After reading the answers from Bell Work, I feel confident that my students know the causes of World War II.  We engage in a dodge ball type game that enables them to see imperialism and colonialism.  I allow them to break into alliances to teach the alliance system.  We discuss this and then move onto the Treaty of Versailles and they write reflections from the German perspective.  It's engaging and interesting.  Students really seem to grasp the causes of World War II. So, I walk away proud of how quickly they learned it.  The current culture is amazingly adept at picking up new information almost instantaneously. 

It's no secret that we live in an instant culture.  If I want to know the true lyrics to Jimi Hendrix's Purple Haze (Apparently it's not "excuse me while I kiss this guy.") I click on Google and type in three lyrics and instantaneously I have an answer.  Similarly, I can use an iPod to sift through stacks of albums.  If I want theatre-style pop corn, I no longer need to type in a number.  I simply press a pop corn button and there it is: buttery pop corn.  Some people are impressed by Nobel Prize winners who analyze the string theory.  To me the pinnacle of scientific progress is found in the mystery of turning a paper bag into a movie theatre experience. 

I think I value effeciency. I have a structured to-do list that I nearly always accomplish.  I find the quickest route to places.  I can bust out academic papers in minutes.  In the classroom, I use quick transitions. I engage in fast-paced dialogue with students, give them time deadlines and jam-pack information into each lesson.  Students learn quickly, but it can feel like a race car on the verge of spinning out of control. 

When I think of the world's best teachers, I notice that they were often deliberately confusing.  Socrates would engage in a long dialogue, often taking detours as he debunked the contemporary arguments.  At the end, his audiences were left baffled and confused. Similarly, throngs of hungry people followed Jesus for some fast food and an entertaining story.  They wanted a three point sermon.  Instead, he would tell a story - not to clarify a point, but to confuse people and force them to think.  For example, when he told a story about a farmer and seeds, even his closest students were left scratching their heads. 

So, what does that mean for me?  How do I immerse my students in mystery?  When I have so many standards to cover, how do I take a slower, more deliberate route?  And how do I reach my students without conforming to the norms of a fastfood culture?

 

 

 

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