NAME:
John J. Carosella
SCHOOL:
Saint Joseph High School
CLASS:
English III, English IV, Drama, German
SCHOOL PHONE:
724-224-5552
What is green?
Anyone who has entered Room 204 at St. Joseph High School during
my tenure as English teacher may have seen the question "What is
green?" prominently displayed in some way or another along the
borders of the room. As decoration, it is decidedly unimaginative; and
yet, students frequently poke their heads into the room on the first day of
school to see whether or not "the question" is still there. It is, of
course,
a relatively simple question; but the answers it has elicited over the
years have been as varied as the students who have sat with me in that
room. Some have been humorous; some, profound. Some have
proferred scientific explanations, while others have attempted
theological ones. All have had merit. All have reflected the innate wonder
that each human being possesses--the inborn sense of curiosity--the
completely natural desire to learn. This question--"What is
green?"--expresses my personal philosophy of education more
thoroughly than any other single aspect of my teaching life.
*
Green with envy
Sometimes
Over Math teachers who
Often times
Have all the answers
I long for greener pastures which
Always
Seem greener on the other side of the fence
And yet
Most times
I look at the tender green shoots before me and wonder
Always
What is green anyway
If not a sign of good things to come
--Carosella
*
Philosophies of education come and go. During my thirty nine years of
teaching I have seen quite a few of them. The strict, eight-period day
came and went. Modular scheduling came and went. Modified eight
periods with electives, block scheduling, and trimesters have all left
their marks. I have seen discipline tightened, loosened, and sometimes
amost totally abandoned. Behavioral Objectives, Writing as Process,
New Math and sundry other attempts to increase the effectiveness of
schools have made their appearance on the stage of my teaching
career. Throughout all of those (and many more), however, one item
has remained constant and it is the item that forms the foundation of
what I consider to be my personal philosophy: the first and most
important goal of general education is the self-realization of the student;
the first and most important goal of Catholic education is achieving
self-realization in order to gain access to heaven.
*
Two roads diverged...
On the horns of a dilemma...
Between a rock and a hard place...
What's a teacher in a Catholic school to do?
What kind of a balancing act does it take
To help the "self" become real...
And then ask them to sacrifice it for the "other"?
Realize it and then deny it?
What is love anyway
If not choosing to relinquish the center, the self
For another?
*
If everything in the world were green...and the same shade of
green...would there be any need for the word green? The answer is
obviously "no". One does not need the word green until a tiny spot of a
different color appears within the green world. Then, and only then, is it
necessary for observers to "name the difference". It is, after all, "the
difference" that gives rise to words. If a table were the same as a chair,
there would be no need for the word table. It's "the difference" that
makes the difference! And there it is: the philosophy of general
education. In the general classroom, educators MAKE A WORLD OF
DIFFERENCE! In the Catholic classroom, educators try to MAKE A
DIFFERENCE IN THE WORLD.
The first and foremost goal of general education is self-realization. Each
student who sits with me in Room 204 has a name and no two names
are alike. This indicates that each student is, in some way, different from
all of the others. Each is an individual. This situation leads to the
universal question that Literature deals with: Who am I? Of course, that
question leads to subsequent questions: Where do I come from; where
am I going; what am I doing here?, how do I fit in? Whereas these
questions are enthusiastically welcomed in the Catholic school
classroom, they are often skirted in public school classrooms. After all,
there is the possibility that we come from God and are going to God--a
possibility that, by law, may not be discussed in publicly-funded
institutions. Avoiding those questions is at cross purposes, therefore,
with the primary goal of general education, self realization.
There does seem to be, however, an aspect of each individual which
appears to be the same and not different. Some call it "life"; some, soul;
some, the animating principle; some, spirit. Whatever we choose to call
it, we call it the same thing for each individual. And so...whereas our
bodies have individual names to indicate the differences, our "souls" do
not. My soul is not called "George" while another's is call "Sally". No,
it's
merely soul. And soul is soul is soul is soul.
Does that mean that there is something about me that is precisely the
same as that something in each other person? I wonder...and I
encourage my students to wonder along with me.
The mission for ALL of my classes is to foster further growth toward the
self realization of both me and my students.
To this end, there are THREE BASIC ASSIGNMENTS:
1. COME TO CLASS.....I need you, my students, to come into my
classroom. While it may be possible to "get" the final outcome of the
class, it is never possible to duplicate the method, the particular
chemistry of the day, that got us there. Absences never can be "made
up" fully. We need to be physically in the classroom, so that we can
begin to see each other as human beings...so we can get a feel for who
we are, where we are, and to what new heights we can take each other
in our mutual education. I need for us to be in the classroom together
because I believe deeply that "self realization" is important and I want for
you what I want for me: I want us to arrive at the destination for which we
have been created.
