Teaching Things

Why Are We Studying English?
1. To learn to create. Creating feels good.
2. To learn to interact. Interacting with others feels good.
3.To create a community. Being part of a community feels good.
4. To learn to think. Thinking is hard.
5. To become more powerful. Being powerful feels good.
6. To become more compassionate. Being compassionate is hard.
7. To learn to question. Asking good questions is hard.
8. The world wants things from you. What will you provide? If you can answer that, you can decide how you need English.
9. We are deeply deeply alone.
10. We are constantly surrounded by voices and messages.
11. We can improve. We can become better readers and writers. Improvement feels good.
12. The teenage voice is not valued by society. Only your money is.
13. There are lots and lots of problems in the world that people do not want to discuss.
14. Because 'whatever' and 'I don't care' is called apathy or nihilism and even that can be studied and examined and produce writing and is a way of reading so there really is no escape.
15. Because one day we will be dead and we won't speak to anyone on Earth ever again.
16. Because this class is not meant to sort you or tell you who you are. This class is meant to help you and reward you for coming to know who you are.
17. Because if you can read well, you can read people well and know things about them and what they are telling you that they don't want you to know.
18. Because, deep down, we all want to feel wanted and valued and successful and writing is an expression of that need.
19. Because some things are hard to say out loud to another person but need to be said.
20. Because we are all expert language users and everything we say and write is a continuation of human language that has been passed down for thousands and thousands of years and will continue on for as long as humans exist.

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Questions I Have for Students?

1. Is it better to be happy or sad? Is it better to show happiness or look sad/bored.
2. Do adults want teenagers to text? Who makes phones? Who makes phone commercials? Who sells phones? How do phones make money?
3. When is it better/smarter not to try at something?
4. When is it better/smarter to avoid someone or something?
5. Is someone's job the most important part of that person?
6. What's more important: a grade, how hard you worked, or what you learned?
7. Is making money the most important part of life?
8. Is being happy the most important part of life?
9. Is it ever better to do something that makes you unhappy instead of doing something that makes you happy?
10. What kind of skills or traits make you a happy person?
11. What kind of skills or traits make you a powerful person?
12. How important is it to be physically attractive?
13. True Statement: You can say, 'I don't care' or 'whatever' to any statement, including this one. Is there ever any time when you would not say 'I don't care' or 'whatever'? When? To whom?
14. Why do teachers want to be teachers?
15. How is texting/instant messaging better than face-to-face conversation?
16. How do you feel when you can't use your phone?
17. Why is it better to give a silly answer than a serious one?
18. When, if ever, is it better to lie to someone than to tell the truth?
19. Why are TV shows and movies easier to watch than reading a book?
20. Why is it easier to text than to write something for English?
21. What's a school rule that you would change? How and why?

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I think with a lot of these questions, it's easy to see them as questions with throw-away responses. It's the kind of thing an adult would ask when they think someone's 'attitude' is wrong. Or they get at beliefs and attitudes that go unquestioned. There are unwritten rules that are more real and more true and part of that legitimacy stems from the fact that they aren't talked about---especially by people in authority.

And so, the purpose is not to belligerently question someone's attitude or invite ridicule or snark. Even though these kinds of questions seemingly demand those responses from the asker and the answerer. The purpose is to try to express that unspoken attitude clearly and examine it with respect and some sense of seriousness. If it has enough power to influence behavior, then it's worth talking about as a legitimate topic. The point is to validate and encourage---to try to gain some traction from slippery responses. The only test of a philosophy is to live it. And if you go on ignoring these beliefs and discrediting them, there is no incentive to change. They are designed to be ignored and discredited--speaking more specifically to 'apathy' here.

I guess it's also something that you can't really face head-on. Looking at it sort of makes it disappear.  You need that hook and some sense of purpose and a task before you can start talking about attitudes that underpin it all.