Janie Slaven: THE TEACHER'S DESK: Stay the course
May 9—I sit here this early morning sipping my coffee and looking out across these empty student desks for one of the last times this year. The morning sun is peeking through my windows and catching the drops of rain left on the glass from the morning shower. They're sparkling like little diamonds, glittering light across those placid desks in front of me. This is a bit of a contrast to our principal's reference to a soggy Tuesday in his morning email.
Today, my seniors will take their Lord of the Flies test, which encompasses the whole novel. Regardless of this abrasive task, the natives are getting restless. I wonder how many of those anxious youth were able to finish reading the last three chapters. I sympathize to an extent. For seniors, it isn't just the end of the school year, it is the end of high school.
Still, it is moments like these that we must stay the course. The ship has not reached the dock yet, and I have observed many trying to get off before we reach land. (Whew, really working the ship metaphor). When this happens, grades suffer and that is a permanent mark. In the past, I have even watched students risk failure rather than completing a final assignment.
This is where lessons beyond writing an essay or passing a test take place. These lessons are also the hardest to teach. This is because, many times, consequence is the teacher. I took a class under him in college. That guy can really change your life.
Consequently, not all individuals have that intrinsic motivation to such an extent as to overcome the temptations that sometimes outshine completing work, especially some teenagers. Also, as the air of finality breathes through the school, there comes a vindication in not trying as hard.
Regardless, the test must go on. Reflectively, the premise of Lord of the Flies focuses on a group of English School boys whose plane crash-lands on a deserted island. Ironically, the novel holds some similarities to our end-of-school attitudes. For example, one of the questions on the test asks, "what was the main theme of Lord of the Flies?" The answer is "civilization versus savagery." (Please don't tell my fourth block the answer.)
Anyway, without the concept of order that comes with a developed society, the boys on the island fall into savagery. The boys' disregard for the rules started out as fun, but eventually became much darker without those societal guidelines.
That's correct, by giving this test I am staving off savagery, creating order, and keeping the ship afloat.
And so, here at the end, as the days wind down, I find I must stay the course. My resolve must be strong. I know for many, those final chapters have gone unread, and as I prepare for the forty-question test, I contemplate this. As a result, I feel they will learn the lesson better if I add 10 more questions. My Batman bobble head nods in agreement.
Brian Theodore is a language arts teacher at Corbin High School and lives in Corbin with his wife, who is also a teacher at CHS. He can be contacted at Theteachersdesk.theodore@gmail.com.
