However, there's nothing like spending a day with 8th graders to bring back memories of the 32 years I spent in junior high. I enjoyed those years in the classroom, but many inconsequential things today reminded me of how thankful I am to now be working with adults. For example...........
The day was beautiful and we arrived at the museum early, so we took the kids over to Millennium Park. The sky was the kind of blue usually only seen in Arizona. The "bean" with its reflections of Michigan avenue sky-scrapers and gawking tourists was fascinating. The architecture of the Frank Geary designed music pavilion was awe-inspiring. The skyline was magnificent.
Did the kids really see any of this? No, they were completely awe struck by a young movie star - whose name I confess I've already forgotten - who was filming near the "bean".
Now, I admit to a dose of gawking also. It is interesting, but having lived my entire life in Chicago, I'm still more awe struck by the city views. During our museum tour, we saw a collection of Impressionist art that is among the largest and most impressive in the world. Even in Paris, I'm not sure we saw as large a collection in any one museum. The kids sat in front of Seurat's Sunday Afternoon on the Grand Jatte as though they were spending a ho-hum Sunday afternoon in Starbucks looking at a Grande Latte. What was really fascinating to them, however, were the little stools they got to carry around and how you could make a neat clang sound if you closed them really fast.
During a quick tour of the magnificent new modern wing of the Art Institute, I'd be willing to bet that not a child actually looked at a single work of art, but they did enjoy wandering through the rooms at breakneck speed.
As we drove to the restaurant along the lake front and later drove through the architecturally fascinating and trendy Lincoln Park area, students chatted or listened to the I-pods they weren't supposed to even have. Meanwhile, I was mentally back in my 20's remembering all the fun of living "downtown".
At Café Bernard, while I was savoring my authentic boeuf bourguignon, the boys were fascinated by dipping bread into their beverages and hiding food under napkins. Many girls were taking pictures of each other with forbidden cell phones. Jill, their teacher, used to have the kids taste escargot as part of this restaurant experience, but she wisely gave that up many years ago. Student palates are definitely not refined these days!
None of the above is pejorative. I've worked with 13 year olds long enough to know that, developmentally, all of the above is completely normal. I also know that many were blown away by city views, impressionist art, and French food, but couldn't admit it in front of their friends. I know they take the wonders of Chicago for granted since most have never lived elsewhere. I know that many will look back on today as a highlight of their junior high experience. I know because my own students came back from high school and said how fondly they remembered their Spanish art trip.
But I also know that it's thrilling to see a senior citizen who is utterly fascinating by one of my lectures on Spanish art. It's tremendously rewarding when they bring in an art book to show me something related to the previous lecture. I love taking house guests downtown and being able to ooh and ahh with them. I love it when foreign language teachers laugh at my jokes and "get" my weird sense of humor. I love it when they e-mail me later to excitedly tell how they used some technique in their classrooms.
Ah, it's good to have "graduated" from junior high!
You took eighth-graders to the Art Institute; I took college seniors to a sewage treatment plant. I'd say we both had good days.
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