Via Facilis

I've about had it.
Yes, I'll do it.
Explain to people why Latin, and my Latin program in particular, is critical to a school's success.
How it helps shape, build, deepen linguistic awareness.
How it helps prepare students for deeper, critical thinking and analysis.

But.

It's getting more and more difficult.
I haven't the energy to continue convincing people of the obvious.
Especially when they don't want to hear it.
When they aren't interested.
When they think they know the right answer.
And that answer does not include Latin.
I can only nod and say, fine, you know best.
I don't really mean it.
What I really mean is "your best isn't very good. or any good."
I can point out the benefits until the cows come home.
But the desire to broaden and deepen does not exist among, in particular, administrators.
All these folks can do is say how important Math and Science are.
Or Chinese.
To which I say, Man are you LIMITED.
These are the same people who tell you to"think outside the box."
These people invented the box.
And its rigid parameters.

Give me liberal arts baby.
Unfettered by tyrannical governmental positions on what our youth of today should learn.
Yeah.
That youth.
That youth that has major difficulties simply reading and writing.
If they know how to do either of those things.
Lord knows that a focus on Math and Science will hardly help with those two skills.
Amazing.
Some say "Where ignorance is bliss 'tis folly to be wise."
And when that ignorance is aggressive, and masquerades behind knowledge, well then.
'nuff said.

Latin at All Saints is moving right along.
Sure, there were some initial difficulties.
Getting back into the swing of things was somewhat difficult for me.
Even though I'm a veteran teacher.
It always is, somewhat.
Like Major League baseball players, Spring Training is required.
You forget that kids are, well, kids.
The double accusative of teaching kids is as follows:
I teach Latin.
I teach kids.
Sometimes I teach the one to the other.
But when you're talking about grade school kids, their focus is split.
Their mind is on what they're doing.
Their mind is on what they're not doing.
In equal measures.
Always good to remember that.
Also: you can start with some "easy" stuff.
Some "party favors" as I call them.
Latin numbers.
Latin for hello and good-bye.
Latin for "how are you?"

Throw in some cool facts for grade schoolers to know:
"6 out of every 10 English words are Latinate in derivation."
"The most recent state to stop using Latin as the national language is Hungary in 1849."
"The Romance languages are...."
"Latin was spoken in Italy and all of Europe."

This is all "cosmetics" more than "linguistics".
Sooner or later, you have to get to the blood and guts of the language.
This is where the real learning comes in.
The deeper level, not just the "higher".

And so, last Friday, I had my students - I've got nine of them (a mix of 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th graders - talk about a range) learn the first declension.

Not that they knew it.

I had a word with its ten forms as follows:

terra terrae terrae terram terra terrae terrarum terris terras terris

then i had another ten words underneath as follows:

forma formae

silva silvae

I had the students posit, based on the first forms, what the other forms would be.

Sneaky me. They were practicing a declension and didn't even know it.

I think there is a powerful lesson here.

Students can do a tremendous amount when teachers don't tell them that it's a tremendous amount. They will meet teachers' expectations.
If the expectations are high, the delivery will be high.

Next week, we'll see how they make out with employing the cases.
But I will be teaching them somewhat unconventionally.

I'll let you know.

But it's exciting.

-drg

An Open Later to Parents re: After School Latin at All Saints Academy, Newport, RI

Over the last twenty-four years, I have been teaching Latin and Greek to students of every level from fourth grade through graduate school. Three years ago, I founded CAGSE, a company which has been getting Latin into schools, and teaching it, in the UK. Five schools in the London area use our program to help their students meet government standard literacy requirements. To get a better idea of what CAGSE does, I encourage you to explore our website at www.cagse.com. Most recently, I decided to bring this program to schools in the United States, with Newport, RI and the surrounding area as the focal point.

I’ve written my own text books, and developed my own pedagogical tools whereby students of any age and perceived capability can readily learn Latin. When students work with CAGSE’s Latin, they are asked to grapple with the building blocks of Indo-European. In doing this, they begin constructing a door through which they can readily access English as well. Learning Latin also puts students in a good position to pick up any European language: the Romance languages as well as the rest, which, like Latin, are inflected: word endings play a significant role in establishing the syntax, and therefore the meaning, of a sentence. Working with the basics, in turn, helps students develop their language skill to the point where any language they look at, whether or not it is Indo-European, is accessible.

I would like to meet with you regarding the offer of my Latin course to your children in an after-school program. Not because six out of every ten words in the English language are Latinate, or that your students’ SSAT scores will go up. We go deeper than that. CAGSE’s Latin program has students working with every part of every word to determine what role each has in the formation of linguistic meaning. The fact of the matter is that your students’ linguistic competence, not merely their dictionary knowledge, will both deepen and broaden as they work with the nuts and bolts of a language which is integral in the development of their own.

