Old Friends From The Past kids and teens
I walk out and stand all-alone in front of 30 tenth grade inner
city U.S. History students and ask these teenagers, "What did Thomas
Jefferson teach us?"
Nothing but silence followed my request.
"Okay," I say. "What did Teddy Roosevelt teach us?"
Nothing, but silence again and some rolling of the eyes.
Hmm tough class... I think as I am standing all-alone up there in front of a class of disinterested teenagers who are obviously not interested in either me or what I have to say.
"Okay... Well, someone here must know what Franklin Delano Roosevelt taught us, right?" I ask with a little more urgency.
"Ah... Come on mister... These are a bunch of old dead guys," someone yells from the back of the room.
I shake it off and continue. "Well then, how about your friend Hitler? What did he teach you?"
"Hitler!" several students echo!
"Good! I have your attention now!" Next, I rapidly spit out, "Didn't Hitler teach you that no form of HATE should be tolerated? Didn't he show you how bad racism can really be? Didn't he teach you that absolute power absolutely corrupts?"
The students are stunned into obedience as their heads move up and down. The silence of the classroom is deafening under the weight of my unexpected demands. I have them exactly where I want them! Moments like this are the fuel that get us teachers out of bed and in front of a class full of teenagers everyday.
"Class!" I holler leaning toward them.
"Yes Sir!" They obediently answer back under my Hitleresque spell.
"If the unlikable Hitler taught you these things about hate, racism, and the danger of too much power when you weren't even trying to learn, just imagine what Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and a whole cast of others, who are likable, could teach you if you just gave them a chance... " I implore.
I pause for effect and then finally say,..
"Now teens, and even tweens, go learn, lead, and lay the way to a better world for all of us. Look at all the people that have gone before us as old friends from the past that we can learn from rather than a bunch of old dead people. Follow my advice, and you'll find yourself heads and shoulders above your competition. And once again, thanks for all that you do, and all that you will do... CLASS DISMISSED!"
Nothing but silence followed my request.
"Okay," I say. "What did Teddy Roosevelt teach us?"
Nothing, but silence again and some rolling of the eyes.
Hmm tough class... I think as I am standing all-alone up there in front of a class of disinterested teenagers who are obviously not interested in either me or what I have to say.
"Okay... Well, someone here must know what Franklin Delano Roosevelt taught us, right?" I ask with a little more urgency.
"Ah... Come on mister... These are a bunch of old dead guys," someone yells from the back of the room.
I shake it off and continue. "Well then, how about your friend Hitler? What did he teach you?"
"Hitler!" several students echo!
"Good! I have your attention now!" Next, I rapidly spit out, "Didn't Hitler teach you that no form of HATE should be tolerated? Didn't he show you how bad racism can really be? Didn't he teach you that absolute power absolutely corrupts?"
The students are stunned into obedience as their heads move up and down. The silence of the classroom is deafening under the weight of my unexpected demands. I have them exactly where I want them! Moments like this are the fuel that get us teachers out of bed and in front of a class full of teenagers everyday.
"Class!" I holler leaning toward them.
"Yes Sir!" They obediently answer back under my Hitleresque spell.
"If the unlikable Hitler taught you these things about hate, racism, and the danger of too much power when you weren't even trying to learn, just imagine what Thomas Jefferson, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and a whole cast of others, who are likable, could teach you if you just gave them a chance... " I implore.
I pause for effect and then finally say,..
"Now teens, and even tweens, go learn, lead, and lay the way to a better world for all of us. Look at all the people that have gone before us as old friends from the past that we can learn from rather than a bunch of old dead people. Follow my advice, and you'll find yourself heads and shoulders above your competition. And once again, thanks for all that you do, and all that you will do... CLASS DISMISSED!"
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thank you