in addition to teaching my local delinquents who have been suspended from school, i took on a new job this past fall partnering with special education teachers throughout the state. together, we team-teach small classes of learning disabled students in a "blended" format that pairs online learning with face-to-face instruction. this semester, i'm teaching a brand-new curriculum called Introductory Math that focuses on very basic concepts, ranging from number lines to reading clocks and counting money. many are important life skills that should assist these students in functioning in the real world after they graduate from high school.
one of the most important aspects of my role is to create an announcement on their Blackboard page that greets them each day. i use a variety of web 2.0 tools, from cartoon strips to videos to vokis (funny-looking characters who speak with my voice) to animated images -- basically anything that will capture their attention and get them excited about what they're going to learn that day. on friday, i decided to tie in our current topic, integers, with the superbowl. i felt sure that somehow, negative numbers were involved with football, but i didn't know how. so i consulted the resident expert.
"chris, isn't there something in football that actually results in like a negative movement or something?" i asked.
he groaned. "i have explained this to you a million times," he replied, barely looking up. "yes. if the quarterback gets sacked, it's negative yardage."
"what if another player gets sacked?" i asked.
"sara! no other player can get sacked! it's only the person who's throwing the ball! you've been to football games with me before. how can you not know this?"
yes, i've been to football games. but when i attend these events, i prefer to talk to people and maybe watch the cheerleaders and comment on their skimpy outfits. i do not actually watch the field. in fact, i made it through four years of college attending just about every pre-game tailgate and only managed to enter the stadium one time, and that was to watch my sorority sister get crowned homecoming queen. and even then, i departed right after the ceremony.
"but what if, say, i'm the quarterback and i throw it to you, and then you run a little bit, and you throw it to someone else, and then they get like picked up and moved backwards?"
i won't go on. suffice it to say that there was much more groaning and frustration by the time we were finished. but the whole time he ranted and raved, i was busy composing a poem in my head, having latched onto the phrase "negative yardage". is there a word that rhymes with "yardage"? i wondered, amidst some string of nonsense coming out of his mouth about lines and scrimmages and other things. i finally wandered off and hoped he had finished. after a few rough drafts, this was what i loaded into my classes' announcements:
the next day i began to hear from my co-teachers, all of whom said that our students were excited to read the poem and see the connection between math and everyday life. i counted that as a success, and having received that feedback, was inspired to show the poem to liam.
he scanned the screen and said, "i know what goes in the blank -- the word 'negative.' BUT," he turned to me, "i'm afraid you kind of left out some stuff. like, it's only a sack if he's behind the line of scrimmage." and he proceeded to explain to me (very calmly and patiently) the ins and outs of this game that i do not understand. he didn't groan or complain or say, "how can you not know this?" in a condescendingly incredulous tone. he just simply, in his seven-year old refreshing way, explained it. i learned, for example, this "line of scrimmage" is not one of the painted white lines on the field. who knew? and i actually began to understand. a little, anyway.
chris got home that evening and i related the story to him, concluding with the informative lesson liam had given me. he stared at me with a sort of stunned look on his face before groaning once again. "I TOLD YOU THE SAME THING!" he said to me, exasperated. "i swear sometimes you just don't listen."*
i'm thinking from now on, if i ever have a sports-related question, i'm going straight to the expert -- the kind and patient expert, that is. liam.
* note: for the record, i'd like to admit that chris has every right to be exasperated with me. that doesn't make it any better, but i totally get it.
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