I look forward to meeting with you.

Very Sincerely Yours,

Dr. Richard Gilder III
CAGSE
(845) 309 5808 (cell)

Six Week Program
$180 per student

Each class as a group is unique. What we cover will vary. We go as fast as the class goes. There is no constraint upon the students one way or the other.

A Sample Syllabus
Week 1 – Learn Latin Greetings and numbers I-X
Who were the Romans?
When were the Romans?
What would have happened if Remus had prevailed?

Week 2 – Revisit Week 1
New Material
Build Up English Parts of Speech – Focus on Noun
Noun in English vs. Noun in Latin
English Building Blocks manipulatives
Latin Building Blocks

Week 3 – Revisit Weeks 1-2
Build Up English Parts of Speech
Work with the Verb in Latin and in English
English Building Blocks
Latin Building Blocks

Week 4 – Revisit Weeks 1-3
Build Up English Parts of Speech
Noun and Verb together in Latin and English
How does the English sentence establish meaning?
How does Latin establish meaning?

Week 5 - Revisit Weeks 1-4
Build Up English Parts of Speech
Prepositions in English
Prepositions in Latin

Week 6 – Revisit Weeks 1-5

Teachers and schools.

My oh my, do they love to brag.

About that "Ahah" Moment.

You know that moment.

When a student suddenly sits bolt upright in his chair and says, "Oh my goodness. (Or, rather, since it is Y2K plus, OMG!) That's so cool!"

Teachers live for The Moment.

They speak about it like it's something almost sacred.
holy.
holy of holies.
righteous justification for all the teacher's hard work.

But here's the catch -

Students are not dumb.
Even the ones who are tagged that way.
They know what their teachers are looking for.
Particularly in terms of rewarded behavior.

Do kids, who long to belong, who at the same time entertain the diametrically opposite yearning to shine, and be in the spotlight all by themselves, lack awareness regarding adults, teachers, etc., the Guardians of those Pearly Gates of Acceptance?

No.
They know their keepers extremely well.
They are more apt to say what adults want to hear from them.
Adults are themselves needy, young teachers in particular.
We are human, after all.
We like to know we're doing our job right.

To hear students say "Ahah" is the pedagogical equivalent of the Holy Grail.
You can hear teachers all over the world, particularly the new ones, hugging themselves in celebration, whispering congratulations to themselves.

We have arrived.
Our students have had an "Ahah" Moment.

Here's the hard part.
When you've taught long enough, you realize that there are "Ahah" moments and "ahah" Moments.

False "ahahs" happen all the time.
Teachers can be very much like Pavlov's Dog when it comes to The Moment.
When they hear those two long awaited syllables, even the experienced ones, they feel like they've been touched by the Gods of Pedagogy.
Their prayers have been answered.
Their vocational choice rewarded.

Not so fast, people.

Does this mean, then, that the Ahah moment doesn't exist?
No.
It exists.
But it's more likely to happen a little bit at a time, not suddenly burst into being like some Big Bang.

And when the ahah moment does occur, it can be very humbling for the student.
In fact, the most effective moments of "ahah" are not "ahah" moments.

They are Moments of "Duh".

A "Duh" moment - when the student finally sees what has been in front of him the whole time.
It is a truly self-realized and self-actualized moment in time.

It is brought about not by the teacher, but by the student himself.
The teacher supplies the environment, yes.
But the student brings the tools to exploit that environment with him.

Here's an example of a "duh" moment.

A few years ago, I gave my 7th graders a quiz.
I decided I would not erase the board.
On the board were the answers to the very quiz those kids were taking.
The students took no notice of what was on the board.
They were intent upon the quiz itself.
They did not look around, up, to the sides, anywhere.

Finally, they handed in their quizzes.

I said to them, "Okay, folks, now look at the board."
They did so.
Realization creeped up on them.
Tapped them on the shoulder.
Shook them roughly.
At last, it happened.
Dawn.
They were floored when they realized that what they were looking at were the answers to the quiz they had just completed.

So close they could touch them.

One of the students said to me,
"You kept the answers right there all along. That's so unfair!"

All I did was direct their attention to what had been there from the beginning.
Before I had even handed out the quiz.
Yes, I provided the thing for them to see.
But I did neither the not seeing nor the seeing for them.
They had to do both for themselves.
Only in doing the one was the other so effective.

And so they felt humbled and somewhat silly, because the answers were there all the time.
They just did not see them.
Until they saw them.

That is a "Duh" moment.

