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Chancellor Middle School students spend a day 'in the trenches' in history class Date published: 11/7/2009
BY LAURA L. HUTCHISON Dressed in an authentic World War I uniform, the soldier addressed two lines of students sitting against the lockers in the hallway. "So you guys are finally in it?" the soldier asked. "I suppose you came for adventure. It's not like that at all." The soldier issued the students their orders and their provisions, then led them into a pitch-black room, with only flashlights to guide them. Cool, musty air flooded their nostrils, and dried leaves crunched beneath their feet. The phrase "in the trenches" was about to take on a whole new meaning for them. What only days before had been Room 209 at Chancellor Middle School had become a World War I trench built by sixth-grade history teacher Mayo Carter, who'd become the soldier leading the new recruits. Their orders consisted of a few pages of recollections from World War I soldiers. As they sat solemnly in the dark trench, they read about the men's horrific experiences and answered questions on a worksheet. The only noises were the occasional shifting of feet on the carpet of dried leaves and the scratching of pencils on paper. Carter created the trenches project about eight years ago. "I was speaking to a young teacher who talked about a simulation where they stacked up chairs, crouched behind them and threw wads of paper at one another," Carter said. "I asked him what he liked about it and he said it was fun. It bothered me that they'd taken death and made it entertainment. "We say we want education to be fun," Carter said, "but when we really look at it, what we really want to do is make it meaningful. I hope that's what this does." She created the trenches project to give a glimpse of what life in wartime might have been like: "Almost imperceptibly, the first day merged into the second, when we held grimly to a battered trench and watched each other grow old under the daylong storm of shelling," Sgt. J.E. Yates recalled of his experiences in 1916. "Big shells landed in the crowded trench. For hours, sweating, praying, swearing, we worked on the heaps of chalk and mangled bodies."
Date published: 11/7/2009
I worked with Mayo for one year at Chancellor. I have to tell you she is a great teacher! She brings history alive all year long. She decorates her room with items from the era she is teaching and makes learning an active experience without making it just something that keeps kids with activities. We should have more teachers like Mayo! She dances to a different drummer and administration doesn't always like it, but I know first hand the kids "get" what she is teaching because she makes it meaningful.
I worked with Mayo for one year at Chancellor. I have to tell you she is a great teacher! She brings history alive all year long. She decorates her room with items from the era she is teaching and makes learning an active experience without making it just something that keeps kids with activities. We should have more teachers like Mayo! She dances to a different drummer and administration doesn't always like it, but I know first hand the kids "get" what she is teaching because she makes i meaningful.
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