Yesterday, I presented a lesson for English Education majors on T.S. Eliot and his poem The Hollow Men. My lesson was about 90 minutes long, and it included a brief biography of Eliot, a reading of Sam Hazo's powerful essay on poetry, "The Power of Windblown Leaves," and of course, a reading of Eliot's poem. It was a great experience. I especially like reading Hazo's essay to students who are jumping into poetry for the first time. His poignant assessment of the power of language--especially his comments about informational prose (what most of us read and hear most of the time) being, "the ground floor of language," really strikes a chord. It invites students to consider the kind of language they are most familiar with, and how to expose themselves to more powerful examples of language and craft. I could tell that the essay had a strong impact on the students.
Of course, Eliot's brilliant poem serves as an even more poignant example of the power of language. His use of Dante's Inferno as a springboard into the human condition resonated with the students. We talked about Eliot's intensions with the work--the message he wanted to portray, and how his final lines--
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang, but a whimper
--serve to remind all of us how important our interactions with other human beings really are.
As is often the case for me after reading the poem, I found myself in a reflective mood. I had some time to myself following the lesson and I was soon considering the significance of this visit, and how it has already changed me in some very important ways. For one, this visit has made me realize even more clearly the critical role that teachers play in the lives of their students. This trip, so small in the scheme of the larger goings on around the world, has helped to remind me that what I do--indeed, what teachers all over the world do--is so vital for kids. Teacher's play such important roles in societies all over the world. To see their efforts diminished in any way is disheartening. Secondly, this trip has made clear to me that teachers in the U.S. do not have a monopoly on the art of teaching. Teachers should do more to harness the technologies and the like available to us to more deliberately invite the world into our classrooms. I hope I can use this experience in Bacolod to network more fluidly with the teachers here. I love the idea of using Skype and other social networking tools to connect the students in Bacolod with my students at North Allegheny next year. It should be a very cool experience.
We ended the day on Thursday with another Q&A with students. This time, the students were from the high school and college, and their questions were excellent.
Friday began with a mass celebrating the start of the school year. Jeanette and I were asked to read portions of the responsorial prayer in honor of our visit. We were also invited to the altar with the other teachers in attendance to receive a blessing. The church was beautiful, as you can see.
Following mass, we traveled to the Department of Public Education and had a meeting with the Assistant Superintendent and other department heads for the public schools in Bacolod. The Filipino school system is transitioning from a 10-year to a 12-year system in the coming years, and there were many questions for Jeanette and me. We finally ended our day with a lunch that was provided for us by one of the teachers in the college (ugh-I hate that I cannot remember his name. I'll get it tomorrow and add it to the post). His son passed his board exams and he held the lunch in honor of the event. Isn't that so cool?
Tomorrow, we have a writing workshop in the morning, and then we are free for the rest of the day. Whew! Jeanette and I are looking forward to some downtime and some shopping before we jump into things again on Monday.
As always...thanks for reading.
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Location:Bacolod, Philippines
