Wednesday, June 15, 2016

One teacher changes education and you won't believe what happens next...

Dear UninterestedStudent295, 

I too have been in your shoes. School can be the most boring thing in this world, where staring at the clock seems run your mind torturously through all of the things you could be and would rather be doing, yet the time drags on. However, I'm here to convince you that there's a homie who can change all of that: Gideon Burton. 
G-Burt for short.  

I'm serious when I say this man has got some ETHOS. Receiving a PhD in Rhetoric, Linguistics, and Literature from USC may mean nothing to you, so let me paint a picture:


A man sits in some picturesque giant
 dusty library probably looking exactly like this--> 
He then goes and reads every single book on ancient teaching methods IN. LATIN. and compiles the best, most effective way of teaching. 
Taking the great teachers and thinkers he goes ad fontes--back to the original sources, the methods, techniques and speeches that have proved the test of time and have worked. 
This man then takes what he learned and applies it to the way he teaches. You'll enroll in his class. 
He'll then require you to make a painstakingly detailed account of your time spent doing homework. Wait, what? Yes. It's hard, and at times annoying, but he'll open up your mind to different ways of researching. For one, you'll go to a museum, having just read all about not the artwork there, but the time period in which it came out of: what were the theories? What were people thinking? What were they talking about? You'll see those common, run of the mill paintings like Cranach's "Fall and Redemption of Man" in a whole new light because now you know that in the Renaissance the "what a piece of work is man" idea is revolutionary, and that in turn changes how you go to museums in the future. 

You'll be asked to go out of your way and start a conversation with someone about what you are learning. This is homework? Yes. And it's effective. You'll call up these friends, acquaintances, sometimes strangers and ask for their opinion on your research, sharing what you have learned as well, which in turn helps you more than them. One time you may even call up a neighbor you barely know, ask about a concept you are struggling with which happens to be her expertise, and have a very meaningful conversation which ends in tears and hugs and walk out with a brand new friend. 

You'll be asked to use sources other than Google and Youtube, and that will make you stretch, a lot. But you're asked to research a topic you actually care about, and that changes everything. You find out that there is a world beyond those two platforms that have taken over the world, and the information available becomes exciting, you look forward to researching, you look forward to homework--wait what? Yes. You look forward to homework because it's something you actually care about.

So when you're bored looking at the clock thinking it will never end in classes in the future, remember that it's all about how you approach your homework, find the element that excites you and take it and run. 

Your friend,

Jordan

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