Worst. Post. Ever. (Hey! Don't be so critical!)....*rimshot*

Well... this will be the second time I've tried to write this one out today. The last one was long and enjoyable, so if this one isn't as much, you'll know why.

How I had started out last time (earlier today) was by describing the stereotypical history teacher. You know, glasses, tweed coat, drones on and on, could be quite possibly monotone. In a nutshell... this guy.

Feeny! Fe he he eeeny! FEEENY!

It's not so much that the career has really shut itself off from anyone. Pretty much anyone could do it with the proper amount of studying and ability to teach an adolescent crowd. The real issue is that because of that stereotype many people don't WANT to teach history. I've ran into so many people that say they hated history growing up. If you want to talk about all of the different groups of people that I haven't often seen teaching history the list is vast (blacks, women, islanders, etc.) Though this could be that people that teach history secretly are in love with themselves and so you only see them teaching topics about their particular group. For instance, I've only taken courses where white males are the over all protagonists (except for a history of Mexico class, in that case they were very much NOT the protagonists.) 

Either way, I've had good history teachers, that really taught across the barriers. Jason Herrud was my favorite. He was the only teacher I knew that had a putting green in his class. He was so relaxed and intense at the same time, I can't really even describe it. But let me show you a situation that he did a good job of defusing. (Warning: it may come off as a bit insensitive, but such was the group he was dealing with.) One time we were having class and the football players came in to tell us to come to the game. I didn't know them, but being my loud mouthed self told them to "get out man! We're trying to learn!" They very humbly backed out.  

Just to give you an idea of the size difference..... no... I'm not the one in the Nikes.

Jason (he wanted us to call him that), said "what are you doing? Those guys could eat you!" I, still being fiery replied, "Nah! I'm like Muhammad Ali. I float like a butterfly and sting like a bee! I'm cool!" He replied, "Yeah... but now a days Muhammad Ali is like (shaky voice and imaginary walking cane) I'm coooool..." 

Having typed that.... maybe you just needed to have been there.

Anyway, he taught all those groups, and EVERYBODY loved him. He was good at reading his group and teaching accordingly.

On the other hand, I at one time took ballroom dance. Yes.... I know, I know... my sister made me do it. Although I passed the course, there was a small issue. Me. I was smaller than most of the girls who had signed up for the silly course. They did a good job at leading. ANYway, I'm pretty sure the instructor was sure I only signed up because my sister was in the class. He wasn't very patient with me and some of the other young men that weren't getting some of the steps (I'm pretty sure they just signed up for the credits.) All in all, he didn't really do a good job of helping me want to dance again.

Two left guilty feet. 

I think one thing that we fall into across the disciplines that is bad is just a lack of preparation. If you know your subject, you can make AWESOME plans. For instance, keep an eye out on Youtube, I'm pretty sure some Sixth Graders got a recording of me singing about feudalism to the tune of Copacabana. I guess, that's going to be what I hope to do all the time. The trouble is just planning out your time. It's hard to come up with lessons when your life has other things in it besides your students.

Or..... you could be limited to hanging out with starfish. 

I think like Jason, I'm just going to make sure to read my audience. You can't just give a blanket approach to everyone and think that it's going to appeal to them all. I'd make sure that I have energy. As I said before, it's all about planning! Make sure you get some sleep for crying out loud! We've talked about this alot in SCED 3210. It's a fine line, but you can't be colorblind (or genderblind or differencesblind, etc.) and you can't be focused solely on those differences. It's a case by case thing. Every person is brilliant if you are willing to take the time to figure out that brilliance. There are two types of people in this world: your best friends and those you don't know well enough. My goal for my classroom (and life) is to make sure that I could be friends with anyone. For that, I will be willing to go to (ugh...) choir concerts, if it will make my students feel important.