CAROLYN
BEITZEL
Diary #16
A
Field Trip Full of Lessons
Our team took a trip to the Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania last week. It's about 2 hours from school. It was a "big deal" coachbus, admission, and lunch.
We have 117 kids on the team. The trip cost $25 each. Only 44 students signed up to go. Our district does not subsidize field trips. About 45 percent of our students are on the federal lunch program. It is interesting that the children come in with expensive new sneakers, Sixers jerseys, a new weave or acrylic nails, but cannot find the money for something educational. But I digress. I was quite disappointed in the lack of interest. If nothing else, it is a day away from school! For those who did go, I think it was an eye opening experience. Some had never been more than 10 miles from home. Some had never ridden a bus, other than mass transit or a yellow school bus. As we were driving through western Pennsylvania, many had not seen farmland -- cows, goats, sheep and horses. "What's that?" as they pointed to a grain silo. "What's growing in the fields?" "How does the farmer take care of all those animals?" "Where do they sleep?" Such a different world for my kids who only see buildings and houses and fields at school.They didn't notice the looks
Now take these boisterous and loud kids and put them into a museum where the content is focused on reflection and reverence. Ha! My "urban" children, with their dark skin and woven hair, were out of place in this hallowed sanctuary. They didn't notice the looks the curator gave them as they walked into the lecture room. I did.
He was saying with his eyes and mannerisms, "I have to watch this group. They'll break the rules or something else." They didn't see the cafeteria worker roll her eyes as a student asked, "Is this free?" pointing to a shelf of candy displayed in wicker baskets. They certainly did not notice the gift shop attendant who watched their every move. I did.
One young girl was being her usual gregarious self. I knew she was interested in what the curator was saying because she was making noise. When she is silent, then she is disinterested. When she is chatty, I know I have her attention.
In the beginning of the year I was not sure that I was going to like her. She would never stop talking and that annoyed me a lot. As time went on and she started to trust me, then I could look at her behavior more objectively. When she would walk back to my desk with her book in hand and say "I need help," then I knew she was one for me. In fact, she's my favorite student. I love that she is willing to put herself on the line and take a risk. She is not my smartest student by standards, but every day she shows me how intelligent she is.
Knowing all this about her, I was not concerned with how talkative she was. She was not talking to disrupt, but for someone who does not know her, I can see where her actions can be misconstrued. They were.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Beitzel, can I ask that one of your students go sit in the rotunda?" said the curator. What am I supposed to say? "No?" Then, "Excuse me young lady (pointing to the offender), please go sit in the rotunda for a few minutes until you decide to not disrupt the demonstration." Ouch, I thought to myself. Not only has he singled her out and embarrassed her in front of her friends, but he has also disparaged her learning style.
What made me proud of her at that moment was her response: "I don't know what a rotunda is." How true. She had no idea that he wanted her to leave the room and wait in the round room outside the doors. To her credit, even though she was visibly angry, embarrassed and hurt, she was not afraid to say she was unsure of what he was asking her to do.
Of course, he did not see it that way and I could see him thinking she was being impertinent. I have tried to teach my kids that if they don't know something, that it is not wrong or stupid of them to ask clarifying questions. And that when they do they will not be ridiculed, not in my classroom at least. Here was a life lesson.
"You both have first impressions"
I let her go, hurting for her the entire time. A few minutes passed before I left my seat to go to her. She was sitting in a chair, alone and quite angry. I could tell that she didn't know what she had done wrong and whatever had been done was an injustice to her. My initial reaction was to wrap my arms around her and tell her that she was the best. I didn't want to embarrass her though. Instead, I took her hand in mine. She held quite tight.
I sat beside her and said, "He doesn't know what kind of person you are. He doesn't know that you were genuinely interested in what he was saying. You don't know what kind of person he is either. You both have first impressions of each other only. Take yourself out of your shoes and put his on. What did he see when he looked at you?" Angrily and without a moment's hesitation she said "A stupid black girl." "No, look again" I prompted.She thought a moment before she replied, "a person who was talking when he was talking." "As teachers what do we think when that happens to us?" I asked. "That we're not paying attention, we're disrespecting you." "Okay. So can you understand why he asked you to leave?" I asked her softly. "Yeah" she said. "Can you be mad at him then for doing what he thought was right?"
I could tell she wanted to argue with me, but instead she said, "No, I guess not." We sat for a few minutes together. She never let go of my hand. "Can we go back in?" was her last question. "You bet."
The curator's lesson
I spoke with the curator at the end of the day. He mentioned this incident and hoped that I understood why he acted the way he did. I actually told him, no I didn't understand.
Why did he feel it necessary to single a child out and embarrass them in front of their friends? Especially a child who was taking a keen interest in what he was showing. Didn't he hear all her questions? He was taken aback. I am sure he was anticipating my agreement with his actions. I asked that in the future when this happens to him (as I am sure it will) that instead he merely direct the student with "Please go sit by your teacher." No explanations or discourse is needed. That way, the student is not embarrassed at being kicked out and still has the opportunity to participate in the rich learning program the museum offered. I hope he takes my advice. Throughout the day I kept thinking of a quote by William Ayers, that the classroom should provide students with experiences that "nourish and challenge development, extend capacity, and encourage growth." This field trip met all four of those requirements, in more ways than one. In that, it was a success. For my students and their teacher.
