The thing I will miss most about being a teacher is the conversations I had with kids, often outside the curriculum, but oftentimes even more meaningful, important, and brilliant,
This is one such conversation, from nine years ago, that I still remember with perfect clarity today.
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My students were reading the first scene of Hamlet yesterday, trying to determine the meaning of the language using background knowledge and context clues.
In the first scene, Horatio says of Hamlet’s father’s ghost:
This spirit, dumb to us, will speak to him.
Do you consent we shall acquaint him with it,
as needful in our loves, fitting our duty?
“Dumb” in this case means mute. The ghost refuses to speak to anyone but Hamlet. Two of my students were able to determine the meaning of dumb in this instance.
One student used context clues.
The other told me that he learned the word by listening to Elton John’s version of Pinball Wizard, which includes the line:
That deaf dumb and blind kid
Sure plays a mean pinball!
He added that the Elton John version of the song is superior to The Who’s version. Thus began a spirited debate as to why The Who’s version of the song is far superior to Elton John’s half-witted cover for the film version of Tommy.
Eventually, I had to wrap up the debate as other children with far less pressing, less interesting matters were waiting to speak to me, but next week, I’ll be playing both versions of the song to my class so they can decide for themselves.
This is one of the reasons I teach.
For moments like this.
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A few updates on this original post:
- My students agreed that The Who’s version of the song was the superior version.
- Listening to the song led me to explain that “Pinball Wizard” actually comes from a concept album and rock opera, “Tommy,” which led to us listening to a song from that album each day and analyzing plot, character, and theme. It was a fantastic month of music, engagement, discussion, research, and debate.
- Many of my students went home and watched the 1975 film “Tommy” after we were finished listening to the album. Reviews were mixed, though a handful of parents were thrilled about their children’s sudden interest in musicals.
- My students performed “Hamlet” that year — the second time I produced that show with students.
Also, this:
In the fall of 2021, after the pandemic had abated enough for school to return to normal and social distancing was a thing of the past, the stage that I built into my classroom — complete with lighting, curtains, and a sound system — was set to be returned to my classroom so we could resume our annual Shakespearean production.
I couldn’t wait. After producing Shakespeare for 20 years with kids, the two-year hiatus due to the pandemic was awful for both the students who had been looking forward to performing onstage and me.
Then administrators deemed an elevated platform — 16 inches high — too dangerous in a classroom and refused to return my stage, even though elevated platforms exist throughout the school district in music rooms, auditoriums, and many other spaces, and even though my stage had been in my classroom for 20 years without injury or incident.
Requests to meet with the administrators responsible for this decision so I could plead my case, made via email, phone call, and a registered letter, went unanswered for more than a year.
Can you imagine?
I sent emails, left voicemail messages, and sent a registered letter, and I was met with silence.
Though retiring from teaching was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, moments like this, when a teacher’s request for a meeting is ignored, made my decision a little easier. When administrators speak in clear tones that you are not a professional who warrants courtesy, decency, or respect, it becomes a tiny bit easier to walk away.
