My students are watching a Shakespeare DVD that was sent to me by the National Endowment for the Arts. Its mission, I beleive, is to inspire children to read Shakespeare. Not just read, but strive for understanding and appreciation of the Bard and all that he has to offer. I have been attempting to get my children to do this in class for 4 weeks now, with moderate success. I myself was greatly influenced by Shakespeare at a young age. He is what led me to act, he is what inspired me to teach, he has had more influence than most on my meek little existence.
I teach children who define apathy. They are listless, expressionless, hopeless little monsters some days. They are inspired, creative, loving little angels on other days. But everyday they are consistent in one area, they are challenging. They look at you as if to say, " Go on, I dare you to teach me!" I don't know how to get them to understand that I am not here to torture them. It is their choice. No amount of "No Child Left Behind" -like legislation is going to save their sorry butts when they hit the real world without ever once having been held accountable for any action, decision, or choice. I have passed high school, college, and part of graduate school for that matter. I have succeeded in conservatory, I have written papers on everything from Othello to the effects of female aggression on adolescent girls. And yet, here I am, struggling with verbs and adverbs, explaining the idea of goal verses obstacle and contemplating the failure of our current education system.
I can't help but wonder where they will all be in 10 years.
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You know, I am going through somewhat of the same thing now with my kids. The scary thing that I always think about is, "Was I like this when I was younger?" As I get older I find that the communication gap between people younger than me and myself is growing wider and wider. In most ways that is a good thing, but it still makes me feel old and useless sometimes.
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