Teaching Batman

Most days I have a wonderful job, and some days it's a little rough.  I teach interesting kids, which makes for interesting days.  I like interesting and I like to laugh and have a good time.  I hope that my students like coming to my class and find it as interesting as I find teaching them.  Yesterday was one of those days.

I have a student who is one of the highlights of my day every day that he enters the classroom.  He works hard, but he doesn't always get grade level material. He requires a great deal of attention when he is in the class, but he gives me a great deal of joy for the fifty-five minutes that I see him.  This week has been homecoming and Friday was toga day for the seniors.  I knew when I finished helping one of the seniors with her pink leopard toga that my student was going to do something creative with the left over material when he came into class.  He did not disappoint.

I went to school yesterday sick.  I really wasn't in the mood to do much but hold down the fort and get caught up on paper work.  The day didn't work out like that because what days ever work out how you plan?  I was questioning why I went to work feeling so bad, when... enter Batman.  As soon as my student saw the left over fabric he went into full character mode and the results were great for everyone's mood and enjoyment of learning the physical geography of Latin America.  The scraps of fabric became a cape, arm cuffs and a head piece.  Add a batman mask that I used as a pass last year and let the food times role.

The lesson became information needed for Batman to beat the bad guys in Latin America.  The student kept the class in stitches and they all seemed more engaged in the material as they were helping Batman get ready for his mission.  Pictures were taken and I couldn't help but leave my bad mood behind.  In fact, I haven't laughed that hard in a classroom in a long time.  Despite feeling poorly, I thoroughly enjoyed teaching Batman and the other students enjoyed helping Batman.  I like to think that I foster a sense of acceptance in my classroom and that learning can be fun.  Did "batman" really think he was Batman for 55 minutes?  Possibly?  Will every student in that class remember what we learned about Latin America?  Definitely!

I think sometimes teachers are so focused on test results that they forget that teaching is making connections between knowledge and people.  Yesterday was one of those special moments in my class where that happened. It wasn't conventional, and it was a little rowdy.  The teacher couldn't stop smiling and laughing and the students got to act like the teacher at times.  I'm sure if I was to be evaluated by the current standards, I wouldn't rate very high, but I know that the students in that class will never forget how entertaining and fun a lesson can be.  All with a superhero in their midst (okay a tall, goofy freshman in a sheet and a mask, but whose to say he's not a superhero) So, I say long live BATMAN!  I know I enjoyed teaching him yesterday!