Connotatively Loaded Culture
Studying Transcendentalism, I asked my American Lit class what they needed in life to feed their souls. After a few broad, not-quite-there responses, Chances, the son of my favorite custodian, grinned broadly and yelled out, "HOT WINGS!" I'm pretty sure he was kidding around.
I started saying some stuff about feeding your soul, not your body, and talking again about needs versus wants, but then, suddenly, I stopped myself.
Hot wings don't feed my soul (a good, vegetarian soul btw), but maybe, in a way, hot wings feed his soul. I opened the discussion to the class. We talked about how food could be tied to cultural identity. We talked about the term "soul food." And in the end, we decided.
Hot wings can indeed feed the soul.
That little turn in the grave was probably good for, as the kids like to call him, our friend Waldo. And whether everything I said was PC or not, we had a good, open-minded, and, I think, productive class discussion.
Yea wings!
Good stuff. Talk like that feeds my soul.
Posted by:Jennifer | 22.03.2005 at 10:46 PM
Wisdom comes in many forms think ye grasshopper.
Posted by:Expat Nomad | 23.03.2005 at 11:38 AM
Beautiful post
Posted by:Lectrice | 23.03.2005 at 05:11 PM
Answers to questions like, "What do you need to feel your soul?" is precisely why I love teenagers. Sometimes they surprise us! As for me? Sweet potatoes feed my soul. Poetry feeds my soul. Dance feeds my soul.
I think I'll ask my students today what feeds their souls- a great journal entry, especially since we're reading "Brave New World", a book about a society where "feeding the soul" is heresy.
Thanks for the idea. Thanks for the posting.
Posted by:shamash | 23.03.2005 at 06:46 PM
Great way to take advantage of a teachable moment!
Posted by:Kelly in Kansas | 26.03.2005 at 10:30 AM
This anecdote makes me happy! Thanks for sharing!
Posted by:Catalin | 29.03.2005 at 02:46 AM
I just love all your stories! I will definitely link to you as soon as I figure out how to do that on my blog! I teach Health/PE/Driver Ed and recently started a blog about all my fun adventures teaching Health class this year. Oh yeah, I'm a redhead too :) Keep up the great entries!
Posted by:Tori | 03.04.2005 at 06:37 PM
Does anyone know of any studies or teachings on personalized learning. I own KidHip.com; We do personalized children's music and we're looking for articles on personalized learning.
Kreg Ferris
President, Kid Hip Music Inc.
http://www.kidhip.com/
Posted by:Kid Hip | 29.06.2005 at 05:35 PM
I enjoyed reading your blog!
Posted by:Jessica | 01.12.2005 at 12:44 PM