Today has been a
good day even if I'm only on something like the fifth
hour of it. Only one
class on
Friday which is already finished. Yoon has another of those sleep over
teacher workshop things this weekend so I have what seems like an
unlimited amount of time to write a couple of papers and do a quick
review of
philosophy stuff. After realizing that I'm missing a lot of the
content of the philosophers that we're covering in that
class I've started reading the
primary sources and I am continually amazed at the
wit and
sarcasm of
Socrates. Maybe my categorization of
philosophy as
fodder for
liberal arts feebs was a little
hasty. My
apologies to the
canon.
In my African-American Studies class we spent some time talking about an idea very near and dear to me. The discussion had to do with the value (however relative that may be) of historical fiction for interesting and involving people in the study of history. I've been told several times that I should just teach history because I am so passionate about people seeing connection between the past and present. Anyhow, what disappointed me was the total ignorance of other students about the church bombing in Birmingham. It wasn't the lack of knowledge about that specific event as much as the lack of knowledge that bombings were a common occurrence in the South during the 1960's. This is motivation.
I think there is some reluctance on my part to pursue teaching. Outside of the stigma of following in my girlfriend's footsteps (note to the perpetually angry: former statement is sarcasm) I'm more than a little jaded about the general apathy about history. I fully realize that one of the duties of a good teacher is to overcome those blocks but I wonder if it would not just frustrate and burn me out. I question whether being passionate about something makes you a good candidate for teaching about it. I am a wuss. I am impatient. I might damage your kids more than they have already been damaged.
Ok. It is happy weekend time. I am hell bent on finishing up the book on the history of philosophy I'm reading. This will require concentration and possibly crab cakes.