Against the State: Forming Bridges between the Anarchist, Libertarian, and conservative movements

Checkmate on classroom boredom.(Local)

The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA) November 16, 2008 I AM A SLOW learner. It took m e 43 years to figure out what I was put on Earth to do with all my oddball qualities, unique experiences and quirky insights. I found my calling via a phone call from the blue asking me to teach high school English this fall.

Each day at a small private school in Norfolk, I teach four courses: 12th grade British literature; ninth grade composition; journalism and creative writing. Two good teaching mantras came from having lived aboard a sailboat at one t ime: “Sometimes you have to go left to go right” and “You cannot control the wind, only adjust your sails.” In I sailed with lesson plans on Beowulf, Chaucer, creative writing prompts galore. I ran straight into the rocky classroom where students’ lights had been burned ou t by ADD, ADHD, dyslexia, lack of self-esteem, rampant hormones and senioritis.

It was time to go left to set things right. Out came my iPod filled with everything from Shakespearean sonnets read by a New York convict in a “sensitivity through poetry” program to the Lord’s Prayer read in Olde English. site creative writing prompts

The breakthrough tool, however, was the game of chess. Chess is not a game for “smart people” but a game that enhances people’s smarts. (Please see www.quadcitychess.com/benefits_of_chess.h tml) I decided to use the game as a way to teach the literature of the Middle Ages and Eleanor of Aquitaine. The thought came to me as I pored over my lesson plans while my husband, Robert, sat playing chess with our 4-year-old son, Quin. I thought about how chess is a story that is rewritten with every game. The queen, like Eleanor, is the most powerful piece in the kingdom. Chess could provide fodder for teaching metaphor, allegory and perhaps be a good shield allowing students to explore their emotions without experiencing too much pain.

I went into the classroom with three boards, a set of descriptions of each piece as a character (knight, king, queen, bishop, pawn/soldier, castle/roo k) and a crazy teaching plan. Students in all my classes would learn to play. No excuses. British literature would be learned through allegory. Composition would have metaphor exploration. Budding journalists would learn to look at stories from all angles. Those in creative writing would dig deepest, exploring parallels between chess and life.

Results were immediate and dramatic. My discipline problems pretty much evaporated. Students with ADD, ADHD or dyslexia were transformed into chess-a-holics. Those who previously were labeled by themselves and others as least likely to succeed were suddenly winners.

Since we had nearly 40 players, we formed the school’s first ch ess club. The U.S. Chess Trust in Walkill, N.Y., and the Virginia Scholastic Chess Association in Richmond agreed to supply us with more chess boards so we could keep all student s in play. The U.S. Chess Trust also featured our school on its nationa l Web site.

We started with two weeks of learning, playing and talking about chess. Then we read about chess and watched videos and movies about the game, and then I asked t hem to write Chessays (chess essays): “How is chess like life?” Those essays are piled beside me as I write, and from them shines a light so bright it brings tears to my eyes. They tell of battles, death of a parent “King” or “Queen,” longing and newly tapped potential. go to web site creative writing prompts

“I am a pawn in the board of life. My power is limited. A lot of times people see me as the weakest piece, but what they don’t know is someday I will be the strongest. Pieces, known as my family and friends, fall around me but the only thing I can do is move forward,” wrote on e 16-year-old.

An 18-year-old girl wrote, “Life is not an easy game to play…There is not one smile that is permanent. Love comes and goes. Heartache is a deleterious emotion that can make our ways of thinking very destructive. This is our battle.” “Chess is like a relationship. You not only have to take pieces, but you must give them also,” wrote a tattoo sportin’, tough talkin’, fist bumpin’ 18-year-old chess wizard. ” And if you play it safe for too long the relationship will turn on you, as will the game of chess. Then before you know it — checkmate.” It’s chess, but they’re not just playin’ anymore.