The DN
Say cheese.
1 How come I never really awaken until nine at night?
2 I can't say that I sleep through the days, because I don't.
3 A lot of teaching becomes instinctive, almost like a band that is touring.
4 This is especially true of key days, such as 9/11.
5 The night before last I prepared in a different fashion for that lesson. It was important to me that some sort of impact be made, a different impact than in years past.
6 I teach freshmen and sophomores. The vast majority of them have little to no memory whatsoever of something most of us remember vividly.
7 Each year that lesson has been a shoe-in as one of the best mini-units I bring. It requires re-reading the history, as well as an extra effort to set up and all, but I know each year that it will work.
8 I stayed up late the other night working it all out.
9 There was a major difference in the planning on this one. I had to reach some of the last students who will have any sort of memory of that day.
10 What a difference one year makes to a person in high school.
11 I had a few classes give a show of hands as to how many remember 9/11.
12 A few each class, but the majority hadn't lived through what many of us had.
13 It's easy to forget that we had no idea as to what was going on in New York, or in Washington, or even in California that day.
14 Somebody was attacking us, and we didn't know if they were going to attack again.
15 Airplanes were grounded. Do you remember that? I remember walking out in my yard that night, looking up, and seeing no planes.
16 I felt the eeriness, the odd silence, and the fear.
17 Later in the night I stood out there again, and heard the roar of a plane. For a second I wondered if something was going to explode. My nerves bounced.
18 I assumed it was our own military keeping vigilant. I went back inside. I don't know nor can I explain that roar, or what it was.
19 I may never know. I just know that I stood frightened.
20 Strangely I didn't think anything was going to land on my house. But then neither did Dorothy.
21 Getting ready yesterday for the lesson was somewhat like getting ready for a show.
22 More like strapping on a guitar and singing. I had to dress the part.
23 If you've ever performed live, or in a talent show then you know you want to look and feel your best.
24 I have this T-shirt, dark blue with an American flag across the letters, and it says Summer 2011. I donned that and a pair of jeans.
25 I buttoned up and understated red, white and blue pinstripe shirt, understated tie with small-flag design and overstated hat with the rim turned down just so.
26 I was going to an important gig. You do that. If you have ever performed, you know that you do that. There is a huge difference between a lesson and a performance. This had to be a performance. And it had to be a true performance, from the soul.
27 My entrance to my first class worked nicely, although the morning announcements had the flag salute come over the speakers just a little too soon. I had to stop setting up, toss my hat and put my hand over my heart. Not part of the plan, but a perfect entrance. The right thing came on at the exact right moment.
28 I had the students take out homework, but the real gig was set up behind me. I had set the teevee and DVD player up at lunch the day before, but hadn't done a sound nor a video check. I'd get to that.
29 That didn't matter.
30 I stamped the work (I have a teal Cougar-paw stamp that doubles as a tattoo) and moved about the room, doing reasonably normal teaching things: grade-checks for sports' kids, answering questions about upcoming assignments, and even receiving a few compliments. One student looked up and smiled, all ears and braces:
"Hey Mr. H! You look dapper today!" I always smile at that one.
31 "Thanks," I said. I etched a mental note that a sports' coat and tie will always elicit affirmations.
32 I didn't smile so much at the compliment, but at the fact that a kid in 2013 would use a charmingly antiquated word like "dapper." That sort of thing draws a teacher further into the lesson.
33 The students who want tats place their hands flat on a book, or on their desk. "This might pinch a little," I will say. "It is also indelible. This means you will probably have to get it professionally removed." Giggles. They still put their hands down solidly. They want the tat. I told them that if they get a tat from my class, that they are officially Mr. H's Boyz. Even the girls.They want the tat. I almost said they wanted the tat too, but held off. Tats. So gangsta.
34 This worked great all day. Fun stuff. One guy from another class wanted one directly on his forehead. That one I landed perfectly. The guy broke into a huge grin.
