Tomorrow I report for the first of three days on “induction” training for teachers “new” to Prince George’s County Public Schools, which may seem odd given that when I retired from the district in 2012 I had 15 ½ years to my credit. I won’t complain. There are things that are very much different, and I will be paid for the three days.
The following week there are four days of teacher prep week — mandatory training, meetings, setting up one’s classroom. I will get to meet fellow staff members in my new school, about which more anon.
The day after Labor Day is only for students new to high schools and middle schools. I may have some, but I am not teaching 9th graders (except for those who flunked English but passed their other core courses). The Wednesday thereafter I will finally “teach.”
One thing I have already decided — ALL of my classes, including AP Micro Economics, are going to be introduced to Kant’s categorical imperative. It is perhaps the best way I can provide a framework for moral thinking that right now is so critical, and it provides a way of addressing some of the horrors of what we have recently seen without my having to point things out.
I am glad to be returning to full time teaching in a public school, even as I know there will be challenges. Half of my classes will be Advanced Placement, but I am in a school with a 35% rate of transience — if that applies primarily to my non-AP classes, I may well see that by the end of the year almost half the students in my non-AP classes will be students who did not start the year with me. Since my focus always has to be the students before me, this will provide some serious challenges, and to some degree restrict the freedom I have at approaching the curriculum: I cannot be in a totally different place than the county pacing guide, because it will be unfair to the student I have coming in during the school year.
But I have thoughts beyond my teaching…..
Most of my recent blogging has been to make others aware of things they might either not otherwise see, or to alert them to things so that they will see them sooner. While I may offer personal comments, I have not really been digging deep into issues to explain them. The one exception may have been on the idea of renaming the ten Army posts named after Confederates — I am not saying my post was responsible, but it has been interesting to watch as this has become an issue with some valence, as noted by things such as Gen. Barry McCaffrey arguing the same point several days later.
I could make predictions of what I expect to happen now, but I do not think that is of much importance.
I could offer some strong criticisms of some of what I see from Democrats on the Hill, but I will after Labor Day be able to offer my thoughts directly to some of them in an informal situation (off the record) that we share.
I teach Government. That is the focus of five of my 6 classes (the other is Microeconomics, which is less connected with current political events than would be Macroeconomics). The understanding of what our government is and should be is right now very much up in the air. That requires me to reflect seriously on what I believe before I can consider how I should teach it to my students.
We as a nation are in an interesting place, in the sense of the ancient Chinese curse “May you live in interesting times.” It is not yet clear to me that we will survive as a liberal democracy (political science terms). Or that the general consensus that has prevented a major international war since 1945 will prevail Our institutions and assumptions are very much under threat.
I am 71. As is not unusual when one reaches my age, my energy is less than it used to be, and I must deal with health issues. And as regular readers of my posts know, my first focus has to be the health and well-being of my spouse who receive a diagnosis of cancer on January 27, 2013, and while she is currently in remission her life and thus mine have to be shaped by what we must do to help her live as full a life as possible.
I cannot claim to be wise. Age/experience do not necessarily translate to either insight or wisdom.
And yet, I have lived through enough — and beyond that read, thought and reflected — that perhaps I may have some perceptions, observations, thoughts worthy of sharing.
Outside of my classroom, where I bring those to my students (who have trouble grasping what a life of 7 decades means in terms of the history we study), my primary forum for attempting to be of value is this website. While for a variety reasons I no longer seem to make the annual Netroots gatherings (conflicts with my volunteering some years, my teaching some others, and occasionally health issues either for me or my spouse), this community has served not only as an outlet for me to offer ideas, but in dialogue with others to hone my thinking and deepen my understanding.
I have watched as people who used to be active participants have drifted away, or left voluntarily or otherwise. I have enjoyed experiencing new voices, with new perspectives that have challenged me.I
I have also, unfortunately, seen even here intolerance and small-mindedness, something that I think diminishes the value of this site. For now, I mention this only in passing.
This community has a role to play at a critical time in our nation’s history and polity.
I can only hope we continue to bear that in mind as we go forward, into elections this year (cricial elections in Virginia where I live and in New Jersey) and into next.
As I said, these are miscellaneous thoughts of no particular value.
Make of them what you will.
Peace.