Reflection on Perspectives on Learning

 Construct a unique narrative as a learner-instructor and consider the responsibilities of that approach for their work with youth

For this course reflection, I chose to write a short story from the perspective of a student in a middle school.

I walked into class and was overwhelmed by the scent of new white-board markers. The lights were loud and I squinted as I walked to my new teacher, who gave me a seat in the front row. I watched her as she turned off the lights and turned on a movie, another in a series of 90s documentaries on the civil war.

The static screen flickered between images of red coats and grey coats, men starving in the rain. An old white man with wrinkly eyes came on and started speaking about the cause of the civil war, and to my surprise, he never mentioned slavery once. I looked around the classroom to see if anyone was registering the phrases "states economic rights" and "right to live as they please" but everyone's eyes were glossy and obviously unfocused.

The reenactment continued. A huge battle of red and grey and white... but no black? Where were the men, women, and children who were being so furiously fought over? I pondered my own experience of learning history.

"Yes"

I thought

"Yes, African Americans fought in the civil war, I'm sure of it. So where are they?"

The violence on the screen continued, a man in a red coat blown up with a cannon. The obvious ketchup stains ran over his coat, but the scream was intense.

A student raised his hand to go to the restroom, he didn't come back for 25 minutes and when he had a note from the nurse, I watched as the teacher rolled her eyes and shoved it into the back of her desk. 

Finally, the video finished, the teacher walked over and turned the lights back on eliciting a faint ouch from a couple of the students in the class. She asked the class to go around and each tell one thing they learned from the video. Most responded with generic ideas about how the civil war was a bloody war, or that it killed x amount of people, or that it ended in 1865. A few though nervously responded with, "uh, I don't know" to which the teacher marked an x in her planner. 

Finally, she got to me. 

"Now Ms. Jess, you are halfway through your student teacher position at this school, right? Sorry that you were unable to accompany your normal class on their field trip today.  What did you think of today's lesson?"

Confidently, I stood up. 

***fin***