I said, “You know, there are really only about six dates I want you to remember from this year, but I want you to remember them for the rest of your life.” That got them curious, so I wrote them down.
1215 – signing of the Magna Carta
1492 – New World and Old World meet – Columbus
1607 – First successful English colony at Jamestown
1776 – Signing of the Declaration of Independence
1787 – Ratification of Constitution
1861 – Civil War
“That’s it,” I said.
“What about all those other dates in our textbooks?” they asked.
“Even if you learned some of those dates, do you think you’ll remember them for the rest of your life?” I asked.
They said no.
And then I asked, “What about 1820? Do you know anything about 1820?”
They said no.
“What are we going to do? You don’t know anything about 1820! Or, perhaps you do. Look at this timeline. There are six dates and events on it. It looks like nothing was happening in 1820. Do you think that’s true?”
“Of course not,” they said.
“Look at this timeline! What do you know about 1820?”
They looked at the timeline. It took a few moments.
Then someone said, “It was before the Civil War.”
“YES!” I cried. “Yes. It was before the Civil War. You know that, because you know 1861 was the beginning of the Civil War.”
“And if it was before the Civil War, what was going on?”
It took a few moments. Then someone said, “Slavery was going on.”
“YES!” I exclaimed. “Yes, slavery was going on in 1820, and before it, and after it.”
I asked, “What else do you know about 1820?” I was getting excited now.
Someone said, a little quicker, “It was after the signing of the Consitution!”
“YES!” I cried again. “It was after the signing of the Constitution. You knew that. And what does that mean?”
“We were a country.”
“YES! We were a country. And we had been a country for a while, right? About how many years?”
“About 40 years.”
“And what do you think happened in those 40 years? Did the signers of the Constitution live forever?”
“The founders had all died.”
“That’s right. Or almost all of them.”
“And the people who had fought in the Revolutionary War.”
“That’s right. And so, who were these people of 1820? How might they be different from those people of the 1770’s and 1780’s?”
“They didn’t have that war. They didn’t have that revolution. They were born in the U.S.A.”
“Just like Bruce Springsteen, right?”
They didn’t get it. But I went on anyway.
“So, even thought you haven’t memorized ANYTHING about 1820, you KNOW a lot about it, because you know about these six dates. And you can make sense of ANY date. You have these dates and events as benchmarks. You can see what was before, and what was after, and you can figure a lot of things out. We could go on and on about 1820 now, don’t you think?”
They understood.
I’m into what kids KNOW. I think they know a lot. They like that I think that. I like helping them to realize that.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Swimmers in the Gorge
swimmers in the gorge below
nasty backflow there
I’m too far to yell
the falls are too loud
they must be new
or stopping by for graduation
there goes another
sliding down the rocks
vanishing under
Where is she?
Ah, Thank God.
Fucking idiots.
To burst the bubble of a moment in paradise
or just watch and pray?
Ah, they’re leaving now
snapping towels and beating hearts
laughter echos up
with the rising darkness
the dog’s been waiting to finish this walk
and find a squirrel to tree
I blow a few smoke rings off the bridge
and watch them drift over the gorge
In all a good day
with my dog, a nice cigar
and paradise won
nasty backflow there
I’m too far to yell
the falls are too loud
they must be new
or stopping by for graduation
there goes another
sliding down the rocks
vanishing under
Where is she?
Ah, Thank God.
Fucking idiots.
To burst the bubble of a moment in paradise
or just watch and pray?
