To: re3 who wrote (60064 ) 10/23/2000 8:49:48 AM From: Rarebird Read Replies (3) | Respond to *OT* <is it better for the teacher (who i am presuming is telling the truth here) to tell the class he loves teaching (i am presuming this is a lie) or to tell the class the truth that he needed something to do to make some money.>your life? The possibility for misunderstanding is great. Just be nice and respect the students' world. The teacher can even take advantage of the world in which the students live by orienting the lessons around that world. For example, if I teach HS English in a coal mining town in Eastern Kentuckey, why not do a magazine based on interviews with older people in the area? You could look at the changes that took place in the region with the arrival of the coal industry. Teachers battle their own environments (like many Gold Bugs do). The world of the students is the best classroom a teacher could offer its students. In the communities outside our public schools, the students and the teacher could study the effects of technology upon people. As mining moved into the Appalachian region, what happened to people's lifestyles and their values? What are the logical effects of overdependence on a single industry? Why did some towns survive the bust and boom cycle of coal mining while others died? How had the people of Appalachia become the victims of economic development? What happens when a small group of people have a great deal of power? What were the people like who settled in the hills of Eastern Kentuckey? Who were the artists and writers? The possibilities for research and understanding are endless. As a teacher, you could bring all that information into the classroom and examine, analyze and learn from it.
