up the good work.
The one student, if he's motivated, will be fine. Grades are a mile post, as I'm sure you know, but they usually don't at their age. They don't really matter, but what does is how far they guy and what they do afterwards with their brains. Will they turn them on? Will they continue learning? Reading? Not just shovel in the slop they're given by the main stream? Not just imbibe the opinions of their friends, but challenge and raise up all those around them to be better people?
That's always the age old question, and the goal of teaching, as I'm sure you know.
I loved reading this. I don't know what STEM is, though. I have been thinking a LOT on what education used to be - including a liberal arts education, if one were lucky enough to attend college back then. I wasn't. But it was to make well rounded people who could think, speak, write, debate, get up on stage, act or sing in a play; study philosophy and ethics - things of value for a LIFE that help in many areas, rather than a 'career.' You cover all that here with your kids. I did art in the schools without college or a teaching degree; kept telling the kids art is all about problem solving and showing where opportunities lie when they make 'mistakes' or an 'accident' happens. That it's good to not always know where you're going. and to enjoy the journey.
YOU are that special teacher who reaches out to the individual person, and see the ones falling through the cracks and give some support or just see them. and meet them where they are - draw them in, or out of their shells. Nobody is stupid without being conditioned to be. These kids will remember you. Good teachers are the ones we always remember. The ones who want to know what you think.
The educational system is stupid today. It makes young children sit for hours and hours ; they are kinetic. They need to MOVE! We are not meant to be automatons. No one sat much in our art classes. They were noisy, lively affairs. There is nothing more exciting than seeing a child light up - it could be when they learn to read and know that whole worlds just opened up to them. Or when they stick with something and see it through and surprise themselves, or study philosophy and it helps them think in whole new ways. It's so exciting.
Memes/ ideas travel through a society via the humanities.
Meme magic.
I wrote an article about this on my Substack titled “Meme Magic and The Humanities“
I love this "series". You're doing God's work with those kids.
Still, can't help but say that I'm somewhat torturing myself reading this. I can't simply just let go the envy I feel for the kids.
I never had teachers who could show me the beauty of humanities, while I was always a troubled kid with good grades otherwise. No teacher would really care about me, other than giving out warnings. I think they were too afraid to have those real talk with an asshole like me, because it might have revealed something about them they would rather not know. It didn't help that although I have both my father and mother but my father was mostly "just there". (I don't have kids, I don't know if I ever will, so I don't know how this works. But if you have a favorite kid, don't let them know. I knew too soon that I was not the favorite...)
You could say I was a lost kid in many aspects and I guess it would have helped me if someone made me sit down and tell me the "stuff". Instead I could listen to my teacher telling us, that we will never amount to anything. (Most likely yes, but you get your pay to give us a fighting chance...bitch.)
Instead I had to figure out myself many things. So many lost years, so many pointless suffering. It's funny, because I was always a STEM person but I loved history. I still slept through all my classes during my time in public education. I had absolutely no care for literature and nowadays I'm finding myself looking out for it. I was the atheist edgelord and now I'm going to church(when I can...a broken ankle hinders me a little right now).
BTW literature. To be fair, I can say two teachers who really gave me something. They were both literature teacher but one was the last year of elementary and the other was my last three months before university. They were the only ones who called me out on my bullshit and tried to connect with me. Despite the little time they had, they were the only ones that provided me with wisdom for life. It's weird how this works.
Part of why I'm writing it is so folks who maybe didn't get what they needed can get some of it now. At the end of the day, I'm not just figuring out what happened during the week in school but also how to talk to everyone in a similar way.
There is so much be done and time is short.
I'm glad you're enjoying this and learning. So am I. :)
I love it. It clearly shows that you really care for the kids (and enjoy it too).
I would love to think that I kinda figured out most of the things by now(I'm 30) but I bet they can always show you new things. It's true wholesome stuff. As I started to make peace with myself, I became more receptive for it.
I’ll pray for that young man. The ‘no schooler’ who will, definitely, be fine. The film club you mentioned sounds like a great idea to me. Engagement by any means necessary. And relevant. Well worth a try.
Mister, I take my hat off to you.
And as someone who has stopped messing about and committed to returning to faith, I’ll throw in a couple of prayers for you.
Respect, man.
You are totally correct. It's part of the reason why I never found the corporate world satisfying. It took me longer than I'd like to admit to realize, but it's because I wasn't prepared for that life.
That's correct. I've recently returned to faith, so I'm getting reacquainted with that perspective.