WATCHING LEAVES, USING ADJECTIVES

    The other day, when I was told I would be missing two sections of English class because of some special activities at school, I was initially upset, even a little irate, but luckily I soon remembered that there are innumerable activities that are at least as important as English class. It’s seems preposterous to me that I can so easily fall into the trap of believing that the subject matter of my curriculum is unrivaled in its importance. Where did I get the notion that learning the rule for semicolons is more important than hearing experts speak about the dangers of drugs? What gave me the idea that studying some lines from As You Like It is far more important than attending a special musical performance? Where do I come off passing judgments like this – handing down the edict that English class exceeds in significance all other school activities? Actually, in the wide (actually boundless) world of learning, my little lessons and exercises in English class may pale in comparison to millions of other supposedly less-important pursuits. Who can say that an 8th grade student might not learn far more from following old roads on a bicycle than from discussing a poem by Maya Angelou? As blasphemous as this may sound, an episode of “Family Guy” might expand a student’s thinking far more than writing an in-class essay on irony in To Kill a Mockingbird. Even watching a leaf floating in the wind could create way more educational benefits for a student than sitting through a lesson on using adjective and adverbs to make contrasts. I simply need to get off my high horse and open my eyes, because this world offers kids countless learning experiences that rival, and sometimes far outstrip, Mr. Salsich’s English class.