Yes, this is a spiritual goal, but there are material benefits that accrue
from the journey: clear thinking, concise writing, intelligent conversing
are only three of the many. These material benefits help in at least one
critical area of contemporary life...the college career. They certainly
insure a successful one. I am interested, however, in our going far
beyond
even a successful life career; I am interested in our having a successful
life! Anyone over a few years of age can tell you that being alive in this
world is oftentimes not smooth sailing. In fact, many people will tell you
that calm waters are rare in the course of a life and when they do come,
they
are not the result of a successful career. All the money in this world
cannot
prevent a single one of these storms. So...what does? How can one
find "the
peace that the world cannot give"? I don't know. But...I have a few ideas
and beliefs. I believe that there are some answers stored away in the
vast
warehouse of human experience we call Literature. Digging through the
genres
(novel, short story, poem, play, essay) it's more likely than not that we
will find at least some hints on how to not only ENDURE the stormiest of
seas, but also to PREVAIL over them and arrive in peaceful waters.
These are lofty goals and if such lofty goals could be achieved by
answering
the questions at the end of the chapter, there wouldn't be much need for
either you or me to come to the classroom; but, because we ourselves
must
formulate and ask the questions in order to best benefit, WE NEED TO
COME TO
CLASS.
2. DO ALL THE READINGS...If you compare your "reading list" (if you
knew what it was) to the reading lists of others on your grade level in
other high schools, you will notice probably that you are not being asked
to read as many works as they are. Hmmmm! Why is that, you wonder?
Well, this is my rationale: I want you to discover "how" to read.
When you first began reading on the elementary level, there were
stories and poems. You were asked to read them and, of course,
answer "the questions" at the end. At that level, this served some
purpose. It checked to see whether or not you were understanding the
selection and it served to teach you that asking questions about the text
was not a bad idea.
You may have noticed that you are no longer on the elementary level;
you may also have noticed that the pieces you are asked to read still
have questions at the end of them. If you are anything like me, you are
absolutely sick of those questions at the end. When I ask myself why, I
get this answer: well...they're not MY questions. They don't want to find
out from the text what I want to know. In order to reinvigorate interest in
the text and support my contention that Literature is a mirror in which we
may, if we choose, see our "selves" more clearly, I am dedicated to
"conversing with the text". I ask it the questions that are important to ME
and I encourage YOU to do the same, because the text will answer and,
I think I can assure you, that some of its answers will surprise and
intrigue you. This is a time-consuming process and so it's not possible
to read as much as your peers in other schools. Is this damaging? I
think not. I am in favor of quality over quantity.
In a sense, this is like that old psaw about giving fish over and over or
teaching people how to fish for themselves. Once you learn how to
converse with the text, how to ask it the questions that are of deep
importance to you, you will have the skill and then you can do it
whenever you want with however many texts you want.
In order to do this for everyone, it is necessary that everyone read ALL of
the assignments ALL of the time. Given the fact that there are not an
overwhelming number of selections, this should not be a burden to
even a "slow" reader like myself. We are "idea people" by nature...each
one of us. Every idea has some value...even if is to solicity the response
"that's a terrible idea." Because each idea is important and because
each person gets ideas, it's vital to the success of our class that
everyone read the selection so that we can exchange ideas.
Therefore...the second requirement of ALL my Literature courses is to
READ ALL OF THE ASSIGNMENTS!
3. PARTICIPATE IN ALL DISCUSSIONS...There are many ways one can
participate in a discussion. There is, of course, speaking aloud and
there is intent listening. Both are participation. If a student is a
little shy
about speaking in front of the group, he/she may keep a journal of daily
thoughts and reflections on the class and submit it to me weekly. I will
read it, comment on it, and return it. We will conduct a "particpatory
discussion" in this manner. If none of these methods suits you, please
suggest another. Whatever we arrive at, we MUST discusss. The
reason for this is simple. If thinking critically and clearly is one of our
goals, then I must have a way to observie whether or not you are doing
this. So....PARTICIPATION (in one way or another) IS ESSENTIAL!
4. KEEP A READING AND WRITING NOTEBOOK...(more to come....)
5. COMPLETE ALL WRITING ASSIGNMENTS...(more to come....)
