A teaching "win"
xtremehardy388
Posts: 2,759
In my last post, I got to thinking about my time teaching high school history. I played a few songs for the class (Masters of War and Rockin in the Free World) acoustic. Some of the kids (mostly inner city) got into it. What really stood out was a story about John (I'm using a fake name for him).
John was a class clown. He had the typical "potential for high grades but boredom in class/desire to get attention from girls". Who could blame him? I was the same way in high school (though I usually got turned down by the girls). I found out he played guitar so I made him a deal. Each week I would give him 5 chances. Each time he acted out, he lost a chance. If he had chances at the end of the week, I'd bring in one of my 11 guitars for him to try (I even let him bring it home to try in his rig---after all, how can you really tell if you like the sound unless you try it through your own stuff?) and even record with it. This showed I trusted him to take care of it. That, alone, really perked his interest. He had a great PRS and loved playing guitar. The first guitar I brought in was my Fender Mustang (looks just like Kurt Cobain's in the "SLTS" video). I INSTANTLY saw results. I was taking my education classes at Western Michigan University and, while I had great professors, I did not agree with the "hold their hand and don't punish/discipline" curriculum. I had just gotten out of the Fire Academy a year before and I was headstrong on disciplining kids (these kids needed discipline BIG TIME). I went to school in the district I was teaching so the attitudes were nothing I hadn't seen, experiences, or dealt with. However, I learned about dealing with kids and accommodation. Guitars SAVE THE DAY!
John was a class clown. He had the typical "potential for high grades but boredom in class/desire to get attention from girls". Who could blame him? I was the same way in high school (though I usually got turned down by the girls). I found out he played guitar so I made him a deal. Each week I would give him 5 chances. Each time he acted out, he lost a chance. If he had chances at the end of the week, I'd bring in one of my 11 guitars for him to try (I even let him bring it home to try in his rig---after all, how can you really tell if you like the sound unless you try it through your own stuff?) and even record with it. This showed I trusted him to take care of it. That, alone, really perked his interest. He had a great PRS and loved playing guitar. The first guitar I brought in was my Fender Mustang (looks just like Kurt Cobain's in the "SLTS" video). I INSTANTLY saw results. I was taking my education classes at Western Michigan University and, while I had great professors, I did not agree with the "hold their hand and don't punish/discipline" curriculum. I had just gotten out of the Fire Academy a year before and I was headstrong on disciplining kids (these kids needed discipline BIG TIME). I went to school in the district I was teaching so the attitudes were nothing I hadn't seen, experiences, or dealt with. However, I learned about dealing with kids and accommodation. Guitars SAVE THE DAY!
Grand Rapids '04, Detroit '06
JEFF HARDY AND JEFF AMENT USED TO LOOK THE SAME
"Pearl Jam always eases my mind and fires me up at the same time.”-Jeff Hardy
JEFF HARDY AND JEFF AMENT USED TO LOOK THE SAME
"Pearl Jam always eases my mind and fires me up at the same time.”-Jeff Hardy
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