Ah, they’re leaving now
snapping towels and beating hearts
laughter echos up
with the rising darkness
the dog’s been waiting to finish this walk
and find a squirrel to tree
I blow a few smoke rings off the bridge
and watch them drift over the gorge
In all a good day
with my dog, a nice cigar
and paradise won
Pecker on the Chimney
big man woodpecker
bangin’ on the chimney cap
for all the ladies
Look at him up there
serious hormone issues
Woody’s ragin’, man
see that log right there
he did that, man, he did that
just demolished it
he can bang away
the dude’s got a need but he
best not touch my car
bangin’ on the chimney cap
for all the ladies
Look at him up there
serious hormone issues
Woody’s ragin’, man
see that log right there
he did that, man, he did that
just demolished it
he can bang away
the dude’s got a need but he
best not touch my car
Post-op Doc
he tells my son that
things looked good, he’ll be back in
action in no time
one word from the boy
“Sweet” confers on the doctor
the champion’s medal
he cocks his scrub cap
like a man who’s just stepped up
on the podium
my podium, my son -
I want to clutch the child and
hold him forever
Oh, the world rushes
in to laud new heros and
I strain for a view
thank you, my son, for
the time that I’ve known what it’s
like to be a god
things looked good, he’ll be back in
action in no time
one word from the boy
“Sweet” confers on the doctor
the champion’s medal
he cocks his scrub cap
like a man who’s just stepped up
on the podium
my podium, my son -
I want to clutch the child and
hold him forever
Oh, the world rushes
in to laud new heros and
I strain for a view
thank you, my son, for
the time that I’ve known what it’s
like to be a god
Father-Daughter Dance
my screaming teenage
daughter tests my willingness
to keep on giving
no use telling me
that I should draw the line and
hold my ground with her
I’m no push-over
and still have my dignity
when it comes to that
betrayal and fear
conformity rejection
are her daily bread
I need to show her
how to refuse abuse by
standing up to hers
I need to show her
my unconditional love
so she can find hers
daughter tests my willingness
to keep on giving
no use telling me
that I should draw the line and
hold my ground with her
I’m no push-over
and still have my dignity
when it comes to that
betrayal and fear
conformity rejection
are her daily bread
I need to show her
how to refuse abuse by
standing up to hers
I need to show her
my unconditional love
so she can find hers
Ode to Sherwin-Williams Paint Logo
Oh, Sherwin-Williams
logo of globe dripping in paint
how I admire you
stalwart icon of
my father’s generation
holding on like him
a symbol of dreams
for an anonymous house
some kids and a car
if only the world
could have kept up with your plans
things would be fine now
to ‘cover the world’
with your great vision of the
American Dream
Oh, Sherwin-Williams
your icon is dripping with
dreams of my father
logo of globe dripping in paint
how I admire you
stalwart icon of
my father’s generation
holding on like him
a symbol of dreams
for an anonymous house
some kids and a car
if only the world
could have kept up with your plans
things would be fine now
to ‘cover the world’
with your great vision of the
American Dream
Oh, Sherwin-Williams
your icon is dripping with
dreams of my father
Inauguration Day on the Potomac
Before dawn
I think I hear someone on the frozen river
and stop to listen
but it’s only the straining ice that’s giving way
and shattering like giant panes of glass
as the river moves it on
so I keep moving,
relieved, as if I might have –
could have – saved some soul
who’d gotten stuck there
without a branch or a hand
or hope to cling to
but that behind me
I’m down the trail again to
Washington, D.C.
on toward Washington
to beat the crowds and witness
the Inauguration
heading south
toward where a glow on the horizon
shows through bare branches
and this time
in the first rays of dawn
I hear a low soulful humming
and sense up ahead
the shadowed forms of people
walking toward the light
And see their breath
Rising up like jeweled veils in the frosty air
walking and humming
with tools on their shoulders
and baskets at their sides
humming the world of their frozen river
strained and shattered
moving on
toward the break of day
toward the sun
toward Washington
and Inauguration
I think I hear someone on the frozen river
and stop to listen
but it’s only the straining ice that’s giving way
and shattering like giant panes of glass
as the river moves it on
so I keep moving,
relieved, as if I might have –
could have – saved some soul
who’d gotten stuck there
without a branch or a hand
or hope to cling to
but that behind me
I’m down the trail again to
Washington, D.C.
on toward Washington
to beat the crowds and witness
the Inauguration
heading south
toward where a glow on the horizon
shows through bare branches
and this time
in the first rays of dawn
I hear a low soulful humming
and sense up ahead
the shadowed forms of people
walking toward the light
And see their breath
Rising up like jeweled veils in the frosty air
walking and humming
with tools on their shoulders
and baskets at their sides
humming the world of their frozen river
strained and shattered
moving on
toward the break of day
toward the sun
toward Washington
and Inauguration
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