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- 05/14/2021
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Adam Blake - 8. Chapter 8
"I’ve got to meet with some people and I think you’ll enjoy meeting them.” I drove to the local high school to meet with one of the boys who was having difficulty with his history classes. The irony is the boy liked history and once he understood it, he never forgot it. His problem was turning academic verbose into an action.
“Billy this is Jim, Jim this is Billy the son of a close friend of mine who is spending the day with me.” The boys acknowledge each other.
“Jim, where’s your book?”
“Here, we’re studying chapter 11, it’s about the American-Indian Wars. I don’t understand it, it’s very confusing to me.”
“Ok, let’s see if we can make it less confusing. Suppose there were two football teams, one called American and the other called Indian. Now the goal of the game is to capture the other team's flag, but each team has a strong defense except the Americans are wearing cleats on their shoes and the Indians are not. What advantages do the Americans have over the Indians.”
“They are better equipped for the game.”
“Right, in the American- Indian wars the Americans were better equipped, guess how?”
“Well, they didn't have cleats but they probably had better guns. Didn’t the Indians have guns also?”
“Yes, but the Indians football team didn’t have cleats on their shoes which were made of soft leather that provided a slippery surface. One of their players got hurt when the American team ran over him.”
“So the guns the Indians had were inferior to the guns the Americans had.”
“And?”
“The Americans had more team members on the field, more soldiers, and the Indians were outnumbered.”
“Exactly, now read the chapter remembering what we discussed.”
“Adam, can I read that chapter as well?”
“Sure there is an extra book on the reading table.”
I sat there and watch as the boys read the chapter, it was only 6 pages long. When they were finished, the questions started to come. I thought what their history teacher would think if this happened in their classroom.
“Why was it necessary to have this war?”
“Because the Americans wanted the land.”
I sat back and listen to Billy and Jim discuss the chapter. Inwardly I smiled at their interaction. This was the joy of teaching.
I sat there listening when Jim’s father arrived, “I see you have a new student.”
“Not really, he’s the son of a friend of mine who is hanging with me today while his dad is at work.”
“Is that Jim discussing his history lesson?”
“Yes, actually I think that’s the first time Billy has taken an interest in history. Listen and see if you see any other differences.”
“He’s excited about what he’s discussing. Even offering plausible explanations. I can’t believe he’s enjoying this. He has had a hard time and his teacher doesn’t take the time to explain everything. She says she is too busy and must cover the material in a fixed time slot.”
“That’s a major problem with the overall school system, the classes are too short. The school will say it’s the parents' fault because they don’t want to pay for longer hours. The school is at fault insisting the teacher covers all the material in the book within a certain time period.”
“Some of what you say is true, but the State sets the standard.”
“And that is also part of the problem. Teachers aren’t judged on what they teach but rather on test scores. So you’re a teacher, what are you going to teach, you’ll teach to get high test scores.”
On the way back to the car, “Adam, that was an interesting history lesson. I’m going to see if it’s in my history book.”
“And if it isn’t?”
“I’ll check the library at school or get Dad to buy me a book that tells about the American - Indian wars.”
“Good, ready for a mid-morning snack?”
He nodded yes, I headed home.
“What would you like, I can make peanut butter and jelly crackers with milk, sound good?”
“Yes, can I help?”
“Sure, you put the peanut butter on and I’ll add the jelly.”
That’s what we did, sitting at the table eating our snacks and drinking our milk. Billy kept looking at me as if he had a question and didn’t know how to ask it.
I waited for him to ask what was on his mind. “Adam, do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“No, Billy that’s how you learn, what’s your question?”
“Why aren’t you married?”
That question threw me, it wasn’t what I expected. “I don’t know. I’ve never met anyone who floated by boat, as your dad would say. I have a lot of friends, but I think I desire to cause a revolution in teaching. I put a lot of effort into learning what they taught, what was wrong with what they taught, and how I’d change it. However, now that I have completed all my studies I guess I could see if there’s anyone who would float my boat. I just never thought it was important. My love is teaching and the way you and Jim acted this morning. is what I enjoy the most.”
“I wish you were my teacher, that was fun and I learned a lot from my discussion with Jim.”
“Thanks, Billy I appreciate that. So let’s go and check out some book stores.” I’d buy him a book on the Indian wars. He might use that as a leaping stone to his other classes.
I started at the college book store, the history section. Billy picked up a book with an Indian on it. “Billy, that man is not an American Indian, but a man from the country of India. Look for books with the title Native American or American Indian.”
He went back and spent more time in the history section. “Adam, I found these two books.”
I looked at the books he picked out, one was the history of the American Indian, and the other concerned the American Indian wars. “Both books would be very interesting. This book will let you read the history and development of the American Indian culture. It would give you a good foundation to understand the football plays of the Indian team. This other book will give you an in-depth understanding of what was behind the wars and the intent of the Americans.”
“I don’t have enough money for both, which one should I get.”
“Both, I’ll pay for them as a special gift as a reward for beating me this morning and helping Jim.”
I got a hug, “I guess I’ll have to beat you every morning.”
I took the books and paid for them. When we got in the car, “Which book should I start to read first?”
“Why don’t you start with the history and development, can’t beat the Indian football team unless you know their strategy.”
Billy smiled as he began to read. I watched as he turned the first page, he looked at me and smiled. I drove back to the hotel. As soon as we got to their room, Billy hit the sofa, book open and he was gone somewhere because he wasn’t there with me. I was delighted, I turned him on to early American history. I needed to understand what other school problems he had, maybe I could help him with those also.
I sat and leafed through his other book until it was time for lunch. I really didn’t want to interrupt him but he needed to eat and so did I. “Billy, want to take a break and get some lunch?”
I think that the word lunch indicated that he was hungry. “Sure, can we eat here?”
“In the room or the dining room?”
I hoped he would say dining room, he needed a break from the book, he said ‘here’. ”Let’s go to the dining room, you’ll have a better selection.” I didn’t need to say to take the book because he already had it as he headed for the door.
Sitting at the table, “Did you know that the first people in America came from Russia?”
“Really?”
“Yes, there’s a small area in the North that freezes over. The book said that the people moved into what is now Alaska to hunt and they stayed too long, the ice melted and they were stuck. Being stuck they moved toward the warmer climate and that’s the ancestry of the people we call American Indians. Then they moved further south into Mexico and eventually into Central and South America.”
“If you’re interested in these early people, you can read about them in other books. Maybe when you are out of school, I’ll take you to Mexico and you can view the ruins of these people.”
His eyes lit up when I said that. I realized I miss a lot by not having a family.
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Note: While authors are asked to place warnings on their stories for some moderated content, everyone has different thresholds, and it is your responsibility as a reader to avoid stories or stop reading if something bothers you.
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