I KNOW! It's like they were sitting in on one of my WW2 lessons!
Today I was intro-ing the Cold War and spent three minutes up there trying to get them to figure out why the U.S. emerged as a stronger power than Great Britain or France after WW2.
FearlessTeacher: Why was the U.S. considered a significant power after WW2?
CluelessStudent: Because we were bigger?
FT: Well, uh, that's true, but not really -
CS: Isn't Russia bigger?
FT: Well, yes, but-
CS: Then who's the big power?
FT: Well, they both are-
CS: Then what -
FT: THE WAR WAS FOUGHT IN EUROPE! THE US IS LEFT INTACT! THE US HAS THE ATOMIC BOMB! WE'RE THE BIG SCARY WEAPONS-HAVING, GOODS-PRODUCING CAPITALIST NATION!
CS: . . . Should I write that down?
FT: Why the hell not.
CS: What unit is this again?
CS2: Can I have a pencil?
CS3: Wait, who won World War II?
Internal FT: [Expletive deleted]
External FT: Okay, let's go back to the beginning!
Students: [zombie noises, vapid gumming at their notebooks]
S: This part where he talks about a prison, what is he getting at?
Sts: [gum gum gum]
S: Okay, so what does the Panopticon look like?
Student1: [raises hand]
S: Yes?
S1: So this is like America? I used to work at a RadioShack, and we always had to do stuff and stuff.
S: Okay, so you were under surveillance... like the prisoners in the Panopticon... LOOK THEY ARE PEOPLE CONSTANTLY BEING WATCHED IT IS LIKE SOCIETY OKAY.
Students: [gum gum wha'?]
S: Haha, okay, seriously, what does the actual building look like? Let's draw a picture on the board.
<.snortgiggle> That is horribly accurate and funny.
I ran across this sketch today and it made me think of your teaching adventures, too. (Lauren's catch phrase is "Am I bovvered?" which is why "Amest I bovver-ed?" is kind of hysterical. And the teacher is David Tennant,who does play the Tenth Doctor. And I think that's the only bits of explanation you need. *g*) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9uugVWW_XE
LOL I love that sketch. My favorite part is, "Who was Indiana Jones fighting against - besides the snakes?" *Chris Farley slowly withdraws hand*
It is alarmingly accurate. The strained positive recognition of non sequiturs and general idiocy, the song-and-dance to try not to directly give them the answer ... too funny.
Yes, the strained positive recognition! The song-and-dance to avoid directly giving answers! The growing frustration and desperate attempts to hide it!
Sketches like that do make me sad for Chris Farley. He was so, so funny.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-24 03:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-24 03:17 am (UTC)Today I was intro-ing the Cold War and spent three minutes up there trying to get them to figure out why the U.S. emerged as a stronger power than Great Britain or France after WW2.
FearlessTeacher: Why was the U.S. considered a significant power after WW2?
CluelessStudent: Because we were bigger?
FT: Well, uh, that's true, but not really -
CS: Isn't Russia bigger?
FT: Well, yes, but-
CS: Then who's the big power?
FT: Well, they both are-
CS: Then what -
FT: THE WAR WAS FOUGHT IN EUROPE! THE US IS LEFT INTACT! THE US HAS THE ATOMIC BOMB! WE'RE THE BIG SCARY WEAPONS-HAVING, GOODS-PRODUCING CAPITALIST NATION!
CS: . . . Should I write that down?
FT: Why the hell not.
CS: What unit is this again?
CS2: Can I have a pencil?
CS3: Wait, who won World War II?
Internal FT: [Expletive deleted]
External FT: Okay, let's go back to the beginning!
no subject
Date: 2007-04-24 03:22 am (UTC)Sinsense: Okay, so what is Foucault saying here?
Students: [zombie noises, vapid gumming at their notebooks]
S: This part where he talks about a prison, what is he getting at?
Sts: [gum gum gum]
S: Okay, so what does the Panopticon look like?
Student1: [raises hand]
S: Yes?
S1: So this is like America? I used to work at a RadioShack, and we always had to do stuff and stuff.
S: Okay, so you were under surveillance... like the prisoners in the Panopticon... LOOK THEY ARE PEOPLE CONSTANTLY BEING WATCHED IT IS LIKE SOCIETY OKAY.
Students: [gum gum wha'?]
S: Haha, okay, seriously, what does the actual building look like? Let's draw a picture on the board.
My soul: [dies]
no subject
Date: 2007-04-24 03:29 am (UTC)I ran across this sketch today and it made me think of your teaching adventures, too. (Lauren's catch phrase is "Am I bovvered?" which is why "Amest I bovver-ed?" is kind of hysterical. And the teacher is David Tennant,who does play the Tenth Doctor. And I think that's the only bits of explanation you need. *g*) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9uugVWW_XE
no subject
Date: 2007-04-25 02:24 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-24 10:02 pm (UTC)It is alarmingly accurate. The strained positive recognition of non sequiturs and general idiocy, the song-and-dance to try not to directly give them the answer ... too funny.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-25 02:25 am (UTC)Sketches like that do make me sad for Chris Farley. He was so, so funny.
no subject
Date: 2007-04-24 10:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-04-25 02:26 am (UTC)