Taylor the Teacher

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Related quote from contemporary lyric poetry, a la Edgar Allan Poe:

Or for anyone who’s ever been through shit in their lives

Till they sit and they cry at night, wishing they died

So they throw on a rap record, and they sit and they vibe

                                           Sing for the Moment by Marshall Mathers.

                                          You know, the one and only Eminem.

I see myself as a teenager. It goes a little something like this:

I’m waking up to put on my make-up and straighten my hair because I’ll see Mark 4th period. Mom is still on me about my grades.

Unbeknownst to me, she’s eaten up inside by this constant bickering we do. These are the last few years that she’ll have me here. She wants to enjoy me. But she’s worried sick. Things are getting harder. We don’t have a hundred grand stashed away for my college. How could we at a 33% tax rate? Bills are behind, and prom is coming up. I’ll be on my own in just over a year. Paying my own bills, signing contracts, making relationships that could make or break me. In short, making a thousand decisions a day that are currently made for me. Her mind is a constant stream of problem-solving, trying to figure out how to steer me right without alienating me or breaking me. There’s also the matter of her legal sanity by the time I’m finally off, but who has time to think of that? 

But I just can’t listen to her bitching at me anymore. I want to enjoy my life. I mean d… Oh, Shit! I hate getting ready without my iPod. That’s my time to chill and escape. I forgot mom took it. She doesn’t get it. That helps me to cope. I do *better* in school when I listen to my music. At least I talked her out of taking my phone.  My friends understand me. How can I possibly be expected to deal with all this stress without my friends? What will I do in 6th when that asshole in front of me starts bugging me? I’ve gotta talk to BFF! She understands what it’s like. Besides, her parents are fighting and she needs me.

So, no iPod. Okay, whatever. I’m late. Gotta get there early to print my paper.

This reminds me of the last, let’s see, how many, teacher workdays where many of my fellow teachers put music on in their rooms while they worked? Oh, yeah. Every. Single. One.  One guy was playing a U2 DVD, just for the music, so loudly that I heard it through his closed door. Led to a pleasant conversation when I asked him about his music. Can’t remember his name now, though. But there was that time 2 or 3 weeks ago that I was playing Pink Floyd’s Animals and the School Resource Officer heard it and stopped in for a chat.

But I’m sure music is destructive to learning and collaboration. Good thing nobody plays music during class. It’s especially a sign of excellence in education that we confiscate every iPod we see.

The special ed teachers in my school have it right. They let the kids have iPods. They are much more relaxed with the students. Every time I visit a resource class I feel this. Students *love* their resource teachers. Not all students love all resource teachers, but most resource students manage to hook onto and click with one special ed teacher in high school.

And the resource teachers teach the kids. The whole school should pause for a week and watch special education.

Then we should question many things about what we’re doing, starting with the question, “Why don’t all students have a vital connection with an adult in that building and time allotted during the day where they can realize what they need, and avail themselves of the guidance of that adult to help them get it?”

Some education is just “regular education.”

Watching those teachers will give us plenty to work on. A whole education could be gleaned there, but one thing that occurs to me today is that someone with know how and money should immediately create a technology that allows every single kid to have an iPod on her head while she’s working, with music she can choose for herself. All the iPods in the room have to be networked enough that two people can get on the same frequency and talk. Also, I have to be able to signal, with some kind of pleasant sound, for their attention. Then talk into their ears.

Is it so hard to believe that in this cacophonous society, at least some of the kids really *do* need to listen to their music? Maybe the students aren’t bullshitting us. Maybe it really does help. It’s not outside the realm of possibility, is it? I’ve written this entire post with music blaring in my head. Most of the posts on this blog, in fact.

With classroom sets of networked iPods, the room will be quiet for those who need it (after we train them not to beat the rhythm with their pencils) and appropriately inspiring for the rest.

I cannot for the life of me figure out why we’re fighting this iPod thing so hard.

P.S. In case anyone’s interested. The playlist associated with this post includes Eminem, Metallica, Jimi Hendricks, Alanis Morissette, and Akwid.