Of all Learning Moments, the most effective.

An Epiphany of Greater Luminosity.

"Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?"

That's the name of a popular new game show.

The title actually is predicated on a misconception.

"Smarter" really doesn't mean "Possessed of Deeper Understanding".

What then does it mean?

It means, in this context anyway, "More knowledgeable".

Herein lies the flaw.
Our society is severely hampered now because we put a premium on Knowledge at the expense of Understanding.

As such, Math and Science have become key.
The Liberal Arts are in peril.
Why study History?
Why study English?
Why study Language?

China and the Far East are going to take over:
in every aspect,
in every respect,
in every suspect.

The West's Response:
We better get cracking on our Science and Math then!

Wait a second.

The Far East is ahead of us in many ways.

Including language.
The Chinese get that better than we - They Make everyone learn Chinese, Make them speak Their language, Make it Illegal to Speak Anything BUT their Language.

Including an understanding of History.
Their History is paramount.
Ours is but a drop in the bucket in comparison.

Of Life.
Of Philosophy.
Taoism.
Buddhism.
Hinduism.

And of never putting one discipline ahead of another.
To the exclusion of another.
They understand that there is a oneness about things.
That all disciplines are different facets of a oneness.

And that is where we in the West fail miserably.
We believe that Knowledge is Key.
In the Far East, where they believe the World was Created,
they already are ahead of us.
Because they're behind us.

They get what we don't.

Why?

Because we live in a society wherein Knowledge is mistaken for Understanding.
It's not just that the two are equated.
The One apparently is the Other.

The difficulty, however, is this:

Knowledge is one thing.
Understanding is something else.

We in the West believe that some types of Knowledge are MORE IMPORTANT than others.
That some types of Understanding are More Important than others.

We are in serious trouble.
We put ourselves in that predicament.
We have no one but ourselves to blame (after all, we have become experts in the Blame Game).

Here is where Education in the West Fails Miserably.

We do not see what real education is Not:

It is not a matter of knowing all the answers.

What then is Real Education a matter of?

Understanding the Question.

It is a sad commentary on our nation's inability to grapple seriously with the severe problems of our educational system when a highly successful department in a state university - Classics at UMD College Park - faces elimination because of supposed budgetary difficulties and shortfalls - which they had nothing to do with. It is deplorable that Classics at UMD has to suffer the consequences for a not-quite-competent fundraising effort on the part of institutional Advancement. Classics folks are Classicists, not fundraisers - yet they are the ones who will bear the "rewards" of the failures of those who have not done the job they were hired expressly to do.
Meanwhile, Dean Harris, in his concerns over a future fiscal shortfall, seems to believe that these concerns are realities, that the future problems will not simply occur, but already have. He bears a striking similarity in his fiduciary clairvoyance to Apollo's Oracle at Delphi. The difference: even that divine eye had the prudence to couch its responses in ambiguous language. As for the condition of those human beings who were so sure of the rightness of their determinations/calculations, the Ancients had a damning term: "hubris". Such humans set themselves up for a fall. The Dean - the holder of a fleeting title, an administrator enamored of the power bestowed upon him by virtue of his office - forgets that he has many predecessors, and that those predecessors have many successors. I urge the Dean to show genuine foresight, to not close or force to become a dependant a department as successful in its efforts to turn out superior k-12 teachers for primary and secondary education as is UMD Classics. Is the Dean showing fiscal responsibility? Perhaps (Pennywise, pound foolish). Are his actions wise? In keeping with the best principles of Liberal Arts? In aid of the flagging education system? No.
The Dean wants to see Classics at UMD survive. Ironic, since he is penalizing the department for the very thing that makes it superior. Take a step back, Dean Harris. Lay the blame at the doorstep of those truly responsible; and put your money where your mouth is.

drg

Once again, a disaster looms.
Once again, it is brought on by a well-meaning, befuddled, unwitting Administrator.
Once again, severe damage will be the outcome.

The Dean of Arts and Humanities at University of Maryland, College Park can no longer support the Classics Department as a separate and distinct entity.

He has instructed them to find a home in a bigger department, such as English.
Why?
Because the Classics department at UMd does not offer ph.d.s.
Wait! Does that mean that the department is a drain on the University?
That it doesn't pull its weight?
No.
Actually, the Classics department does more than its share.
Every one of the professors teaches at least one four hour lower language class per week.
None of the professors who are advisors are given course release time.

UMd is the only public institution in Maryland that offers coursework in Latin and Greek for students aspiring to be grade school and high school teachers.

Newsflash here: There's a Dearth of Latin Teachers; this department in the work they do addresses that serious deficiency in our school system.

