ELLEN
BERG
Diary #17
"We the students of Turner Middle School..."
"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."As a student I hated all things history and government. History was the study of all things old and moldy, and it had nothing to do with me. When I would ask why I needed to learn about the past, teachers replied, "Because it's important." Unfortunately, they failed to impart that sense of importance to me. And why should I study about the government? The people in power knew what the rules were, so why should I bother learning them? I am ashamed to say this was my attitude as a student. Regrettably, I never had a history or government teacher who brought the dry and dusty details of our past and political life into focus for me. Even now, I think I would rather scrub the bathroom rather than take another history class or read any of the technical books on history my father seems to devour. Details, all devoid of meaning and life and relevance. Except, that's not exactly true. There was the time in seventh grade when we were studying the Russian Revolution, and my best friend and I consumed every book on the Romanofs and Rasputin we could find, even venturing into the adult section of the library to do so. We even gave a voluntary presentation to our classmates on the topic. Then there is the continuing fascination of the terrors of World War II that began in eighth grade after reading The Diary of Anne Frank. I could not believe such horrible acts could happen to real human beings, to teenagers and children especially! I started reading personal accounts of the Holocaust then branched out into more general texts on the subject. Finally, every time I get together with my brother, a political science professor, we seem to engage in an ever evolving discussion on the relative evils and benefits of politicians and the system. Over time we have helped each other view the issues in a new way as we debate from very different points of view.
--The United States Constitution
If I thought about it, I could probably pick out several other examples of my interest in history and government. Maybe the truth is I do not like "School History." (I wrinkle up my nose even as I type this.)
Our Classroom Constitution project
I began a constitution project with my kids this week in an effort to help them focus on their goals and responsibilties regarding their educations. I also hope to build some community among them. I initially conceived the project as a creed, a short statement of their beliefs. However, as I searched the web for ideas and thought further, the notion to change it to a constitution took root.
After all, a constitution is a statement of beliefs, rights, and responsibilities of the community that writes it. I had no more than a loose idea of connecting it to the United States Constitution before we started, and it was not until I introduced the project to my class that I got it.
I shared my dislike of history with my students, how all the events seemed meaningless and irrelevant. I began to tell them about the purpose of a constitution and how I wanted them to put only their real ideas into the document they were going to create.
It was as I was talking that it happened: I finally understood the purpose of our Constitution, the probable passion and fervor our forefathers had as they sat together to create the foundation of our government. Passion, beliefs, commitment to ideals...these are things to which I can relate.
I heard myself telling my kids they needed to commit themselves to this process like their forefathers did, holding themselves to truth and the highest standards as they shared and compromised and created something great. I saw several lights go on for my kids regarding the Constitution, and I suspect quite a few more will go on as we continue through the process.
I am going to take the opportunity to help my students make text-to-text and text-to-world connections by reading the Preamble and the Bill of Rights with them somewhere in the middle of this project. I think we will all come away with a better understanding and appreciation of not only our own Turner Middle School constitution but of our US Constitution as well.
Relevance helps all of us learn
To learn? Relevance is important to kids. Strike that; relevance is important to everyone when it comes to learning new content. Our brains are more open to taking in new information if we have something to connect it to or a reason to learn.
Today, for example, I learned how to set my new Macintosh laptop's internet connection up on OS X. I met several barriers, but as I compared the settings on our iMac with its earlier operating system with the somewhat different setup on this one, I managed to figure it out. However, if, even a day ago, someone had suggested I take a class or read a book on how to do this very thing, I would have rolled my eyes to myself and thought, "That's what my husband is for." Indeed, only my husband's preoccupation with the Rams game and home field advantage at stake created my desire to learn how to make my laptop do what I needed it to do.We must find a way to take our content to our students, either in creating need to know conditions or linking it in some way to what they are interested in. I sat in many a history class over time and learned nothing more striking than history is boring. Any history I have learned has been connected to other things I enjoyed: art, literature, personal accounts.
We cannot
afford to sit back and call students lazy or undisciplined; we must give
them reasons to care. We do have that responsibility. It is not entertainment
or spoonfeeding, it is good teaching practice pure and simple.
