Yeah, I hate ‘em too.  If you read, like I do, a couple dozen teachers’ blogs, you’ll find that for the past week or so, everyone’s been writing about heading back to school and what that means for them. 

So I was reading Will Richardson’s back-to-school post (and if you’re a teacher and you’re not reading Will’s blog regularly, you’re missing out on a TON, not least of which is some insight into what it’s like to be one of those people who present to your entire district on the first day of school when all you want to do is get into your classroom and put stuff up on the walls) and came across this comment from Christian Long:

I wish every speaker/consultant that was blessed enough to have a paying, ticket-holding, captive audience would slam on the brakes when it comes to “here’s how it can be used in your classroom on Monday!” approach…

…and shift entirely to the “What matters to you deeply? What are your passions? What do you what do you want to learn — deeply learn — as a human being, not just as a teacher? And how wide a circle of friends/colleagues do you want on that journey?”

Christian, I think, nailed it.  Without knowing what’s important to you as a person, it’s almost impossible to figure out what to do in a classroom.  Especially if, like me, you’re teaching some courses you’ve never taught before.

So this summer I reread Moby-Dick as a human being.  I wanted to find the emotional hooks, get caught up in the story, care about the characters, and learn something about a vanished way of life.  I wasn’t searching for themes, essay topics, or any of that kind of stuff.  I read as a reader, which is what I expect my students to do.

Okay, yeah, but let’s get beyond that.  Moby-Dick’s a pretty good book, but it’s not the be-all and end-all of my existence.  And if I’m going to be a decent teacher at some point in my career, I’m going to have to be more of a complete person.  So I’m going to have to learn a lot of big things–big things about how adults work, about how younger people work, about the environment and natural processes, about philosophy, religion, and a ton of other things as well. 

And how to learn them?  Well, I guess that’s the biggest thing I need to learn.  Books help, yes, but what about talking to people?  Reading blogs and newspapers?  Watching films?  Getting outside with open ears and eyes?  Cooking?  Messing up?

The best new-to-me curriculum, so far, is the one for English 300: Culture and Identity.  In that class, students are trying to figure out what “culture” is, what their various heritages give to them in terms of world-view and opportunity, and how that plays out for their teenage identities and adult futures.  I think this is the class that’s going to come closest to somehow cracking open a little bit of what we like to call the Human Condition.  It’s also the class for which I’m least prepared, so I’ll be taking that journey along with them.  Should be a ride, at the very least.