Graduation From Scratch

Yesterday was my 100th day working in Jordan, and yesterday I got to return the graded mid-semester tests to my 9th graders.

They done good.

Not that grades are any kind of be all and end all, but, we all know they are an indication. I had no Ds or Fs. I had more As than Bs, and more Bs than Cs.

I think yesterday was a graduation, of sorts: a Graduation From Scratch.

The test covered the last six weeks of work, from Pre-History up through the four ancient river valleys we have studied carefully (the Tigris and Euphrates, Nile, Indus, and Yellow) with the geography, politics, economics, religion, technology, arts, and ideology of each ancient civilization. That is a fair amount of material, but they acquitted themselves with a bit of finesse.

I knew a graduation was imminent two weeks ago. On October 24 my classes revealed their most brilliant work yet. Okay, I know you are dying to know about it! We were studying the ancient cities of Harappa and Monhenjo-Daro (I know—I hadn’t really heard of them either until I started teaching this course!) found today near the borders of India and Pakistan. These cities were only excavated in the 1920s, and we still have not deciphered their writing. Well, without the words of these ancient Indians to guide us, we must draw conclusions and speculate on our own. I distilled the historical world’s knowledge about these cities down to eight essential factual things we can be pretty sure about. The day after we learned all of the eight “things,” I left the list on the board, and the following day, October 24, I said we needed to spend the class drawing conclusions, and basing our insights on those pieces of evidence we did know. The whole class was spent discussing, refining, and reaching conclusions. Neither are these in the textbook nor did I tell them—and their list kept growing. As someone offered a speculation, they had to back it up with at least one piece of the evidence. And they did it.

At the end of class I told them that this had been their smartest day yet. They had done what the Big Boy and Big Girl Historians do: sift through evidence (okay, I did that part) and think hard—evaluating, connecting and reflecting—the golden verbs I love to employ. I know, I know, you are hearing the strains of “Pomp and Circumstance” too in your head, am I right?? I told them that what they had just done was essentially do an essay out loud: each paragraph could be one of their insights, explaining how the evidence buttressed their conclusion and argument. (Soon we will attack that bugaboo of “The Essay,” but okay, yes, I know, baby steps, Johnny, baby steps.)

But we still needed to triumph over that mid-semester test with all that material, and all the maps, and all the art works, oh my…the withering looks as they marched toward the test day.

On test day, two of three classes came in purposefully and worked steadily and quietly—no direction to take out a pen anymore (Do I have to retire my little jazzy ditty of “Notebooks Open, Pen in Hand”?). The other class did think they could guilt me into writing fewer paragraphs. I learn from the best, like Doris Jackson, and I said, like Doris Jackson, “I am a rock—I am immovable!!”

I don’t know what to call this phase into which we are entering? What level is after Scratch? Maybe I should inaugurate an international contest today (M&Ms anyone??) to create a name for the next phase of development. After Scratch, hmmm? Any ideas? Post a comment or send an email if you have an idea!!

I am a bit rushed at the moment—I have a plane to catch in a couple of hours. I am traveling to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia today on behalf of the school to meet prospective families for KA and do a presentation on the school. How exciting to tell them of the kind of wonderful progress I have seen in just the last two months.

Saudi Arabia should be interesting. I didn’t know until yesterday how very hard it is right now for an American even to get into Saudi Arabia. Many of my colleagues were a little in awe (I mean we are in the Middle East for heavens’ sakes!) that I get to go there. The hotel where I am staying and presenting did forbid that women and men meet in the same room, but fortunately, Fatina, a native of Saudi Arabia for over 20 years, and a history colleague will be there. So there will be a girl’s room and a boy’s room to meet the families. However, Fatina and I cannot go out to eat alone together, I have been told. Her husband (still living in Riyadh) will need to chaperone. If I went out alone, I would need to sit in the section for Singles, or just with men. Oh my. This will be different!

This entry is shorter than most (yes, I am sure some of your are thinking, mercifully short,) but I have more to talk about the progress of my students, about Lana, and Ghaida, and Abdullah, and Raja, and Jude, and Karim, and Layla, and all these teen-agers becoming scholars before my eyes. I will get to that, don’t worry.

On the board on Sunday I will have a quotation that I loved from Queen Noor’s memoirs.
In her memoirs she quotes an 11th century Samarkand proverb that has been translated to, "Knowledge: the beginning of it is bitter to taste, but the end is sweeter than honey."