|
 |
I Hated History, But Now I Teach It
Karen
Silverstrim
History Department
I hated
history classes in high school. Truth be told, most
college students love or hate a subject because of their
high school experiences. I had mostly mediocre teachers
in high school. I know because I also had a few stellar
teachers, and they taught me the difference. The truly
great teachers were not the popular teachers or the easy
graders, they were the teachers who actually taught you
something and made you want to learn. They respected
your intellect no matter how great or small, and they
found a way to reach you. I try to keep this in mind as
I enter the college classroom because I now teach
history.
I am teaching mostly college freshmen, whose experience
of high school history was much like my own: trying to
tune out the monotone voice of the teacher, trying
desperately to stay awake, and thinking, “I am going to
shove this pencil through my eyeball and into my brain
to end this torture.” As I look at my students today, I
try to send mental messages to them, “put the pencil
down, you will get through this.”
I strive to pay tribute to those stellar teachers who
saved me from myself and academic boredom. If they found
a way to reach me, then I am making it my personal
mission to reach these kids as well. I look at today’s
assignment: Luther’s 95 Theses, and Luther’s letter to
the Archbishop of Mainz, both written in 1517. I ask the
students, “how many of you had trouble understanding
these documents?” All the hands go up. Then I slip, as I
sometimes do when I realize the absurdity of the moment.
“Well, I don’t know why you had trouble understanding
the subtle theological arguments of a Biblical expert
who is arguing with Catholic priests on Biblical
interpretations. Really, you didn’t get that?” The
students laugh. Okay, so at least their sense of humor
is still intact. Now the real challenge, be the teacher.
Make this interesting to them. Break down these texts.
Give them a basic background in Biblical knowledge,
keeping in mind, most of them don’t attend church and
have never read the Bible.
You have to peel back the layers, help them understand
the argument, the impact on the daily lives of the
people, and what Luther was getting so worked up about.
“Um, hello, immortal souls burning in hell. I’d get
worked up about it too if I were a priest.”
Next you have to educate them on the time period, why
did this turn into a power struggle, why wasn’t Luther
burned at the stake like so many others before him, why
were these heretical ideas? (Note to self, explain tol
students what a heretic is.) The most important thing to
teach them is relevance. Students are really big on
relevance. “Why should I care? What does it matter?”
When you point out Luther was being a bad ass,
questioning authority and pointing out where the Church
was wrong, well then the students can relate. Students
know what it means to question authority. They know what
sacred topics are and what happens when you push the
really sensitive buttons. Granted, staying out past
curfew, and openly cussing at your parents for the first
time, are not the same as someone’s soul burning in
hell, but to a college student, it’s close enough.
That’s how you reach them, put it in a framework they
can understand. I know today I reached a few, I probably
lost a few as well, but nobody stabbed themselves in the
eyeball with their pencil, so there’s hope.
Back to Academic Life Page |
|
|