Chi-Town Throwdown {The Greatest Field Trip Ever}

I have always believed that classrooms are effective tools for lots of instruction. But the confines of four walls can also limit instruction. Indeed sometimes it is imperative to take the students outside. And sometimes, it is imperative to take the students to Chicago.

Some of my best friends, who happen to also teach here, and I have planned up a magical field trip to Chicago in late May.  We call it the Chi-Town Throwdown.

I do not know where our personal experience ends, and our education begins - but I know that the two are interconnected and nonexclusive.  I have learned so much in my life in classroom settings, and on educational campuses.  But my personal connections and beliefs were shaped almost solely by my experiences in life.  I am the person that I am, as a result of experience.  Theories, books, and knowledge have mostly served to help me understand the experience that I am living into.

As a professional educator, it is always my hope that my students' understanding of history, humanities, and social science will help each of them better understand their experience in this world.  I know that for me, my experiences in Italy, California, England, New York, etc. have shaped my perspective more than any single academic class.   It is my hope that I can give back, and that this trip to Chicago can do the same for my students.  It is not so much the museums, or architecture tours - as it is the opportunity to soak up the sights, sounds, and spirit of a new city.  I believe it was Proust who said, “The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”   
Chicago will be our new landscape, but it is a means to an end.  The end is to return home with new eyes.

What is Punk Rock Pedagogy?

The most valuable preparation that I ever received for teaching history in a public high school was from punk rock bands.  Growing up in Winston-Salem, NC, I was in numerous punk rock bands from age 14 through my college years.  They included bands with names like: Filling in for Zippy, Mike TV,  and Meadow's Maxim.  We did everything by ourselves -  from booking shows in basements, to buying PA systems, to writing songs.  We made stickers, t-shirts, and cassette tapes.  We practiced, learned to record, and watched ( and emulated) other bands.  We were driven, passionate, and extremely motivated to improve.  We had a blast.

By being a part of these punk bands - I learned how to:

• Hatch an idea. 
• Set goals towards its achievement. 
• Motivate others to believe in it. 
• Work with groups to make the idea happen.  
• Have a great time while doing it!

I am forever grateful for this experience, mostly because I have used these skills every day in my classroom for 14 years.   Teaching is about passion, inspiration, and positive experiences.  As teachers, we must always make our passion infectious, and we must accept that we have to constantly attempt to inspire those around us (in most cases, our students).  It is hard work, and we must earn the inspiration every day.  We should be sweating when we are done for the day, and things may get messy in our classroom.  It will (most likely) be loud, and students will need to have conversations with us. We will have to make up new rules, and try new methods, in order to move forward.  And we must be open to change, if these methods do not work.

I call this idea Punk Rock Pedagogy.

Many will tell you that teaching is about organization, and preparation, and classroom management.  And I do not dispute this idea, as all of these qualities can make for a great learning experience.  But passion, and the ability to inspire others are the sparks that ignite most valuable learning in today's public school classrooms.  And these sparks will drive us to prepare, and plan, and organize - because we love what we are doing.

And we must love what we are doing.  We must care about our students.  We must believe that a free and decent education is a right for everyone.  And we must serve our students.  We must be punk rock.

Happy Students

Happy Students Make the Best Students:

In this thing called education, it is often difficult to explain any aspect of it in black and white terms - as we tend to function in shades of gray.  That being said - over the years I have observed (at least in my classes) a few maxims that seem to hold true.  One of these is that "happy students make the best students."  One of the easiest pitfalls into which many of us teachers can fall is to simply drill and assess content, in order to create data driven results.  While it is true that instruction and assessment of all types are crucial to any quality education, it is also clear that an individual student's happiness (or lack thereof) is an impressive predictor of academic outcome.  If a student is unhappy, a test on FDR's Works Progress Adminstration may not be his main concern.  It is more likely that the source of his unhappiness will overwhelm all other areas of his life, including academics.  And the thing is, high school students may be THE most prone to unpleasant and unhappy thoughts - as they are having to navigate that unique blend of cliques, breakups, drama, early mornings, pressure to go to a good college, and my test.  So, in order to reach their potential - how do we help these students find some balance, and loosen them up a bit?

