Today was a very busy day. I was in three of the four periods, the first three and then I had a special treat for many of the students during the fourth period. Actually there was a bit of a surprise for me in the first class. It was the first class; what I mean is this was the first time I had been with this particular group. I thought by now I had met with every class in the English section, but not so. This was the one I had missed until now. So I gave them a very intense session of introduction and artifacts. There were no questions, but that was expected because I had not built a rapport with this group. But at least I did get some time with them.
The second class I had been with before, three times so there was good interaction. We discussed the Robert Conley poem “Song of the Mixed-blood.” I have been getting good use of my buddy’s works here. They seem to like themselves some Conley here. I had the students in small groups of three or four discuss the poem and then tell me their groups’ thoughts. All were good interpretations; most were similar in their points but there were some differing interpretations too. All were good, and I certainly enjoyed this level of interaction. This class spoke right up. By now you know that is my favorite type of class, when there is intellectual interaction.
Following the Conley and a short break we reconvened to watch a short DVD produced by the Cherokee Nation, the one where Chief Smith introduces three short stories. One told by another buddy of mine, Robert Lewis, a second told by David Scott – who is actually a cousin of mine, and the third story featuring Chris Smith, the Chief’s son and a student in the Cherokee programs at NSU. I think this class really enjoyed these short clips. They got to hear the Cherokee language and see video of Cherokees doing what Cherokees did and do.
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