72- Legal

South Carolina is one of the lowest ranked states in education. I am not surprised. Despite all the political debate, there is some merit to the demand for “highly qualified” teachers. An uneducated teacher will yield uneducated students. Principal must have been scraping the bottom of the barrel when it came time for hiring day, because some of the teachers in our school are downright stupid. I’m not saying they’re all bad, but there are a few that have no business educating others.
I had hoped that Mrs. Frankenstein, who wanted to teach kids about the Canadian government of Alaska, was the only bad egg in the basket. Unfortunately, when I observed another teacher today, I learned that there are many bad eggs in our school’s basket.
Per suggestion by Principal, I elected to watch Esther teach a Language Arts lesson. This would be interesting because I have been planning with Esther during our grade level meetings, but have never actually watched her teach. I wanted to compare our teaching styles, since we often teach the same lessons.
The woman cheerfully welcomed me into her classroom and explained that they would be working on vocabulary. I took a seat in an unobtrusive place and quietly observed.
Esther had projected a chart of vocabulary words onto a large screen. Each child was to record the contents of the chart into their notebooks.
The teacher discussed each vocabulary with her students. Rather then having them fill out the chart themselves, she dictated what needed to be written. The kids dutifully followed instructions and asked few questions.
Things were going fine until Esther came to the third vocabulary word: legal. She wrote legal in the appropriate column, and then she asked if anyone knew what the antonym would be.
Several students raised their hands, but Esther ignored them. She answered her own question, “The antonym of legal is illegal.” She wrote this down and then paused, “Now, ‘y’all see that now don’tcha?”
I couldn’t help but wonder, if they don’t know what “legal” means, how would they know what “illegal” means? Luckily it appeared that all of the kids were familiar with these words.
Next, Esther did write down the definition of legal. “Legal means lawful, y’all.”
Esther smiled warmly at her classroom. “Now, does anybody know what part of speech legal would be?”
A few hands shot into the air, but I guess it was another rhetorical question, because the woman answered herself, “Legal is a noun, folks.” She wrote noun in the Parts of Speech column.
Now, think about that for a second. Legal is a noun?
The kids sat in silence. They were a quiet bunch. Most of them accepted their teacher’s answer and obediently filled in the charts in their notebooks.
I felt a little alarm go off in my heart. Oh, no! Not again. Another case of a teacher spreading bad information. I waited for Esther to realize her mistake and correct herself.
She didn’t. The lady went on to dictate the next vocabulary word.
Luckily, a smart kid raised his hand.
“Yes, Chris?” Esther called on the child.
Chris was a nerdy looking boy with thick glasses and blonde curly hair. “Wouldn’t legal be an adjective?” he asked.
Good, boy! I wanted to throw him a piece of candy.
“What?” Esther frowned. She looked up at her chart. “No,” she insisted, “It’s a noun.”
Chris was not satisfied with her answer. He knew that his teacher was not correct. The boy pulled a small dictionary out of his desk and started flipping frantically through its pages. I saw a gleam of satisfaction in his eyes when he came upon the word he was looking for.
“I found it! Look, here!”
Esther was clearly annoyed, “What?” she snapped.
“Legal is an adjective. The dictionary says so.” The kid looked smug, and
rightfully so.
Esther must be a stubborn woman, because she refused to believe the dictionary.
“Class,” her aging southern voice was husky, “Think about it, y’all. Legal. Legal.” She repeated the word several times and then began listing examples. “Legal document. Legal advice. Legal papers. Legal is a noun, ‘y’all!”
The kids nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”
I felt embarrassed. What kind of school do I work in?
When time was up, I thanked Esther for allowing me to observe her lesson. As I left the room, I strained my neck to be able to see Chris’ paper. He had scratched out noun and had written adjective.
Thank god.
Maybe I’m being too harsh on Esther. There have been times during our planning when I have questioned her intelligence. I guess it’s one thing to plan lessons, but another thing to teach the lessons. All teachers make mistakes, but a mistake like that…. She’s just not the sharpest crayon in the box.