My suggestion is to play like it is summer camp.  These students must have opportunities to operate in a free environment, so that they can escape the daily grind, and experience team building and challenge.  In my classes, we try to break up the daily routine that is the traditional public high school, by incorporating: games (both indoors and outdoors), art projects, outdoor activities, sports, etc.  We often joke that my classes tend to look a lot more like a summer camp than they do a history class.  But this is by design - because I truly desire my students to be happy.  I believe that because of their more content minds, that a willingness to work harder will follow.  It has held true, as most of my classes have learned that you have to pay to play - but as hard as we work, we will play harder. Plus, we do live in one of the most beautiful places on earth; it seems a waste of resources to not be outside from time to time. And we are all happier people afterwards, and we are more prepared to take on the giant leaps that academic rigor requires.

Planet Money T-Shirt

NPR's Planet Money made an incredible documentary on the making of a t-shirt.  Meeting the individuals in Bangladesh and Colombia who actually made the t-shirt was illuminating, and amazing.  We had a great viewing, and in-class discussion about it today at school, in AP World History.  

It helped all of us realize that the items we buy are made by real people, with their hands.  It introduced us to individuals on the other side of the world, who are living their lives and following their passions -  just like us.  
I highly recommend it.

Watch it by clicking here.

Aussies.

One would not imagine that North Buncombe High School would be a vehicle by which many international students would connect - but it is.  

Not too long ago, NBHS started a student exchange program with Denmark (I wrote about it here).  And this week, we hosted a group of students from Australia.  

 

These kids play on a club basketball team, and are traveling around the US playing high school teams.  They played here on Wednesday night.  I was lucky enough to visit with these kids on Thursday morning, during which time we had a wonderful chat about Australian culture, American misconceptions, and what surprised them most about their time here.  

 

The ties that bind.

The Past in Our Landscapes

I am a sucker for all things global, and far away.  I have always been captivated by travel, and meeting people form diverse places and cultures.  I just love the discovering the ties that bind.  And lately, my thoughts have turned to the continent of Africa.  I find the entire continent mesmerizing, and love to read about it, as much as just stare at images of its' landscape.  I just fell in love with the Long Way Down motorcycle journey ( which started in Scotland - traveled through Europe and all of Africa - and completed in Capetown, South Africa) that Ewan McGregor and Charlie Borman completed a few years back.  

But recently, I have started reading and following the journey of journalist Paul Salopek.  Writing for National Geographic, he is attempting to retrace the first human migration.  According to anthropologists and historians - humans originated in East Africa and migrated to all points of the earth.  Salopek is attempting the same journey (From East Africa to Tierra Del Fuego in South America) over a 7 year period - and is calling out the Out of Eden Walk.  It is truly an amazing story to tell.  

In his recent writings, I came across this sentence, "What disconcerts us about suburbia? Not just its sameness, but its absence of time. We crave a past in our landscapes."  This idea has really stuck with me, as I am quite guilty of this sentiment in my daily life.  But it is true that most of my meaningful experiences in life have come directly from the feeling that overcomes me when I am overwhelmed by sense of place.  "A past on our landscapes" really just means authenticity, at least to me.  The feeling that the place we inhabit is unique because nature and/or humans who have come before us have made it that way.  That feeling that permeates me when I know that I am walking in the footsteps that so many others have walked.  Growing up spending time in Old Salem, and living in old houses for most of my adult life has embedded that idea deeply into my soul.  But wherever I find myself these days, I seek authenticity more than anything else.  Usually that takes me to the past.  And living here in the mountains of North Carolina is a wonderful place to start.  From the landscape itself, to the Biltmore house, to the Appalachian Trail - the past permeates this place.  And my children spend as much time in these places of past, as they do anywhere else.  My hope is that this sense of place and personal commitment to fulfill our role will rub off on them.

In the end, Africa is no more unique than any other place on earth, concerning the past.  People have lived there for thousands of years, and have lived their lives attempting to survive and find fulfillment - just like North Carolina.  But following journeys through places and time still make me feel connected to the human family.  The ties that bind.