Prosthetics and Prostitutes: The A. Post

I have written before about the unit I taught on Governance and our final Constitutional Convention.  As a teacher, it's an exciting unit, and the Constitutional Convention, especially because it's the last big academic event of the year, is full of emotion.  I am invariably moved to tears at least once not only because I see in vivid, living colour just how much my students have changed but also because it's the last time I will see them as a group.  From that day forward, we're pretty much not a class anymore and I feel that looming over me as I call the Convention to order.  

This year was particularly poignant for me because I was leaving and because my class this past year was particularly close.  Several times, I had gotten choked up and felt lucky that I had my phone with me.  I could take pictures to simultaneously distract myself and not distract students who would otherwise have been wondering what was wrong with me.  I mean, after all, they weren't moved to tears by each other's speeches.  

One group of students from another class was making a speech about their ideal form of government.  To be honest, it was not the type of government I would choose.  The group was particularly concerned about security and the need for a very powerful military to defend against unnamed threats.  In their plan, mandatory military service would represent a commitment to the society and ensure the safety of citizens.

[Like I said before, students can and do choose wildly different government styles based on their personal beliefs and understanding of the structures and philosophies of government they study.  The key to the Convention is persuading other students that your way is the right way to govern and to live.]

Anyway, during a brief question and answer period that followed, a familiar hand shot up.  A. always had something to say that cut to the heart of the matter.  

"So you want everyone to be in the military?  That's more important than anything else?" 

"Yes, that's how we'll protect our society from outside threats," responded the presenter.  

"Okay," said A., "So let's say someone has an accident and loses his leg, and he gets a prostitute, will he have to be in the army too?" 

At this point, I have to step out of the story for just a moment.  This was a classic Grade 6 moment for so many reasons.  First, a sizeable percentage of students in the audience likely didn't know what a prostitute was.  You may find that hard to believe, but this is a special age during which kids (particularly in international schools) sometimes surprise you with both what they know and what they don't know.  

Second, for at least half the students in the room, A.'s question didn't register as anything out of the ordinary.  Sure they heard his words, but it doesn't mean they sunk in.  After all, would you expect someone to challenge a speaker on stage by bringing up getting a prostitute?  Not likely.  

Finally, for those students who did notice A.'s accidental word swap of prostitute for prosthetic, there were some nervous giggles and quick looks around the room.  If it had been Grade 8 or even Grade 7, students would have reacted immediately.  

Being the most mature person in the room, I was promptly consumed by convulsive bouts of laughter.  I tried to stifle them by covering my head in my hands.  As evidence for my claim that this moment embodied the awesomeness of Grade 6, there were immediately a few dozen students staring at me (not A.) asking, "What's wrong with him?  What happened?"  Hardly anyone had realised what had set me off.  

Someone, probably P. (also from the previous post), must have told Antonio what he actually said because when I managed to compose myself enough to look over at him, he was beet red and laughing.  

We finished the Constitutional Convention a bit later, but this was probably the most memorable moment of the day.  A. and his group had managed to capture for me what Grade 6 was all about - in fact, what teaching is all about.  Their ability to tie together their learning and their beliefs to describe what leadership should be was an intellectual high point.  'Getting a prostitute/prosthetic' captured all the other things I love about teaching - those ridiculous moments you share as a class that tie you together and the silly things we (teachers and students) do that make us laugh at ourselves.  

It was the perfect send-off.  Thanks, buddy.