Monday, October 27, 2003
The path before me lies...
Yesterday morning, I walked towards my classroom as I normally do on Monday morning only to be confronted by approximately 30 dead (or dying) mice and rats lying in the middle of the hallway. The exterminator had apparently forgotten to remove all of the traps and had instead chosen to display his handiwork proudly to all the passersby.
As I stood for a moment and watched those rodents, trapped and dying with their quivering hind legs still moving in an all too clearly vain struggle for escape (conscious or otherwise), I realized how very appropriate the imagery was given the circumstance. I think I sometimes see the same expressions in the eyes of my students as I close the door to my classroom.
NB: One respondent noted that there is a sizable contingent of rap and mainstream hip-hop figures who have actively attempted to promote education and self-awareness through their music, including Chuck D, Mos Def, and dead prez. To clarify, in my previous post, I did not intend to discount their efforts, merely to emphasize that those messages are not really having as broad an effect as I wish they might. (Also, just in case people fear I have lapsed entirely into depressed cynicism, rest assured that I do have a few good students...but their stories do not weigh nearly as heavily on my mind.)
Yesterday morning, I walked towards my classroom as I normally do on Monday morning only to be confronted by approximately 30 dead (or dying) mice and rats lying in the middle of the hallway. The exterminator had apparently forgotten to remove all of the traps and had instead chosen to display his handiwork proudly to all the passersby.
As I stood for a moment and watched those rodents, trapped and dying with their quivering hind legs still moving in an all too clearly vain struggle for escape (conscious or otherwise), I realized how very appropriate the imagery was given the circumstance. I think I sometimes see the same expressions in the eyes of my students as I close the door to my classroom.
NB: One respondent noted that there is a sizable contingent of rap and mainstream hip-hop figures who have actively attempted to promote education and self-awareness through their music, including Chuck D, Mos Def, and dead prez. To clarify, in my previous post, I did not intend to discount their efforts, merely to emphasize that those messages are not really having as broad an effect as I wish they might. (Also, just in case people fear I have lapsed entirely into depressed cynicism, rest assured that I do have a few good students...but their stories do not weigh nearly as heavily on my mind.)