Yes, students can earn an MA there.
Yes, the professors know how to write articles and books.
Some of them have even appeared on the History Channel.

Yet it is a department that is deeply committed to pedagogy - to having its students learn how to most effectively teach, not simply spew facts to show how smart they are.

UMd is a shining example of what an ideal university Classics department could look like.
This is not a department with Publish or Perish tunnel-vision;
it is one which truly serves its students in the best of all possible ways.

It is why I am writing about them.

This is one of the few departments in the country that is taking head on the serious issues facing the youngest students in our country by preparing teachers for their time in grade school.

And what happens?
They are being penalized.
Why?
Because they are meeting a need.

And the irony here?

The Dean of Arts and Humanities?
He wants to see Classics survive at UMd.

Bravo for him.

Yeah.
Right.
Really.

God help us all.
Harvard has come up with its first new ph.d. program in something like eighty years.
School Administration.
To save the schools, or give them a jump start toward innovativeness.

Oh, this is rich.
Absolutely brilliant.
Not.

It's funny because everybody thinks that Admnistrators are the key to successful and meaningful revamping of our schools.

Just ask the Administrators - they couldn't agree more.

But keep in mind as well that it is Administrators who have helped to get us into this mess.

It is Administrators who make the decisions.
Like getting rid of language study.
Like calling the acquisition of foundational linguistics the appalling title of "Language Arts".
Like setting standards which are so low, they play handball against the curb.
Like making meetings a priority.
Like allowing ETS ridiculous power through the proliferation of SATs which basically show nothing.

Administrators are the ones who end up hampering, hamstringing, and crippling the excellent teachers.

Who make those excellent teachers dry up like a soft contact lens that's been left out of its container.

Teachers get sapped.
They lose heart.
Or, worse, they end up complying with the ridiculous demands of Administrators who think that schools are a "business" or should be "productive" or "efficient" without understanding what they really mean by such buzz words.

Yet it is not the Administrators who make the difference.
Not that they don't make decisions that influence situations with long reaching effects.
Take Bob Watson.
He was the Yankees general manager who hired this old has-been who never seemed to do anything right.
His name?
Joe Torre.
And Joe Torre became a hell of a Manager for the Yankees.

But.

It is the excellent teachers that make things happen in the classroom.
It is the excellent teachers who get their students to engage their minds, develop critical thinking, and a real awareness of how they learn.
It is excellent teachers who are the pioneers.

Schools are not and should not be the playground for CEO wannabes.
Look at where such folks got the world economy over the last year.
Their administration, their chief executive officers, made serious blunders that screwed the world.
And what are these fine fettled Executive Officer types?
They are Administrators.

So I say to you, Harvard -

Are you out of your mind?

Maybe I am.

After all, I'm the one addressing an Institution and expecting an answer.

I actually do have one question.
Who remembers Bob Watson?
Nobody.
He did his job, and was duly forgotten.
As is fitting.

drg

I was having dinner at this restaurant down the street last night.
Having a drink at the bar.
A saturday night sort of deal.
I started speaking to these people about...Latin.
What a surprise.
I know, I thought that, too.

The guy says to me, "Why Latin?"

And I say to him, well, ever see that comic strip "Cathy"?
One time she's saying hello to her dog.
And her dog thinks to itself, "I love you anyway, even if you have a one dimensional nose."

That's what someone who studies Latin CAGSE's way gets for themselves.
A dog's nose?
Something that.
It is the linguistic equivalent.
When you take Latin and truly study it inside out, outside in, you are developing your linguistic sensibility, sensitivity.
You can sense things in English that before were just, well, words on a page.
Suddenly, instead of looking at just a two dimensional piece of paper on which are written two dimensional letters making up words, the words begin to speak in a way you never heard them before.
They leap off the page.
Each word has a story to tell.
Meaning to establish.
Do you get this just from studying English?
No. Most folks who study and teach English are enamored of ideas, plots, themes, symbols.

They miss the fundamental lesson that Latin offers:
you want to understand those ideas, plots, themes, symbols, you had best understand the bare bones, the nuts and bolts, the manner in which meaning is established.
Then, and only then, will the ideas, plots, themes, symbols have real meaning.

Until then, it's just a breath of hot air.
Or two.

O come let us Learn IT,
Oh Come let us Learn IT,
OH COME LET US LEARN ITTTTTT
Laaaa aaaa tin!

My Latin class for adults continues tomorrow evening in Newport, RI.

We'll be doing English Building Blocks for verbs and their Latin counterparts.

No, not the whole verb.

Just the Present Indicative Active.

We'll take language apart and see how it ticks.

It'll be a blast.

Come ON OVER!

-drg