Day Forty-Six

For those of you just tuning in, "This Guy is Falling" follows the educational exploits of Mr. Birds-Eye, a high school teacher in his third year of teaching, traditionally the make or break year in the profession. Fearing that he has finally reached his wits end, Birds-Eye decides to write a blog in hopes that he can reboot his year by focusing on the positives of the profession.

And I'm happy to report that it's been working.


So while I was on vacation my students watched Malcolm X. When I got back on Tuesday, several students reported that they hated the film.


No big thing.


To get back in the swing of things, I had my students read their Level Four Questions (see blog, Day 12 ) from Black Boy.


Here's a taste.


INT. CLASSROOM - DAY


STUDENT #1 (reading question) - "Why are people hesitant to learn new things?"


TEACHER - Why?


STUDENT #1 - Because they got to put the work in.


STUDENT #2 - My grandma hasn't bought a new phone in years because she doesn't want to learn the new buttons.


The CLASS LAUGHS.


TEACHER -  Okay so that's an old lady. Do little kids like learning new things?


STUDENT #2 - Yeah. Because new things are exciting. They're new.


TEACHER - So why do we lose that excitement over time? We're still exposed to new things, right?


STUDENT #1 - Yeah, but we know we got to learn it. Little kids don't even know they're learning.


TEACHER - They're like a sponge. Okay, so lets talk about Malcolm X.


The TEACHER turns to a STUDENT who hated the film.


TEACHER (to Student #3) - So you hated the film, why?


STUDENT #3 - Because it was looooong and boring.


TEACHER - Why was it loooong and boring?


STUDENT #3 - Because I didn't need to learn about him being with that white ho. It was way too much information.


TEACHER - So you didn't think it was important to his whole changeover into a Black Muslim?


STUDENT #3 - Yeah, it was important, but I didn't need to learn that.


TEACHER - Okay, so you didn't like the film, but can we agree that at least you learned that you didn't like it.  As opposed to you never seeing it and never learning anything about Malcolm X.


STUDENT #3 - I really don't know why it'd be important for me to know about him.


TEACHER - Okay, I'll tell you why. One day you're going to be in New York and you're going to look up at Malcolm X Blvd. and you're little son is going to say, "Mommy, what's a Malcolm X?"


STUDENT #3 - I'm going to have a daughter.


TEACHER - And you're going to say," Well, Malcolm X was in this long, boring movie this teacher made me watch in school." And then you're daughter is going to say, "What's the X stand for?" And you're going to say, "Well, it's not a Roman numeral. He named himself Malcolm X because he denounced his slave name and chose an X as a sign of protest." And then you're daughter's going to say, "Wow, Mom you're smart!"


STUDENT #3 - I am smart.


TEACHER - Now what if you never saw the movie? This is what would happen in that same scenario. "Mommy, what's Malcolm X?" "That's Malcolm Ten, honey." And you'd keep walking.


The CLASS LAUGHS.


TEACHER - Get the point?


END SCENE


And that in a nutshell is why I still like teaching.


Signing off.


Birds-Eye