Video Blog + 4th of July Digression
So this is the video blog. It is one day after the 4th of July. Given where I am at politically, and what I think of our country and its values, it is an odd holiday for me.
But there is always Jefferson. Fascinating man, and the Declaration is a work of art.
His first draft of the Declaration was much stronger than the version that came out of debate. At the debate itself Jefferson was silent- he was a writer and propagandist (yes, he was doing agit-prop: people are not born equal; rather, they are born as helpless infants embedded within a larger framework of institutions, cultural practices, underlying economic practices, and an already determined bio-geographical historical trajectory), not a debater.
In fact, he was so upset that changes were being made that Franklin had to put a hand on his knee and tell him to calm down. Writers can be petulant sometimes.
Of course some of the original had to amended. He blames the King for slavery and for undermining slavery. He was trying have it both ways. So that got cut.
And at the same time that he was trying to appeal to the 16-40 year old "militia man" demographic he also had to be concerned about pissing off the so-called "butter churning moms." He also had the phrase "or your money back" after the famous "We hold these truths to be self evident..." line. The rest of the slave holding Declaration signers thought that a bad idea...just kidding, of course.
As for watching myself on video?
Well, I need to lose between 10-15 pounds.
And I need to stand more upright, with my shoulders back. I need to move with purpose. Body language matters.
A stronger voice would be helpful come fall. I can conjure that voice at will, but with one kid to teach it is hard to maintain that kind of command presence and not start to come across as overbearing. He's a good kid to boot, and we've already had a run in or two where I let him know who was in charge. I'm the one in charge. Mr. Hardy is well aware that it is my classroom. Now it is just a matter of structuring the learning and the lesson plans so that he learns the material.
The thing is this: since my first lesson I have made a very conscious effort to say very little. At the end of class it is the student that should be tired, not the teacher. So in the lesson that was recorded, I probably said less than 100 words.
There were 9-14 minute sections of class where I said nothing at all while he worked. Given that I have only one student there was no real issue with classroom management. In the block lesson that I taught a little later Amani thought I said less than 50 words in 100 minutes. In both lessons I had the student doing activities, building his knowledge base, creating timelines, learning geography, writing essays, and learning new vocabulary. All I did was give him the directions.
Now back to the 4th of July. Check out this British political cartoon:
It says: "I'll force you to obedience you rebellious slut."
The European ruling classes used the same kinds of language and imagery against the revolutionaries of 1848 and 1871.
They have gotten a lot of propaganda mileage linking political upheaval with feminine virtue or lack thereof- usually lack thereof. You gotta love patriarchy as a weapon/bludgeon in class conflict. But I digress.
So in class the project was to build his own timeline using essay, political cartoons, key names and concepts, and maps. This was his first attempt- my directions were insufficient; the second time around we got it right- his timeline looked great and he was able to retain much of the material for the exam. It was, I think, because he, rather than me, did all of the work. He asked a few questions and I answered them- that was all. I almost felt like I was cheating.
But I wasn't. The work was in planning the lesson and organizing for it. Now I just need to taper back the amount of time it takes me to lesson plan. All work and no play makes for a steady diet of Lexapro and Clanazapam. Or copious amounts of Vodkatol.
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