It's been a while since I've actually had a weekend to do exactly what I wanted to do, and I'm afraid that while the original intention was to actual make some phone and skype calls, I wanted to sleep. Or rather, needed to. I spent Friday evening enjoying some time with one of my Nashville roommates here away from school and responsibilities. However, it now appears that wherever there are small children around, I will revert to teacher mode. Being at the aquarium and looking around in wonder made me remember what I love about education, and museum education in particular. The kids were fascinated by everything around them and excited to engage with the presentations. That, is the best part of teaching, not the fighting and the lying and the constant breaking of pencils (it's not an accident. They do it on purpose. To torment me so that the sound of the electric sharpener never leaves my brain).
I spent much of Saturday sleeping, as somewhere in the jostling of my purse at the museum, I accidently activated my alarm clock on my phone. The one that is set to go off at 5:30 in the morning. I was so confused when it went off, especially since my phone was in the living room and I was deep asleep -- although I missed my roommate this weekend while she was back in Nashville, I'm so glad it did not wake her up as well at that hour! Needless, I fought any urge to get up and be productive and, let me tell you, --- it was glorious. I did finally get up to head out to a barbecue that some of the 2009 corps members threw in celebration of the 4th. I've barely had a chance to see some of the other Nashville corps since we started teaching since we're at several different schools and teaching different grades/subjects, so it was yet another reminder this weekend that I was a real person sometimes not just "Ms. A"
Through this amazing program at Bank of America, I was able to get into the Atlanta History Center for free this weekend. While not the most impressive museum I've been to, it has been one of the more thought provoking museums I've been to in a while. From as early as I can remember, my teachers have said "History is told from the point of view of the winners". Growing up, I had a limited knowledge of what the "South" was -- I'd been to Colonial Williamsburg, but then again, I'd also been to Plimoth Plantation. What I took away from them was probably similar: people talked kind of funny, they had lots of farm animals, and none of their houses had that much light in them.
Being in the South for all of six weeks now, I've come to see that my version of history north of the Mason-Dixie is missing some serious gaps. As I walked through the History Center, I saw several references to "President Davis". Before Institute and my slacking on my sporcling, I could name almost every President in under a minute. But President Davis? It took me a full 10 seconds to realize that they meant Jefferson Davis. My interest in history has never been particularly focused on dates, battles, and generals -- I leave that to my brother. I remembered a handful like the Battle of Fort Sumter and the Battle of Gettysburg. Which is probably why I was surprised to see the statement that there were 3 critical battles in the Civil War at which point the Confederacy could have won the war. Not a battle, but the whole war. My US History teacher wasn't bad -- in fact, I found I had a greater understanding of American history than many of my counterparts in college courses. Even still, it hasn't been until the last few weeks that I've come to see how much I've only understood a certain perspective.
Someone working at my school here in Atlanta gave us this advice:" In the first few years of school, just teach them how to read and some math. Don't bother really with history and science." I can agree that children need to read and do math, I'm not comfortable with this balance. I have a 2nd grader this summer who reads at a 5th grade level -- I have a devil of a time finding her books to read, because she's intimidated by really long books or she lacks the historical context to read the fiction books at her level. It makes my heart ache a little each time I hear about teachers trying to use wonderful pieces of literature, books that have won Newbury and Coretta Scott King awards, and their students don't engage with the material because the names and events in the story are nothing more than words on a page.
So in that vein, Happy Birthday Amurica! In the vein of TFA, my Big Goal: I want to infuse my students with a passion for history, their own and that of others, that will enrich their understanding of the world around them.
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