35 The atmosphere was loose and fun, not at all serious and stiff. The strategy worked.
36 Once I got them I opened with the reality of them being the last generation of Americans with any real connection to 9/11. I talked of what it was like from the perspective of someone who lived like millions of the rest of us, from first hearing about it, then turning on the news, and finally seeing the second strike, which meant one thing: we were under attack.
37 I mentioned that we are directly in a heavily guarded military area. I saw military vehicles moving up and down the freeways shortly after the attacks.
38 I told them that as the first anniversary of that day approached, I had all sorts of emotions pour through me, and that I wrote it down. I called it 9-11: A Tribute. It was short.
39 They silenced. I looked into the silence. I then began reading. Much of it came rushing back. I almost got caught up, but righted myself. They had to realize I was passing knowledge to them. They all got it, every single period.
40 I set the piece down and said, "I have said enough. I'll let the video do the talking from here." From my perspective, everything happened perfectly. Well, almost.
41 When I pushed the play button, my first class got zapped with an ampy-buzz and a delay. Semi-fail. The set-up was good enough, and the film awesome. I fiddled around, asked for help, and finally got it going. Still, an interruption of the proverbial Chi. I righted it swiftly enough.
42 The film was a CBS documentary called simply 9/11. Amazing since a pair of documentary filmmakers had been following the exploits of a Ladder One "probie" earlier that summer. They are the station nearest to the Twin Towers; their camera caught the first crash, and by chance, the remainder of the day from the perspective of New York's finest. Riveting stuff.
43 My room has Starbuck's style curtains that go down with the push of a button, designed for presentations. Wonderfully theatrical and certainly a part of the lesson. It worked in perfect time with the film's opening. It drew the students in. It drew me in.
44 They stared and laughed, because the early part of the film establishes the lives of the firefighters, along with the usual things any rookie in any profession goes through: excitement for the job, people messing with them, laughs, new friendships, and serious training drills. The featured target was a young probie named Tony. He got picked on, but told the camera he was scared, but excited, and awaiting his first fire. Sometimes we have to be careful what we wish for.
45 Quite soon they get news of a young fire fighter who died in the line of duty, and that Tony was going to the services.
46 This turns all of it a bit more serious. This is where the film stopped yesterday. Short day. But LOTS of lesson.
47 It all worked.
48 By that I don't mean it worked as entertainment. That's like bragging that you made a good bowl of ramen. The ramen was already good without your touch.
49 Anyway It worked because they all showed respect for the history.
50 Right before lunch a student stayed after class. He is a bright student, one of those students you notice from the first day. He said, "I remember it well, Mr. Harrington. My Mom's apartment looked out at the Twin Towers when I lived in New York. We had to drive to get some of our stuff, and then we needed to get out of the area." I looked at the student. He was just a little taller than a fire hydrant, but with a huge heart.
51 "You were there that day. Wow. Would you like to share some of that with the class tomorrow?"
52 "Sure," he said.
53 "I hope you can tell your Mom that we are saluting everyone who had to live through that terrible day. Many of us have sworn never to forget that." He nodded, slung his backpack over his shoulder, and made it out of the room. "Okay, thanks a lot Mr. Harrington. See you tomorrow." And he was out the door.
54 The room became quiet. I brought the curtains back up, halfway.
55 Every now and again we have teaching moments. This year I needed to catch a new generation and show them this important part of our modern history.
56 I almost by-passed 9/11 because I wasn't sure where it fit in with all of the new changes coming at us from all directions.
57 It fit in. It fit right in. Some of the things coming to us from all directions might need to wait outside my door for a few days. The next few days are going to be important learning days.
58 For both my students and for me.
59 I began the day dressing for a gig. Turns out that last student stole the show.
60 Talk about perspective.
61 I stand humbled, yet grateful that something real is taking place in all my classes.
62 I gottago.
63 See you again.
64 Peace.
~H~
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