One of the classes I teach combines English and history into one double-period frenzy of cross-curricular intellectual delights. The teacher who handles the history section believes above all things in organization and clarity. Every day the Teacher L______ begins class by carefully reviewing the schedule and events for the coming weeks. He details meetings, sports dismissals, and assembly speakers, adding careful explanations for the reasoning behind each administrative decision and irregularity. Today he spent fifteen minutes explaining the ASVAB test to the students, just because one of them said she thought it was a waste of time. He had diagrams and statistics and charts.
The man loves order. His chairs are precisely spaced. He keeps the daily schedule, reading assignments, homework reminders, trivia facts, fire drill procedures, payment reminders, and famous inspirational quotations, all in their own places on the white board. His markers are lined up, on end to preserve ink, on the board tray, arranged according to the colors of the rainbow.
But every once in a while, this teacher uses the stability the students expect of him to create something truly special. This past week we started talking about the French Revolution. I was teaching The Scarlet Pimpernel for the English section of class, and he was handling the political and social changes of that time.
To start the class, he asked everyone to pick a card out of a large bowl and then find their seats. The cards were labeled with different professions. The young man who drew the “Catholic Bishop” card, had done the reading, and quickly sat down in the chair labeled “First Estate.” The boys who drew “Landed Noble” had not done the reading and looked about in a confused manner before realizing that there were two of them and only two chairs by the “Second Estate” sign. Most of the students found seating on the other side of the room by a small sign that read “Third Estate.” Most of these drew cards that read “Peasant,” though there were a few who found “Factory Owner,” “Domestic Servant,” “Dock Worker” or “Bakery Owner.”
By the time everyone settled, there was a bit of a buzz around class. This was a bit odd, but soon, the Teacher L______ settled into his routine. He took the kids through the identity of each of the estates, explaining what taxation exemptions or liabilities they had, how each made money, and what percentage of the total population, land ownership, and overall wealth each group represented. But this was old info; they’re honors students, so (except for, apparently, the two noblemen) they’d all done the reading, and none of this was new info. They’re post-Marxist rich kids at a private school. They know about exploitation and social awareness and the rest. They started to drift.
At this point, the Teacher L______ gave the students a classroom assignment, telling them to read an article about the events surrounding Louis XVI convening the Estates General. They had a worksheet to complete when they’re finished. He handed the Third Estate their worksheets. Then the genius moment happened.
Acting like he’s just organizing more papers, the teacher went to his desk and got more worksheets, approached the three representatives of the first and second estates, and gave them three papers. Then he told them, “Just put your names on the top. The answers are already filled in.” The teacher went about this without making a fuss, without a show or even a raised voice. He knew the third estate was already slightly miffed at their current status, and as soon as they caught on, they’d be starting a revolt of their own.
I’ve seen this lesson three times now, and usually only one or two of the peasants notice what’s happening, but news spreads through their ranks quickly.
Bakery Owner: “Wait, you guys don’t have to do the reading?”
Nobleman: “Nope.”
Bakery Owner: “That’s not fair!”
Bishop: “Get back to work, peasants!”
Nobleman: “Yeah! Work or get off my land.”
Next, the Teacher L______ went to a small refrigerator and got out some food, offering the bishop and the noblemen a choice of pastries or fruit salad. “Can we have both?” asked one nobleman, who’s starting to get into the spirit of the event. Of course he could. He could have juice, soda, maybe even some fresh-ground coffee. He has, after all, earned it.
By now all the students had noticed, and they were upset.
Baker: “They get food?”
Nobleman: “Keep your stench on that side of the room!”
Peasant: “That’s not fair! What’s going on?”
The Teacher L______: “Don’t worry about it. You’re happier not knowing.”
Offering for the peasantry.
The whole event is enhanced if the bishop and noblemen have senses of humor. They recline back with imperious smiles and make jokes about peasants revolting (they stink on ice). When one peasant declared that she was hungry, a nobleman replied, “You should have had richer parents, then.” When one said she’d pay five dollars for some fruit salad, the reply was “Finish the harvest first.” One nobleman even said, “Would anyone like a blueberry?” before intentionally dropping it on the floor. “Oops. It’s a good thing I have lots more.”
Soon there were threats of revolt. Peasants threw down their pens and declared that they were not answering more questions. What’s amazing about this is that they never actually got out of their seats. They were angry, and could certainly have wrested the pastries from the control of the landed nobles, but they never moved. They ranted and threatened, but their jealousy never quite moved them past resentment. So they slowly started to ignore the taunts and go back to filling in worksheets. Soon they had the assignment completed, the answers checked, and were ready to move on to the next class.
At some point during all this, the Teacher L______ collected the worksheets from the bishop and the noblemen, who barely noticed, being too busy reveling in their own prominence. At the end of class, as the students were packing up, I heard this conversation.
Bishop: “That was the best class ever!”
Nobleman #1: “Yeah! We should get pastries every class.”
Nobleman #2: “We do deserve it. Do you think there’s going to be a test?”
Bishop: “I hope not, we didn’t do the reading. I have no idea what the answers were. I just signed the paper where he told me.”
Nobleman #2, getting a bit worried: “Mr. L______, what’s going to happen on test day?”
Dockworker, walking out the door as the bell rings: “That’s when the guillotine drops.”
This is fabulous teaching! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for posting this! I really enjoyed it!