The last two Thursday mornings it has been my turn to teach our daughter's Tapestry of Grace virtual co-op, where we join other students online who have done the same reading and answered the same questions during the week as we have, and have a history discussion together. The second of those two Thursdays we were covering the presidency of George W. Bush, including 9-11 and its aftermath. I did copious reading, and scoured the internet for appropriate photos to put into my power point. Since I am a visual learner myself, I always like to put lots of pictures into my power point presentations for class, so the students have something engaging to look at while we are talking.
The night before class I had stayed up until about 1:30, finding the last pics and putting the finishing touches on my power point. The next morning my daughter and I logged into class and I began teaching. The students were well prepared and we had a great discussion. There were aspects of 9-11, the war in Afghanistan, and the war in Iraq that I wasn't sure the students were connecting, so I taught my little heart out on those topics. We covered the highlights of Bush's 8 years in office, packing a LOT of info into a short period of time, and covering topics that were intense and still to this day, emotionally charged.
I felt pretty good about how the class had gone, and afterward I asked G if she had learned anything new. She said,
"well, in my reading this week I learned that Obama's middle name is Hussein."
Hmmm. So much for my teaching!
"A man's pride brings him low." ~ Proverbs 29:23
(Yes, I felt about one inch tall!)
Ouch! That's gotta hurt. :-) But, seriously... I'm sure all of the students really learned a lot from your hard work and presentation.
ReplyDeleteI cannot tell you how many times DH asks the girls to tell him about (insert anything they were supposed to learn) and they just look at him with a blank stare. I think it's happened to all of us. (And it's a good thing she picked his middle name up now because it didn't make the cut in the Texas curriculum. The conservatives felt it just wasn't an important enough item to fight, so his middle name will be left out.)
ReplyDeleteYou did your best, so you can stand tall.
ReplyDeleteWhenever anyone brings up 9/11, I remember that my bro-in-law didn't go to work that day in NYC, and stood watching it all happen from NJ, across the river.
I think it's highly likely she, and the other students, gleaned a lot from your teaching! They may just need time to digest what they heard and saw! Your power point sounds awesome, btw! I need to practice and put some Power Points together next time I teach, whenever that turns out to be!
ReplyDeleteLove hearing from you even though I don't respond so well these days! Love and miss you bunches!!!
i truly admire those who homeschool. i am told quite often that i'd be a good homeschooling teacher, but i know i would be terrible. i commend you for all your wonderful efforts...must leave you with a sense of accomplishment at the end of each school year. :)
ReplyDelete