Emotionally Manipulated

It began with a tweet, a response to Dan Rather marking the moment that we were about to undergo an unprecedented second impeachment. My reply was meant only to be a reflection of who I am and what it’s like to be a history nut, political junkie and living the dream of teaching both subjects, during what will become one of the most epic chapters in future textbooks. Talk about pursuit of happiness.

Being a history and government teacher this past year is its own story worthy of being told, but this particular tale is about the unbelievable rush to judgement by so many in the public, concerning how we as teachers present our content. In particular the aged old accusation that we are indoctrinating the youth, corrupting their minds and somehow stunting their ability to think critically. Yet I like to think in my quest to be the Stevie VanZandt of the classroom we do quite the opposite!

No better example of this rush to judgement, is the tweet sent to me after I mentioned that my students and I would be watching the impeachment proceedings in class. The tweeter, who I shall refer to from here on out as "@eduH8er" launched the typical accusatory questions and wanted to know if I was one of “those teachers” who is responsible for kids being “emotionally manipulated and unable to think critically”. My first instinct was to respond and proudly defend how I approach my content especially such an emotional charged one like this. I wondered if @eduH8ter ever stopped to consider how keenly aware teachers are, that we have students in our classroom with parents on all sides of the political spectrum. Those kids listen at the dinner table and they feel every bit the pressure of those political lines that exist in society right now. I know everything I say is subject to be passed around that dinner table. That thought never leaves me.

It was late so I read his tweet one more time, shook my head, closed my laptop and went to bed. The next few days, the class viewing of the impeachment hearing couldn’t have played out any better. It was the perfectly scripted lesson plan that came to life and was beyond my wildest teacher nerd expectations. It was simple too. Share a Google doc with the students, tell them to pick a color on the font palette, watch the hearing and begin asking their questions, making connections to what we’ve learned, respond to one another and try to answer any questions posed.

What I saw on the Google docs was incredible. As teachers we know that we learn so much from analyzing what our students produce and this particular product was no different. What I learned about my students that day is their grasp of their knowledge of how our government is structured, and their ability to explain the impeachment process. I saw them accurately and thoughtfully respond and engage with their classmates. I was proud of their ability to ask open ended questions instead of the level one and two questions that don’t require critical thinking. I was touched by their real concern and awareness of the gravity of the situation. They knew the historical and political importance of what they were witnessing. The best part was, they were able to walk away with the ability to say what they believed to be true and form an opinion and give reasons to back their claims. And because we are always respectful in our discourse, everyone left with their dignity in tact.

It was one of my best teacher moments. Especially after only 3 weeks of being back in the classroom. Since our students return, we have noticed how difficult it has been for student to speak in class, and use their voice. In my room students normally sit at round tables so as to encourage discussion, but with Covid rules, kids are spaced out and masked. Student voice just isn’t being heard as loud as it was pre-pandemic. On this day I heard them loud and clear as the multi colored text filled the page. It was a day of rich discussion, student learning, application of knowledge and more importantly civil discourse.

Today, I scrolled past @eduh8ter’s tweet again and this time I responded to his question about how I was going to present the content by describing the Google doc. Then I told him that I would share his tweet my students and let them answer if I was indeed one of those teachers who quashing their ability to think critically and leaving them emotionally manipulated.